April
8, 2011
BATMAN, The Kurdish
region of Turkey, — Kurdish Journalist Deniz Kılıç
from the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper was
sentenced to more than two years in prison for his
statements made on Roj TV. He had already served ten
months in prison. Now he was arrested again to serve
the remaining sentence.
Journalist Deniz Kilic was arrested on 5 April after
his conviction on the grounds of his statements
regarding the campaign "Öcalan is my political
power" voiced on the Kurdish television channel Roj
TV. Kılıç is the representative in Batman (Turkey
Kurdistan) of the Kurdish daily Azadiya Welat. The
campaign referred to Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned
leader of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Kılıç was previously arrested and released pending
trial in the scope of the case heard before the
Diyarbakir 4th High Criminal Court. He was
eventually sentenced to imprisonment of two years
and one month. Thereupon,www.ekurd.nethe
was taken into custody at his home in the
Bahçelievler district of Batman and taken to the
Batman M Type Prison.
Çelik: The aim is to
intimidate journalists
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Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper. |
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Kılıç was previously kept in prison for the duration
of ten months. It was said that the journalist would
remain in prison for another eight months now
according to the Criminal Enforcement Law. The
Batman Mesopotamia Association of Journalists and
Publishers condemned the incident. "The decision
given in Kılıç's case is a blow on press freedom and
aims to intimidate journalists", the association
criticized.
M. Kemal Çelik released a statement on behalf of the
association. He reminded Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdoğan's saying that "In Turkey, nobody is behind
bars because of his/her journalistic activities".
Çelik emphasized that Kılıç was arrested on 5 April
"only because of his journalistic activities". Çelik
demanded Kılıç's release.
Since it was established in 1984, the PKK has been fighting the Turkish state,
which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to establish a Kurdish
state in the south east of the country.
But now its aim is the creation an autonomous region and more cultural rights
for ethnic Kurds who constitute the greatest minority in Turkey, numbering more
than 20 million.
A large Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK
rebels.
Jailed Kurdish leader Abdulla
Ocalan, is the founder of the outlawed Turkey Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
Ocalan has a high symbolic value for most Kurds in
Turkey.
PKK's demands included releasing PKK detainees, lifting the ban on education in
Kurdish, paving the way for an autonomous democrat Kurdish system within Turkey,
reducing pressure on the detained PKK president, stopping military action
against the Kurdish party and recomposing the Turkish constitution.
PKK demanded to stop military and political operations and to release
Kurdish politicians who are unjustly detained. The organization also requested
to enable imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan's active participation in the
process.
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.
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