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Turkish prosecutor removed from PKK-related
case
11.2.2012
By ekurd.net staff writers |
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Sadrettin Sarikaya was off the
investigation into the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK).
Photo: haberler.com
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Former MIT Undersecretary Emre Taner is to be
'detained on sight' photo: AA
February 11, 2012
ISTANBUL, — Turkey's prosecutions office
said Saturday it had removed one of its prosecutors
from a PKK-related case after he ordered the
arrest of four intelligence agents
for refusing a summons for questioning.
Istanbul's deputy prosecutor Fikret Secen said
Sadrettin Sarikaya was off the investigation into
the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), an underground
group thought to have links to the banned Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK), Anatolia news agency reported.
He would be replaced by two other magistrates, Secen
said.
The move against Sarikaya came after he summoned
Hakan Fidan, the head of the National Intelligence
Organisation (MIT), for questioning, Anatolia
reported.
He also issued arrest warrants against former MIT
chief Emre Taner, another former senior officer and
two active members of the service after they ignored
a summons for questioning on Thursday.
Turkish media reported that the MIT officials had
been summoned by the prosecutor because, according
to him, they had exceeded their powers by seeking a
settlement with the outlawed organisation during the
negotiations.
But the MIT had sent a statement to the Istanbul
prosecutor to say that regulations required the
prime minister's authorisation for any investigation
into the intelligence service, said media reports.
Fidan, who was appointed by Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, had secret talks with
representatives of the PKK in 2010 in Oslo.
Recordings of the Oslo talks between MIT and the
Kurdish rebels were leaked in the media last year,www.ekurd.net
sparking outrage among opposition politicians.
They accused the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) of having abandoned the official
position of no contact with the PKK.
The PKK took up arms in southeastern Turkey in 1984.
But many specialists argue that there is no military
solution to the conflict and that political talks
are required.
The investigation into the KCK has so far led to the
arrest of hundreds of Kurds and was one fact in the
failure in 2009 of a more conciliatory government
policy towards the Kurdish community.
The
KCK-trial began on October 18, 2010 when a Turkish
court began the trial
of 152 high profile Kurdish politicians and rights defenders,
accused of being the urban wing of the outlawed
separatist Kurdish PKK rebels.
Over
7748 people were taken into
custody and over 3895 persons were
arrested in the scope of KCK operations during the past
nine months, the
pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party announced.
Dozens of BDP executives and employees are still in
prison.
At least 567 people were detained by police from 10
December 2011 to 3 January 2012. Among the
detainees, including mayors, students, children,
human rights activists and union members, over 350
were remanded in custody and sent to prison.
On February 4, 2012, members from the Swedish Parliament
nominate imprisoned
Turkish publisher and human rights defender Ragıp Zarakolu
who is in jail for KCK links for the Nobel Peace.
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, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000
lives.
But now its aim is the creation an autonomous
Kurdish 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.
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 leader
Abdullah Öcalan, stopping military action against
the Kurdish party and recomposing the Turkish
constitution.
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 ass '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.
Compiled by ekurd.net from agency reports
Copyright ©, respective
author or news agency,
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