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Turkey seeks to extend, toughen
anti-terror law
19.4.2006
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ANKARA, April 19,
2006 (AFP) - The Turkish government submitted
a bill to parliament late Tuesday toughening and
extending the scope of an existing anti-terror law
as a bloody Kurdish rebellion intensified in the
country's southeast, parliamentary sources said
Wednesday.
In one major amendment, the draft was extended to
cover crimes such as narcotics and people smuggling
that are not outright "terrorist acts," but can
serve to support outlawed terror organisations.
It provides prison terms of up to three years for
"propaganda" by way of shouting slogans and carrying
banners during demonstrations in favour of terror
groups.
Under the new arrangement, wearing emblems or
uniforms of outlawed groups or covering one's face
during demonstrations are punishable under the
propaganda charge.
People who provide funds to terror groups will risk
five years in prison, the sentence extended to
seven-and-a-half years if they are public servants.
Suspects detained on terrorism charges can be denied
access to a lawyer for the first 24 hours in
custody, but cannot be forced to testify during that
time.
The bill gives security forces the right to use
weapons against terrorist suspects who ignore orders
to surrender during a security operation.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said the
amendments did not mean that Turkey was backtracking
from human rights reforms introduced to ease the
country's entry into the European Union.
"Our aim is to absolutely eradicate terrorism," Gul
said Tuesday. "But we will not go back on basic
rights and liberties."
The move comes in the wake of bloody Kurdish riots
that began late March during a funeral for rebels of
the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) killed
in clashes with the army in southeast Turkey.
During a week of violence that claimed 16 lives,
masked protestors clashed with security forces and
torched government buildings as riot police fired
warning shots in the air.
Officials accused the PKK of orchestrating the
riots.
Violence has been on the rise in southeast Turkey as
the urban riots were followed by clashes in the
countryside between the army and the PKK.
More than 37,000 people have been killed since 1984
when the outlawed Kurdish group, considered a
terrorist organaisation by Ankara, the European
Union and the United States, took up arms for
self-rule in the southeast.
AFP
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