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Turkish Kurd: I thank New Zealand for
giving me protection
13.2.2007
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February 13, 2007
Four months have passed since Halil Cikan and his
son Ali were detained by the Japanese immigration
authorities.
After facing persecution and torture for their
political views in Turkey, they fled to Japan in
2005 seeking refugee status.
Erman Cikan says his father and brother were
arrested and detained without any explanation.
"My father sought refuge in Japan but instead he is
being held there like a prisoner," he says.
Despite writing countless letters to Japanese
Immigration, the Japanese Embassy in New Zealand and
Amnesty International, he says he has received no
explanation or been told when they will be released.
The Kurdish family support the outlawed Kurdistan
Worker's Party the PKK - a political military wing
that advocates for the democratic rights of Kurdish
people.
"The Turkish government says it's an illegal party
but most Kurds support the PKK," Erman says.
He says His father Halil was imprisoned many times
in Turkey for his Kurdish activism, as well as being
subjected to torture using water, sticks and
electric shocks.
When Halil arrived in Japan in 2005 he was detained
for two months before being temporarily released for
a year.
He was then arrested four months ago with no
explanation given.
"They are really playing with the foreigner," says
Erman, who lives in Glen Innes.
"They release you today and arrest you again
tomorrow."
He says Japan signed the United Nations Convention
on Human Rights in 1982 but not one Kurdish person
has been accepted into Japan since 1994 because of
the political relationship with Turkey.
"I thought I'd be free but Japan is worse than
Turkey."
The 23-year-old has been living in New Zealand for
more than a year after being freed from Ibaraki-ken
Ushiku, the detention centre where he was held for
15 months.
He is now working fulltime at Mitre 10 in Mt
Wellington.
His mother, sister, younger brother and fiancee are
also in Japan but are not being detained.
About four months ago he applied for a visa to visit
his family and, only recently, received an email
declining his application.
"The whole time, I never get a reason why I can't go
and see them," says Erman.
"I haven't seen my family in over a year. I just
want them to be free so we can be together again.
Hopefully, with humanitarian power, I can bring them
to New Zealand.
"I thank New Zealand for giving me protection."
The Embassy of Japan refused to comment and a
spokesman for the Embassy of the Turkish Republic
could not be contacted..
stuff co.nz
**
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan"
Southeast Turkey. The Kurds have no rights in
Turkey.
Others estimate as many as 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to some 20 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan but
unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag is
banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it is
a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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