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Leader of pro-Kurdish DTP party in Turkey
Nurettin Demirtas released
29.4.2008
By staff
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April 29, 2008
ANKARA, -- A court-martial in the Turkish
capital, Ankara, on Monday released the leader of
Turkey's pro-Kurdish party, who has been charged
with using fake documents to avoid military service,
state-run media said.
Nurettin Demirtas, who had been held in prison
since December,
was released along with 51 others involved in the
same case, the Anatolia news agency said.
The 52 suspects were not acquitted, though it was
not clear when the next hearing would be held.
If convicted, Demirtas faces up to five
years in prison. |
Nurettin Demirtas, President of the pro-Kurdish DTP
party, the only Kurdish party in Turkey. |
Turkish men are required
to serve in the army for up to 15 months after the
age of 20 unless they have health problems that
prevent them from fulfilling military duty.
The prosecutor reportedly said that Demirtas avoided
conscription by forging a health report saying he
had serious respiratory problems.
Demirtas, who is not a member of the parliament,www.ekurd.net
spent 12 years in prison
between 1993 and 2005 for membership in the Turkey's
Kurdistan Workers' Party PKK, the separatist Kurdish
group that has fought the government since 1984.
In November, Turkey's top prosecutor asked for his
Democratic Society Party — which has 20 seats in
Parliament — to be banned, accusing it of being "a
focal point" of separatist activities. No hearing
date has been set.
The Turkish authorities
seek to ban the
only pro-Kurdish DTP party, the DTP demanded
more rights for the Kurdish
minority and autonomy for the Kurds living in the
mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish
politicians say the measures fall short of their
expectations.
Since 1984 when the PKK
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey. 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, AP |
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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