Kurdistan Info Package - December 1994 The following is one of our periodic info packages on the Kurdish national liberation struggle in North-West Kurdistan (Turkish- occupied Kurdistan). For more information contact us at: ats@etext.org - Arm The Spirit, 94.12.10 Index: 1) "Our Movement Will Continue To Grow" - Extract From An Interview With PKK General Secretary Abdullah Ocalan 2) Desperate Kurdish Cry Of Protest Rises From Prison Cell 3) Police Attack Kurdish Protests In Mannheim 4) The Turkish Army Is Systematically Burning Kurdish Villages 5) Kurds Arrested In Germany After Protesting Turkish Army Offensive In Dersim 6) AGIF Statement 7) PKK European Spokesperson Arrested 8) Kurdish Family Clans: An Introduction 9) Police Attack Turkish/Kurdish Demonstration 10) "The Turkish Republic Has Lost Its Authority" 11) Kurdish Party Calls For Boycott Of December Elections 12) Freedom For Andreas And Karen 13) PKK (European Representatives) Statement 14) Kani Yilmaz Being Kept In Isolation 15) Kurdish Newspaper Offices Bombed 16) Statement From Ozgur Ulke Editor 1) Our Movement Will Continue To Grow Extract From An Interview With Abdullah Ocalan, PKK General Secretary What is the significance of August 15, 1984, in Kurdish history and what role has it played? If we are to evaluate this ten year period, which we can consider to be the Kurdish people's first and last chance of liberation, we may say it is the best organised step towards nation building and national liberation for thousands of years. The Kurdish people, who throughout their history have been bedevilled by tribal divisions due to colonialist policies, were on the point of losing their national identity when this striking attempt was made to stop this process. The Kurdish people had reached this point in the 20th century, a century in which the devel opment of national consciousness was at it zenith. In general the emergence of the PKK, and in particular the launching of the armed struggle stopped the slide to oblivion and opened the door to the unfettered development of national consciousness. It was only then that 'Kurdishness' began to develop in a healthy environment. The peo ple believed they could be liberated. The despair of hundreds of years was swept away. The movement that began on August 15, 1984, endeavoured to avoid the pitfalls an fundamental weaknesses of previous Kurdish rebellions. We examined the reasons for the failure of the uprisings that took place in the years following the founding of the Turkish Republic. We also evaluated the Turkish left wing movement of the seven ties, its failure and the way it tried to pre vent the emergence of a genuine Kurdish national liberation movement through social chauvinism' We are also aware of the KDP experience. It is clear that the KDP, which started out as a primitive nationalist move ment, has completely failed to learn fro the uprising of March 1991 and has acted like a simple horse trader and lapsed into more reactionary position than all the rebel lions led by primitive nationalist forces. The PKK has waged its struggle in the last I years aware of all the above and it is no clear that this struggle has not been in vain The PKK has become the incarnation of the Kurdish people's values. It has become strong material force and is dominant on a ideological, political and cultural level. I has also transcended the purely nation sphere and begun to influence the whole of the Middle East and the international stag For the first time the Kurdish identity is being accepted internationally. It has reached the stage where the world takes note and says "there should be a solution". We are also exerting all our energy to ensure that the process of building national institutions is based on a free identity, and on sound principles. We have drawn the lessons of the collapse of "existing socialism." From a military and political stand 15 August has brought the Turkish army, supported by the imperialist world and using the most brutal methods, to a standstill. Turkey's political life is also in a cul-de-sac 15 August is also the expression of resistance to a host of political and diplomatic policies, all of which have been successfully frustrated. Could we categorise the last 10 years as the Kurds' transition to a modern military activity? Not all armed revolts can be classified as army building. The peshmerga is not a typical Kurdish army and is definitely not an expression of a national process of army building. I believe we have made progress towards forming an army on the national level. We have only been able to overcome the characteristics of the peshmerga tradition and traditional uncoordinated rebellion through an intensive internal ideological, political and organisational struggle. Within the Organisation the tribal clan, family mentality tried to exert itself. This is a form of expression of rebellion, the person is engaged in a conflict with oppression and wants to fight back, but then thinks of his family and changes his mind. This is particularly striking in the south where the pesh-mergas, never having been able to abandon their family interests, have consequently never been able to instigate a protracted war in the mountains. This has prevented the formation of a national army. Even in our Organisation there is only limited number of people who want to be part of a highly organised guerrilla entity. The social, economic and cultural level of our people makes them less amenable to this form of struggle. I still see this as the most serious problem confronting us. Those who claim to be intellectuals, even revolutionary intellectuals only indulge in long-winded rhetoric when it comes to the struggle. They are unable to demonstrate the necessary discipline and will-power that military matters demand. All this has emerged since 1984 and with further analysis we believe we will be able to succeed in developing the struggle further. In this context the 15 August process is a genuine building of a people's army. If it hadn't been for great discipline, patience and foresight the 15 August uprising would not have lasted 48 hours let alone I0 years. What have been the economic, political and military results of 10 years of war for the Turkish state and the people of Kurdistan? There is no need for me to say much. Everyone can see that Turkey is experiencing its worst economic crisis in the history of the Republic and I might add arguably the Ottoman period too. It is the struggle we are