Record prison sentence in KCK trial in Turkey

May 17, 2012

ANKARA, — The final hearing of the so called “KCK” (Kurdish Communities Union) trial at Erzurum 2nd High Criminal Court ended with a sentence of 170 years imprisonment for 10 people . The defendants had been arrested within the scope of so-called “KCK” operations in Dogubayazit and Tutak districts of Agri in January 2011.

During the final hearing which was attended by ten defendants, their families and lawyers, the court board rejected the demands of nine defendants to speak in Kurdish.

One of the defendants, Dogan Şenses, was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment, while the other nine were given ten to twenty years prison sentences for “membership of an illegal organization”, “conducting activities on behalf of KCK” and “giving education on behalf of an illegal organization”. Three people are still sought within the scope of the same investigation.

In a statement after the hearing, lawyer Timur Demir said that ten defendants were sentenced to a total of 170 years in prison.

KCK which is alleged to be an umbrella political organization that includes the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)

The Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), which the PKK is alleged to have established with the aim of creating its own political system in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.

Turkish authorities accuse the KCK of wanting to promote insurrection in Turkey's Kurdish regions.

Since 2009, some 700 people have been arrested over alleged links to the KCK,www.ekurd.net according to government figures. Kurdish media puts the figure at around 3,500.

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.

In March 2012 alone over 1,300 people have been detained. According to figures compiled by ANF news agency, at least 1,366 people were taken into custody within the scope of so-called KCK operations. KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) the alleged urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Among them hundreds were sent to prison in Turkey within the last one month March 2012.

On May 8, 2012, 30 people are taken into custody in 6 provinces within the scope of Kurdistan Democratic Confederation (KCK) operations. Teams of the Anti-Terrorism Branch busted houses in Urfa, İstanbul, Muş, Ankara, Diyarbakır, Eskişehir, "Siyaset Akademisi (Politics Academy)" and Kurdish KURDİ-DER association (Kurdish Language Research and Development Association) of The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).

The PKK has several times proposed peaceful solutions regarding Kurdish problem, Turkey has always refused saying that it will not negotiate with “terrorists”.

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.

The PKK wants constitutional recognition for the Kurds, regional self-governance and Kurdish-language education in schools.

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.

Copyright ©, respective author or news agency, firatnews.com | ekurd.net | Agencies

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