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Turkish court fines Kurdish mayor over
riot remarks
17.4.2008
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April
17, 2008
DIYARBAKIR, Kurdish Southeastern region of
Turkey, — The mayor of Turkey's largest
Kurdish-populated city was Thursday
sentenced to 50
days in jail for "praising" rioters, but the court
later converted the term to a fine.
Osman Baydemir, mayor of Diyarbakir and one of
Turkey's most popular Kurdish politicians, was
sentenced for "praising crime and criminals" in
remarks he made during deadly unrest in the city in
March last year.
The court then converted the sentence to a
1,500-Turkish lira (715-euro/1,133-dollar) fine.
Baydemir had hailed "the courage" of young Kurdish
rioters as he tried to reason with them in a bid to
end the unrest that erupted over the killing of
several separatist Kurdish PKK rebels in clashes
with the Turkish army. |
Osman Baydemir, one of Turkey's most popular Kurdish
politicians and the mayor of Diyarbakir, the main
city in the Kurdish-majority southeast of Turkey. |
The authorities had accused the Turkey's separatist
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) of orchestrating the
riots that began in Diyarbakir and spread to other
towns and to Istanbul, claiming a total of 16 lives.
It was the second sentence this week against
Baydemir,www.ekurd.net
who was among 53 mayors
sentenced to more than two months over a
letter they sent
to the Danish prime minister in 2005, urging him to
ignore Ankara's calls to ban a Denmark-based TV
station, which Turkey says is a PKK mouthpiece.
Their terms were also converted to fines.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen on
Tuesday
criticised a
Turkish court's conviction of 53 Kurdish mayors for
"praising criminals", due to a letter they wrote him
in 2005. "Turkey wishes to join the European Union,
and we therefore expect that it adopts the same
norms (in regards to freedom of expression) as the
EU," Rasmussen said.
Kurdish politicians in Turkey are routinely accused
of supporting the PKK, which has waged a bloody
23-year campaign for self-rule in the havily Kurdish
southeast (Turkey Kurdistan).
Scores of Danish mayors
have sent an open letter in support of their Kurdish
counterparts in the ongoing ROJ TV case. High-level
Danish politicians have rallied together in support
of 53 Kurdish mayors who risk up to 15 years
imprisonment for sending an open letter to Prime
Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen,www.ekurd.net
asking Denmark not to
shut down the controversial
Denmark-based Kurdish
station ROJ TV, reports
Nyhedsavisen newspaper.
In June 2006, Denmark’s premier
expressed shock
that 56 Kurdish mayors in Turkey were under
investigation for urging him to resist pressure from
Ankara to close down an allegedly pro-rebel Kurdish
TV station in the Scandinavian country. Fogh
Rasmussen told Danish public radio. “It is shocking
that this can take place in a country which is
seeking EU membership.”
Since 1984 the PKK
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey (Turkey Kurdistan). A large Turkey's
Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK rebels.
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas, the party also demanded
an end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, ranting them full
political freedoms.
The PKK is considered a 'terrorist' organization by
Ankara, U.S., the PKK continues to be on the
blacklist list in EU despite court ruling which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel
group PKK and its political wing on
the European Union's terror list.
Information for this report was provided by, AFP |
Agencies
** Kurds are not recognized as an official minority
in Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
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.
Others estimate over 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 25 million ethnic Kurds, a
large Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise
with the Kurdish PKK for a Kurdish homeland in the
country's mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media. The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish alphabet has led
to judicial persecution in 2000 and 2003
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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