waging that has brought the economy to this state. If the Turkish people are still putting up with the economic crisis it is due to the pressure of the dirty war. Those directing the dirty war are imposing their own chauvinistic blackmail saying "If this struggle achieves success it will be the end of us, we'll lose everything." They think that they can pursue the war by making the people dependent upon them. Business circles have begun to oppose this policy, and as a result the government has threatened them. Politically, too, there is a crisis. There is no democracy in Turkey. If you added up all the political parties they wouldn't make one party. Most of the party leaders have been'appointed by the General Staff. There is no doubt about that. The press have also been put under the control of a committee from the TRT which is a team from the Special Forces Command. The entire press has been organised according to the needs of the dirty war. Consequently the most important aspect of the 10-year-war is the way it has exposed the lack of democracy and politics in Turkey. The Generals are furious. Despite the many weaknesses and shortcomings of the guerrillas the Turkish army has not been able to prevent the development of the guerrilla struggle. This constitutes a defeat for them. The General Staff is indulging in a gigantic bluff trying to show itself as successful by ensuring the media does not mention the great losses suffered by the Turkish army. We know there are over 10,000 guerrillas in the mountains of Kurdistan. Every day over 50 troops are killed but there is not a word in the press. Unfortunately there is nowhere the people can go to find out the truth. Thus the General Staff can conceal what is happening. I invite the Turkish Grand National Assembly to send a commission to find out the true situation. Are there or are there not guerrillas in the mountains? There is no need for them to be afraid. We will provide assistance to them' Parliament should assume this responsibility and inform the public of the reality of the situation. If Parliamentarians are unable to tell the people that the war being waged in Kurdistan is responsible for their economic hardships, how can they conduct politics? Chief of Staff Dogan Gures claimed he would finish us off by winter, then it was March, now he says "by the end of August" which incidentally coincides with his retirement. On the contrary despite Gures the guerrillas have bases all over Kurdistan, from Sivas to Artvin, near the Black Sea, and from Erzurum to the Taurus Mountains near Adana. In fact from now on we will conduct real guerrilla activity. Up to this time we have only been making preparations. This year, as Dogan Gores has admitted there is a stalemate. The guerrilla forces have grown both numerically and qualitatively. The Turkish army has launched countless operations this year with 30,000 or 50,000 men but they have all ended in fiasco. They have withdrawn with unexpectedly heavy casualties. The state is on the point of bankruptcy. They cannot attack us as they used to. We, too, aware of their equipment and numerical strength, do not attack them in open warfare but we are able to maintain our existence for long periods wherever we wish. This is a significant military development which will have political results. They will have to talk to us about a political solution. The General Staff are aware of this situation but are afraid of the Turkish public discovering it. You have mentioned Dogan Gures's high-profile in recent years. Is it possible to talk about a "Gures period?" And what is the role of Demirel and the other "civilian" politicians during this period? In the last change of military personnel Demirel attempted to impose his authority since, by virtue of the authority entrusted to him as president, he is commander of the armed forces. However he signed the order given him by Gures. Demirel gave a banquet in his residence and some generals did not attend. If people as a protest do not accept the commander's invitation this means there is a military coup. Ciller says: "I won't continue as P.M. without Dogan Gures", meaning she will retain him and give him a ministry. Gures did not want to cause discontent amongst other officers by postponing his retirement as he did last year. Although he is no longer formally the Chief of Staff there is no doubt that he is still running the show. Everyone is saying that his clique is dominant. So if this isn't a clandestine coup what is it? Gures began his move to power in 1990. At that time Ozal wanted to implement his own policies in the Gulf Crisis and the Kurdish question. It was at that time that the Gures clique made an intervention to weaken Ozal's position. Of course Ozal's death has not yet been property explained. Even his own doctors say it was not a normal death. A day before he died Ozal said: "I'm going to solve the Kurdish question and the northern Iraq problem." A day later he was dead. It's too much of a coincidence. Going back to 1991 when the coalition came to power, it was the army and MIT (National Intelligence Organisation) that ensured that the True Path Party (DYP) and Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP) came together to form a coalition. As soon as the coalition had settled in the massacres started. In March 1992 there were the Newroz massacres in Cizre and Nusaybin. General Esref Bitlis was blown up while on a plane, the General in Lice was shot, a colonel in Dersirii allegedly committed suicide. None of these incidents have been properly explained. The existence of the Kurdish question was once again denied as Demirel and Inonu, the latter almost as if he wished to exceed his father, rained bombs on the Kurdish people. Demirel has again enrolled Turkes (Leader of ultra right MHP - translator) to help eliminate the resistance in Kurdistan and any other revolutionary activity that may exist, as he has done for 30 years. In fact the coalition is not a DYP-SHP one it is a DYP-SHP and MHP one. The MHP is a secret member of the coalition government because the powers that be do not want people to think the coalition is another "national front government" (like in 1977). Turkes's task has been to organise the so-called "mystery killings" that have been perpetrated in Kurdistan. Could you elaborate on this please? It would appear that Turkes has been the head of the Special Warfare Department since 1958. Just as he was in the 1960 coup, since the end of 1991 he