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No Releases in Kurdish Peace Groups Trial
in Turkey
27.8.2010 |
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August 27, 2010
DIYARBAKIR, Kurdish Southeastern
region of Turkey, — None of the defendants was
released in the second hearing of the trial
regarding 10 members the Kurdish Peace Groups. Two
groups came to Turkey in 2009 to make their
contribution to the democratic opening process
related to the Kurdish question.
10 of the 34 members of the so-called "Peace Groups"
had their second hearing at the Diyarbakir 4th High
Criminal Court on Wednesday (25 August). Requests
for the release of the seven detained defendants
pending trial were again dismissed.
26 refugees from the UN refugee camp in Mahmur camp
n Iraqi Kurdistan region and eight former members of
the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
crossed the
border to south-eastern Turkey on 19 October 2009.
They followed their own personal decisions as an
attempt to push forward the jammed political process
of finding a solution to the Kurdish question.
The defendants face charges such as "membership of
an illegal organization", "spreading propaganda for
an illegal organization" and "committing a crime on
behalf of an illegal organization without being a
member of the organization". |
Members of the peace groups who arrived in Turkey on
19 October, 2009 upon the call from Kurdish leader
Abdullah Öcalan. The members receive a hero welcome
by Kurds in Turkey. |
The hearing was attended
by detained defendants Elif Uludağ who came from
Qandil and Ayşe Kara, Abdullah Yaman, Caziye Kabul,
Zehra Tunç and Sisin Yaman from Mahmur and their
lawyers. Lütfü Taş from the Qandil group was not
able to appear at court because of health reasons.
The defendants' lawyers presented their defence and
requested to release their clients pending trial.
Defence lawyer Fethi Gömüş stated that it was
contrary to the law to detain the people coming from
Mahmur in particular. "These people left their
country because of their wrongdoing in the past and
they spend several years in the Mahmur refugee camp
run by the United Nations. Thus,www.ekurd.netthe
people coming from Mahmur have no connections to the
organization [PKK]. These people came to create an
environment of peace after according announcement
had been made by the President and then by the Prime
Minister and after statements from Qandil and İmralı
[where PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan is imprisoned]. We
do not believe that the statements of our clients
constitute a crime. For this reason I request the
decision to release my clients".
After a brief intermission, the court board
announced to continue the detention of the
defendants under consideration of the kind of
offence and the present evidence. The court
furthermore decided to renew the arrest warrants
issued for Mehmet Adamış, Nizar Buldan and Yusuf Şen
in the previous hearing. The case was postponed to
17 October in order to allow time for the
preparation of the final speech of the Public
Prosecutor.
Who are the peace groups?
Eight PKK members from Qandil and twenty six
refugees, including four children, from Makhmur
Refugee Camp in Iraqi Kurdistan region arrived in
Turkey October 19, 2010 upon the call from
imprisoned Kurdish Leader Abdullah Öcalan. While
they were initially released by the authorities they
were prosecuted and arrested 8 months after their
return from exile.
While the aim of sending exiles back to Turkey was
to perform sincerity of PKK in solving the Kurdish
conflict in Turkey it was also a test for the Turkey
state to show whether they really have a new
approach to the problem as they promised.
Although the decision by the authorities not to
prosecute the peace group, like it happened against
other peace groups in 1999, was seen as a gesture of
reconciliation by the Kurdish side the government’s
approach soon became harder towards the PKK and
Kurds.
Police used excessive and disproportionate violence
against Kurdish demos in which hundreds of Kurdish
children were arrested, sent to prison and charged
with terrorist crimes merely because of throwing
stones to the police.
The group members are also charged with
disseminating propaganda for a terrorist
organisation and if found guilty, they face up to 20
years in prison.
Since 1984 the PKK [Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan] took up arms for self-rule in the
mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey
[Turkey-Kurdistan] which has claimed around 45,000
lives of Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas.
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.
A large Turkey's Kurdish community estimate to 25
million openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK
rebels.
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.
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.
Copyright, respective
author or news agency, bianet org | Agencies
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