has been the clandestine Prime Minister. Turkes and Ciller have had secret talks, it seems that they have regular meetings. Turkes's old cronies have also been put in charge of the other parties, both the main opposition party, the Motherland Party, and even the SHP and DYP. So who else could be Prime Minister? Since 1991 the real president has been Gures and the Prime Minister Turkes. In the same way as the Austrian, Hitler, brought disaster to Germany it seems the Cypriot Turkes is trying to bring disaster to Turkey. In fact, if you look at the representatives of racist-chauvinist Turkish nationalism you will see that nearly all of them are non Turkish. There are Balkan immigrants, Arabs, Circassians, Cypriots and even Kurds. The Turkish Republic continues the Ottoman tradition of taking people from its periphery-and relying on them to perpetuate its existence. The Special Warfare Department has used all its resources against us. They used Hikmet Cetin until he had no more use, like a squeezed lemon. Now they have brought in Mumtaz Soysal, who used to consider himself a leftist. He is now an ally of fascism. Since 1991 Turkes has been organising the "killings by unidentified persons". These murders have been carried out by the "Special Army" which has been organised by Turkes. Hundreds of people have been murdered, Kurdish businessmen have been killed in the west of Turkey. I want to emphasise the danger that "Turkes' Turkish nationalism" poses for the Turkish people. It is carrying the Anatolian Turk along the same disastrous road that the Ottoman Empire went under the guidance of the Committee for Union and Progress. Democratic forces should be aware of this danger. In Turkey there is intensive debate about a "democratisation package" that is to be presented in the autumn? There is no democratisation package. This is a facade to conceal the losses suffered by the coup. The DEP trial has exposed the lack of democracy. The government wishes to cover this up. Ciller and Karayalcin are like a pair of conjurers doing "hocus pocus", distracting the people's attention. The people won't put up with this much longer. The crises in their parties demonstrate this. I do not expect these people to change. They are part of the team from the Special Warfare Department. Otherwise how could they have come from nowhere to become leaders of their parties? There are politicians with 30 or 40 years experience in both Ciller's and Karayalcin's parties. The so-called "democratisation package" will in fact be the exact opposite and will help to intensify the contradictions within the system. The guerrilla struggle will also deepen these contradictions and intensify the crisis. What is the state of Kurdish diplomacy? One of the most important products of the 15 August has been the effect on the international scene of the struggle which has developed in Kurdistan. Turkish diplomacy has, in recent years, expended great efforts in trying to prove that the PKK is "terrorist" and in so doing isolate the movement by casting a shadow on its legitimacy and limiting its external support. In the last two years Turkey has used a Kurdish, in origin at least, Foreign Minister in an attempt to prevent the development of Kurdish diplomacy and, consequently, the international effects of our struggle. Unfortunately the negative effects of some Kurdish collaborationist circles can also be observed. Their approach can be compared to merchants competing in a bazaar who see Kurdistan as an alienable and negotiable commodity to the bought by the highest bidder. We have exposed this for what it is as cheap trading. It is not diplomacy. We have proved the effectiveness of principled, revolutionary diplomacy. We are still at the beginning of this process and there are serious shortcomings to be overcome. However there is intense interest. Every state now has a foreign office Kurdish desk. There is an increasing interest developing around the DEP trial. There are the MPs in exile. There is a need for a Parliament in exile or a National Congress. The fact that there are hundreds of thousands of Kurds abroad and a growing international interest makes the formation of such a body possible. The policies of France and Germany towards the Kurds appear to be different to other countries. How do you evaluate these policies and what is your position? France has a significant unity of interests with Turkey. If France persists with its negative attitude we will take steps to counter it. Also if Germany persists with its current Middle East policies it means its investments will suffer. However if they wish to abandon their current policies then we can formulate policies based on reconciliation that are in our interests, rather than respond to them in a hostile way. But self reliance is essential. Exercising our will in an independent way is fundamental for us. Russia has begun to return towards the areas where it formerly had influence. It is seeking to develop relations in the Middle East, particularly with Turkey, and has signed some agreements in the defence field. Can Russia develop an active policy on the Kurdish question? Russia will try to revive its classic diplomacy of the Tsarist period. Russia's Kurdish policy is important for two reasons: Firstly because of the Turkic Republics in Central Asia and because Turkey with its pan-Turkism has designs towards them due to their vast oil and gas resources and secondly the strategic value of the Bosphorus Straits. There is also the question of Armenia in the Caucasus and of Russia finding an identity of its own in the Middle East. The Kurds are at the point where all these problems meet. Consequently Russia will not remain idle while the USA increases its interest in the Kurdish question. In fact it would not surprise us if Russia formulated a bolder Kurdish policy in the near future. Meetings have been held with PKK representatives to help delineate this policy. Conversely Russia recently sold arms to Turkey and is also involved in Black Sea economic co-operation. Recently there have been talks between Turkey and Iraq and Turkey and Iran. Relations continue with Israel. How do you evaluate these developments? Iran's relations with the Kurds is connected with the dominant Persian element in the Iranian state. There is also a part of Kurdistan in Iran and for this reason, too, Iran is interested in the issue. There is also Turkey's interest in the Azeris and the existence of the Turkic Republics in central Asia. As a neighbour it has the PKK which is based on an entirely different ideology. Iran will develop a Kurdish policy based on winning over the Kurds on a pan-Islamic basis. Iran will also want to develop its relations with the PKK, depending on the state of its relations with Turkey. Syria has a similar approach. For Syria there are the questions of the Sanjak of Alexandretta, water and the border. It also has its own Kurdish minority. There is also the Israel factor. For these reasons Syria will not be able to easily oppose the Kurds and will continue to desire close relations with the Kurdish movement. Iraq too, will wish to make peace with the Kurds instead of making permanent war. How do you see the struggle between Turkey and the PKK developing? Our movement will continue to grow. The PKK has support in all parts of Kurdistan and has, to a great extent, influenced other organisations. In ten years the PKK has grown over a hundred fold. In 1984 we started with 30 guerrillas attacking Eruh. In Amed province there were less than 10 guerrillas. Now there are over a thousand in Amed province. In Europe in the 80s we didn't even have a hundred supporters, now 200,000 people can be mobilised for demonstrations. We will carry the war into Turkey. Economic targets will be hit: Tourism has been affected. It will be completely halted. If death squad killings do not stop we will retaliate in kind. If the Turkish regime does not put an end to the dirty war and start democratisation the present situation will continue and this will have a negative effect on the economy as well as on the people. Is it possible that a cease-fire will be called in the near future? The same evaluations that were made at the time of last year's cease-fire are still valid. There are urgent demands that must be met like a new constitution, the lifting of the state of emergency and the prosecution of people like Turkes who are guilty of murder. People who have been forced to leave their villages must be paid compensation and their homes repaired so that they can return. Prisoners of conscience must be released and the DEP trial stopped. Will the regime opt for this? I doubt it. It is still determined to continue the dirty war. It is up to them. What can the Turkish people do to help bring an end to the dirty war? The existing situation is the outcome of the dirty war and revolutionary struggle. They are two completely different things. The development of the revolutionary struggle is a source of pride for us. The dirty war is a source of shame, a dark stain for the army and the people. I call on the Turkish democrats and progressives to do their democratic duty. You must see the revolutionary possibilities created by our struggle. We are prepared to assist you and fight with you side by side. To the people of Kurdistan I want to use for the first time the phrase "citizens of Kurdistan". You must conform to the new laws of society. New forms and rules are coming into being. We have to abandon our old obstinacy and establish a system where the rule of law is respected and where we can live a patriotic, dignified life. To establish a national order is a great advance for us. (From: Ozgur Ulke - August 17-23, 1994) 2) Desperate Kurdish Cry Of Protest Rises From Prison Cell (This letter by Leyla Zana MP was smuggled out of an Ankara jail. She, along with 5 other Kurdish MP's, is being charged with high treason and the promotion of separatism. If convicted, all could receive the death penalty. The six Kurds, who were elected members of the Turkish parliament from the Kurdish Democratic Party (DEP), which was banned in Turkey in June, were stripped of the parliamentary immunity in March. The Turkish government claims the six were actually just a political front for the PKK. The DEP party was formed after a similar pro-Kurdish party, the HEP, was banned by Turkish officials. In the past few months, several DEP politicians have been killed by "unknown assailants" in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan.) Turkey has a tradition under which politicians are periodically arrested and thrown into prison after a military coup. But even against that background, the actions taken against me and my Kurdish parliamentary colleagues are something new. This is the first time that under a so-called civilian government elected representatives are being intimidated with the threat of capital punishment. These actions are purely political. Even before we were arraigned before a court, Tansu Ciller, the Prime Minister, several ministers and all the leaders of the political parties judged and condemned us. During the municipal elections of last March, Mrs Ciller referred to was "the traitors in parliament" and the government's spokesman described us on state television as "terrorists". In such circumstances, a parliament no longer deserves its name and it is no longer possible to believe in Turkish justice. This justice wants me condemned to death for my peaceful and legal activities carried out in my capacity as a member of parliament for the city of Diyarbakir. It reproaches me in a higgledy-piggledy fashion for opinions expressed in the assembly, during meetings of my constituents, in the local and international press, and for going on hunger strike to protest against the destruction of the Kurdish city of Sirnak by the army. I have appealed for peace and for dialogue. My crime has been to use a Kurdish phrase for the friendship of Kurds and Turks and their coexistence during my oath of loyalty in parliament. Even the colour of my clothes are supposed to make me a 'separatist'. Again, speaking of the existence of the Kurdish people, of the land of Kurdistan, demanding a peaceful recognition of the culture and the identity of the Kurds in a democratic system and within existing borders, make me 'a member of the political wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party', even though that party is engaged in a war with the Turkish state and I search for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem. Nor am I alone speaking of the Kurds. Turgut Ozal, our late president, spoke publicly of the existence of "12 million Kurds in Turkey" and argued that a federal solution, was possible to this problem. Even our President, Suleyman Demirel, said in November 1991: "From now onwards, Turkey recognises the reality of the Kurds." The Kurdish people are not the product of my imagination. Historians tell us that the Kurds have been inhabiting their present land from the dawn of recorded time, have their own language, a culture and a civilisation of their own. My people conducted 28 uprisings between 1806 and 1937 to achieve their liberation. President Demirel has described the present guerrilla war as the 29th. At the end of the First World War, when the very existence of Turkey was threatened, the Kurds responded generously to the plea of Mustafa Kemal and he promised that they would obtain their full rights in the new state. Seventy-five Kurdish officials sat in the national assembly "as deputies of Kurdistan". In 1922 Kemal, later "Ataturk", announced a law of 19 articles for the "province of Kurdistan and its assembly". He delayed the examination of his proposals, however, until the Treaty of Lausanne, which recognised the new Turkish state in July 1923, was concluded. The Kurdish deputies who had previously helped him were sent to the Tribunal of Independence, a direct ancestor of the court that is trying us now, and the tribunal sent them to the gallows. A new constitution in 1924 forbade the use of the word "Kurd" and banned all the other languages of Turkey except Turkish. Turkey has pretended since that there are no Kurds in Turkey, that the Kurds are ,'mountain Turks". The ancient place names of the Kurds have been changed into Turkish names and it has not been possible to give Kurdish names to infants. Pliable intellectuals have been pacified by official posts while others have been afflicted with prison or exile. This policy was followed even after the legalisation of political parties in 1950. The Kurdish elite was gradually eliminated. In 1971, a Turkish party of the Left, the Party of Labour, was banned just because it recognised "the existence of the Kurdish people". The military coup of September 1980 plunged the country into ferocious repression. In a land where the people had become attached to democracy and freedom, everyone poured on to the streets to oppose the dictatorship. Alas, Turkey has lost that spirit. It is not astonishing to me that the political parties of Turkey today accept a system that negates the very existence of the Kurds. (From: The London Times - September 7, 1994) 3) Police Attack Kurdish Protests In Mannheim It was supposed to be a send-off for a march by Kurdish women to the European parliament in Strasbourg. But as more than 400 Kurds gathered in the city center of Mannheim on Monday, September 26, 1994, the German police acted as they have become accustomed to acting: The demonstration was declared an illegal gathering of PKK supporters, and riot police were ordered to attack. Several of the women marchers were injured as police used clubs and water cannons to break up the demonstration. At least 315 Kurds were arrested. On Tuesday, September 27, around 70 Kurdish women occupied Mannheim's town hall to protest the police violence from the previous day. Outside the building, riot police attacked 100 Kurdish demonstrators who were supporting the women's sit-in. During the confrontation, a 20 year old Kurdish youth rushed one riot policeman and stole his pistol. The youth was immediately tackled by half a dozen other officers. The gun - which apparently was not on safety - went off and wounded another Kurd in the leg. After the shooting incident, riot police stormed into the town hall building and brutally attacked the women inside. On this day in Mannheim, around 170 Kurds were arrested and several were injured. Apparently in protest of the police violence against Kurds in Mannheim, a series of firebombings were carried out on Monday night, causing extensive damage to several German police stations, as well as to the Deutsche Bank office in Kehl and the central post office in Offenburg. 4) The Turkish Army Is Systematically Burning Kurdish Villages The Turkish army's offensive against the Kurds is continuing. Every day, witnesses report civilian casualties. Since the end of September, the army has been forcing Kurds out of their villages in the province of Dersim (Tunceli) and neighboring provinces. According to reports from human rights agencies, as well as spokespersons for the expelled villagers, more than 30 villages in Tunceli have been destroyed and burned in the last three weeks, 17 in the area around Ovacik alone. The newspaper Ozgur Ulke recently published a list of the names of the villages destroyed, as well as pictures of soldiers making victory poses in front of burning houses. People fleeing from the villages have reported that military commanders would spread a "white, quickly-burning powder" in the houses, and then a soldier designated as the "ignitor" would set the houses on fire. While thousands of the expelled persons from Tunceli are camping or staying with relatives in other cities, 35 people are still missing. Last Friday, seven bodies of members of the Serim and Icik families were found in their burned out houses in the village of Gokcek. At the same time as villages are being destroyed and their inhabitants forced to flee, residents are also being subjected to aerial bombardments from helicopters seeking to wipe out all the forests in the province. One high-ranking military official, who has since fled from Turkey, told the newspaper Ozgur Ulke that the military code name for the destruction and burning of the villages by the Turkish military forces is "Operation Rome", a reference to the burning of Rome by the emperor Nero. Soldiers also informed the newspaper that the Turkish military is planning to destroy another 150 villages and settlements in the region. The Turkish interior minister Mentese justified the military operation in a press conference with reporters, stating that "the region around Tunceli is a nest full of terrorists". While state sources respond to the accusations by claiming that the PKK are the ones setting fire to the villages, both the "minister for human rights" Azimet Koyluogluas as well as Turkish parliament minister Cindoruk have publically acknowledged that the army is destroying the villages, while not drawing any consequences from this fact. Even a delegation of SHP parliamentarians lead by party chairman and deputy prime minister Karayalcin, which visited the city of Tunceli last week, did not feel it was necessary to pay a visit to the villages destroyed or even to speak with the families expelled. Meanwhile, committees in solidarity with Tunceli have been established in several major cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, and Adana, and on Tuesday they carried out a protest demonstration in the capital Ankara. "The army is preparing the second destruction of Dersim," commented the head of one Tunceli support group, making reference to the tragedy of 1938 when the Turkish army, after two years of effort, deported the entire population of Dersim and then razed the city. The name "Dersim" was then banned and replaced with "Tunceli". "But today, they aren't satisfied with just driving us from our homes and destroying our houses, but rather they also want to destroy nature, they want to destroy all our forests so as to make the region uninhabitable forever." Making note of the comments made by the "minister for human rights", the International Human Rights Association in Bonn has called on the German government to announce an immediate moratorium on the deportation of Kurds and to stop all weapons sales to Turkey. (From: junge Welt - October 14, 1994) 5) Kurds Arrested In Germany After Protesting Turkish Army Offensive In Dersim Kurds in several major German cities took to the streets on Saturday, October 22, 1994, to protest the on-going offensive by the Turkish army in the Kurdish province of Dersim. Several hundred Kurds took part in marches in Dortmund, Munich, Hamburg, and Frankfurt. In Hannover and Berlin, several people were slightly injured after riot police attacked demonstrators carrying flags and shouting slogans in support of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). At least two dozen Kurds were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and displaying symbols of an illegal organization. 6) AGIF Statement To The Public: Yesterday Lice, Kulp, Halepce - Today Dersim! Kurdistan Is Burning! In Dersim, hidden from world public opinion, a people, a city, a region are being systematically destroyed by the Turkish government. According to our information, at least 37 villages have been depopulated and destroyed by bombing raids so far. The forests are being set on fire, the farmers' fields are being burned - a scorched earth policy is being followed. Hundreds more villages have already been affected through death threats designed to force people to resettle elsewhere. Dersim has been hidden from the media for weeks, not even the Turkish media, which is loyal to the Turkish state, has been allowed to enter the area. Only military reports are sent from the region, and these are then read, without comment, on state and private television stations. It is no coincidence that all of this is taking place in Dersim, which has been placed under a state of emergency for 10 years, and in a higher state of emergency for the last 2 years. There is a food embargo, a ban on taking sheep herds into the mountains, and food is so strictly and minimally rationed that families barely have enough to survive. Food and livestock are confiscated by the military if they feel there is too much food above the minimal level needed to survive. Villages have been cut off from one another, steets are blocked, and the people's right to free movement has been de facto abolished. The "Reasons" For The Massacre These measures have been enacted against the people of Dersim, because they are a population which are especially progressive and critical of the government. That's why they have been a thorn in the side of the Ankara government for quite some time. This is not the first time that Dersim has experienced such a massacre. For example, in 1938, 40,000 Kurds, elderly people, pregnant women, and children, were killed. This event left a deep memory in the minds of the people of the Dersim region, and that is why the people are so distrustful of the Turkish state. Anyone who knows about what has happened in Lice, Kulp, and Dersim can no longer stay silent in the face of the Turkish government's aggression. We call on the German government to help establish an independent international commission to look into the events in Dersim. We demand that all aid to the Turkish government be suspended, because this aid only serves to keep the Turkish government in place and to allow it to carry out its massaces against the Kurdish people. We demand that all occupying troops withdraw immediately from Kurdish territory! AGIF (Federation of Labor Immigrants from Turkey) Taunusstrasse 12a 51105 Cologne Germany 7) PKK European Spokesperson Arrested He had travelled into the country on the invitation of a British parliamentarian - on the orders of the interior ministry, he is to be deported: Kani Yilmaz, the European spokesperson for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was arrested at 6pm at Westminster subway station in London. He was on his way to a Labour Party event entitled "The future of the Kurdish people" where he was going to deliver a speech. The meeting had been organized by MP John Austin-Walker. Lord Avebury, another participant in the event, said that Yilmaz had entered the country via Heathrow Airport without difficulty on Sunday. "I strongly protest the fact that someone invited into the country by a member of parliament can so easily be arrested." Austin-Walker has filed a formal protest in the British parliament. A spokesperson for the Kurdistan Information Centre in London stated that Yilmaz was arrested on orders from the Turkish embassy. The embassy denies this. An embassy spokesperson told the taz that they only learned about the arrest from British newspaper reports. But it's hard to imagine the British authorities taking such an action without intervention from Turkey. The interior ministry, which authorized the arrest, stated that the Kurdish politician was detained the overnight at the high-security police station at Paddington Green, where he will remain until he is deported. A deportation order has already been issued, since his stay in Britain could be "damaging to public order". It is still to be determined which country he will be handed over to, otherwise he could be sent back to his "home country" - namely Turkey - where he is at the top of the police's most wanted list. Yilmaz has lived for years in Brussels. It is most likely that he will be sent back there. New Indictments Because they allegedly had contacts to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), two more former Kurdish members of the Turkish parliament, Selim Sadak and Sedat Yurttas, must stand trial. Both deny the charges. There are already eight Kurdish former parliamentarians on trial. A trial date has been set for November 9. According to information from medico international, the European Human Rights Commission in Strausburg has accepted six cases filed against Turkey. The Commission is now dealing with the question of whether threats to individuals are reflective of the human rights situation of the Kurdish population in general. (From: taz - October 28, 1994) 8) Kurdish Family Clans: An Introduction Recently, the governor of Yuksekove and the regional army commander attempted to convince the leaders of the Oramar and Doski families to abandon their neutral position with regards to the PKK and to support the Ankara government and the army in their fight against the Kurdish liberation front. After the Oramar and Doski families stated that they would not change their position, Turkish army units carried out acts of retaliation in several villages, especially those inhabited by members of the Oramar clan. What makes Kurdish family clans so important that the Turkish authorities and an entire NATO army are so dependent on their support in Kurdistan? There are more than 120 family clans in north-west Kurdistan, that is, in Turkish state territory. As a result of the historical, social, and political changes of the past 70 years, since the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the family clans have lost a great deal of their power. In the 19th century, the power of the clan leader was unlimited. In regions under his control, he was responsible for almost all social functions: he was a land owner, judge, religious leader, and controller of social life. Kurdish rebellions against Osman domination in the 19th century were less prompted by thoughts of forming a nation-state, as was happening at that time in Europe, rather they were expressions of self- determination in the face of increasing Osman control and regulation. The Kemalist Republic, which the West viewed as modernization, actually represented rigid Turkish assilimilation politics. After the Kurdish uprisings were suppressed, the family clans lost a great deal of their power and significance. The more remote a region was, the harder it was to control, and in these areas the clan leaders were able to retain more of their power. Poverty and labor migration to the major cities of western Turkey and Europe lead to a further breakdown in family associations. But still, the clans today - like the Doski and Oramar families - can number as many as 25,000 adults. When the PKK launched its armed struggle in 1984, the situation of the family clans was changed even more, due to the fact that the party enjoyed support from increasingly broader segments of the society, and because larger regions of the country were coming under the control of the Kurdish liberation front. Some clans, like the Guyiler family from Uludere and the Batuyanlar family from Cizre and the Mala Agaye Sabe family from Sirnak, supported the PKK from the beginning. Today, many clans, such as the Oramar, supply guerrillas for the liberation front, which now has close to 35,000 fighters. The largest "family contingents" are provided by the Kicalan family from Idil and the Pinyaniler family from Cukurcu. Because of the liberation front's socialist program and its clear accentuation of womens' emancipation, many clan leaders have lost their authority in regions controlled by the guerrillas. Reports indicate that some clans have even disbanded themselves entirely. Day to day life is now organized by the liberation front. Other clan leaders, under the influence of the egalitarian philosophy propagated and practiced by the liberation front, have given up their title as "Agha". Some Kurdish family clans have played a significant role in the Turkish government's war against the Kurdish liberation front for about a decade now. Certain families, which were previously both historically and politically insignificant, like the Bucak family from Siverck, for example, have become state-paid paramilitary village guards. Tolerated by the Turkish authorities, these approximately 60,000 armed village guards wage maffia-style little wars to control land and merchandise. Since they have increasingly come into the sights of the guerrilla, many village guard families are starting to distance themselves from their employer, the Turkish government, and lay down their arms. On the other hand, reports also indicate that hard-core village guard clans are now working closely together with the Turkish nationalist party MHP. (KURD-A 02.11.94) 9) Police Attack Turkish/Kurdish Demonstration On Saturday, November 5, 1994, more than 1000 participated in a protest demonstration in the German city of Cologne organized by the left-wing Turkish organizations TKP/ML, THKZ/C, Devrimci Sol Gucler, and MLKPK. The motto of the demonstration was "Against The Massacre In Kurdistan!". Demonstrators also demanded the release of ERNK European Spokesman Kani Yilmaz, who has been detained in London since October 28. Police attacked a part of the demonstration after people began waving the flag of the ERNK (Kurdistan National Liberation Front), which is illegal in Germany. Police arrested 150 youths. 10) "The Turkish Republic Has Lost Its State Authority" On Saturday, October 8, 1994, the KURD-A news agency held an interview with Ebebukir Atac, regional commander of the Kurdistan national liberation army ARGK. The Kurdistan national liberation army ARGK, the military wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), has divided north-west Kurdistan (eastern Turkey) into three military regions. Ebubekir Atac, who commands an estimated 13,000-15,000 guerrillas, commands the "middle" region. This regions contains the Kurdish districts Garzan, Amed, Diyarbakir, Mardin, Bitlis, Bingol, and Mus. During the interview, he confirmed reports from foreign observers that the PKK now has vast portions of the region under its control. The PKK now controls approximately 70-80% of north-west Kurdistan. "I can say that the Turkish government has no state authority in Kurdistan anymore." This authority, he said, was now in the hands of the PKK. In reference to the many expensive operations undertaken by the Turkish army over the last two months, Ebubekir Atac noted that "the Turkish government has tried everything militarily possible, but it has achieved nothing". The military leadership in Ankara has been exploiting its soldiers to the fullest. "The soldiers are being used as cannon fodder in the most perverse fashion." The ARGK commander described the military situation by noting that the guerrilla struggle is now - as planned - becoming increasingly focussed on urban centers. The Turkish army has had to abandon more and more military stations and concentrate their forces in barracks close to the cities. That's why one goal for the coming time period will be, on the one hand, "to strengthen attacks on the military stations until no more exist", and also to remove the so-called system of "village guards" which the Turkish government established in Kurdistan, according to Ebubekir Atac. The ARGK commander stated that the Kurdistan national liberation front would launch a major offensive in 1995, with the goal being a general popular uprising in Kurdistan. (KURD-A 05.11.94) 11) Kurdish Party Calls For Boycott Of December Elections The pro-Kurdish HADEP party, the successor of the outlawed DEP party, has decided to boycott the by-elections for the Turkish parliament scheduled for December. These by-elections were made necessary by the fact that 22 parliamentarians have lost their mandate. Among these are the 6 DEP parliamentarians presently on trial in front of the state security court in Ankara. Despite international protests, these people are facing the death penalty on charges of high treason and separatism. 6 other DEP members managed to escape at the last moment and are presently living in Western Europe. Over the past few months, several hundred HADEP members have been arrested by Turkish police and security forces. At least 200 HADEP members are still in jail in Turkey, many of these without having been formally charged. Several other HADEP functionaries have also been assassinated by "unknown persons". HADEP's boycott of the December by-elections in the Kurdish provinces of Turkey is based on the fact that conditions there are not adequate for free and fair democratic elections to be held. In addition to intense intimidation against HADEP candidates and activists, there is also fear of wide-spread vote manipulation by the Turkish authorities. Also, whereas the approximately 2 million Kurdish refugees who have been forced to flee their villages and towns will not be able to vote, Turkish army soldiers on temporary duty in Kurdistan will be allowed to vote in the region's by-elections. The central committee of the PKK and the mass organization ERNK have supported the HADEP's call for the election boycott. (KURD-A 04/05.11.94) 12) Freedom For Andreas And Karen! The German foreign ministry announced in the night of November 16, 1994 the detention of two Germans at the Turkish/Bulgarian frontier town Edirne. It is said that they were arrested in the night from the 12th to the 13th of November. Since that date both are sitting in a prison in Istanbul. They are reproached for carrying PKK videos and other tapes. It is not clear what their situation and condition is like. But it is clear, that prisoners in Turkey, especially when they are reproached for supporting the PKK, are often at the mercy of the police and military. Torture is no exception. We demand the immediate release of Karen Braun and Andreas Landwehr! For further information please contact: AStA Uni Bonn Nassestr.11 53113 Bonn Germany Tel.: 0228/737030 Fax: 0228/262210 Informationsstelle Kurdistan Wolfstr.10/HH 53111 Bonn Germany Tel./Fax: 0228/659513 13) For A Free And Independent Kurdistan! 16 Years Of The PKK The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was founded 16 years ago at a time when it seemed as though the Kurdish people would disappear from history. The PKK based itself on the conviction that the Kurdish people have a right to a free life, which is the natural right of all peoples. It began its legitimate struggle under impossible circumstances. The Turkish state responded with brutal violence. Whereas the PKK had legitimate reasons to begin this struggle, the attacks by the Turkish state were illegitimate and were concerned with denying the existence of the Kurdish people. The Turkish state really believed it had eliminated the Kurds and buried them under cement. According to the Turkish Republic, there are no Kurds and there never will be. The struggle between the PKK and the Turkish Republic has developed accordingly until today. The reason why the PKK took up armed struggle in addition to other forms of struggle in order to liberate the Kurdish people was the politics of lies and destruction practiced by the Turkish Republic. The PKK had to defend against attacks using a variety of weapons to prevent the legitimate struggle of the Kurdish people from being destroyed and drowned in a bloodbath. The PKK had no choice but to answer violence with violence. The PKK is not fanatically obsessed with armed struggle. On the contrary, the PKK has made efforts at the international level to reach a political solution and has made offers for a ceasefire which are still valid today. Because of the fact that the struggle of the PKK is a humane struggle and one for the freedom of a people, it has developed political strength in a very short time. In this short time, the PKK has won the trust of the Kurdish people. The PKK has given the Kurdish people political consciousness and has made them confident in their free thoughts by means of its political work. The Kurdish people recognize their future and their liberation in the struggle being led by the PKK. The Kurdish people have taken a clear position in the face of the oppression and barbarism, the terror and the massacres of the Turkish state, and, organized by the avantgarde, the PKK, they are in a position to recognize their real enemy. The Turkish state is losing credibility day by day, because it is carrying out an unjust struggle with uncivilized methods. But still it has not been able to separate the PKK from the Kurdish people, nor has it been able to stop the masses from going over to the PKK. Although the PKK historically took up its struggle under impossible conditions, within a short period of time it was able to free the Kurdish people from slavery and to turn a people into freedom fighters. By means of this struggle, the world has been shown that the Turkish state is a uniquely barbaric and terroristic state. The tight connection between the Kurdish people and the struggle of the PKK is proof of the victory of the liberation struggle of the Kurdish people. Today, the Turkish Republic has no political support in Kurdistan. It is trying to keep itself on its feet by stationing half of its army in Kurdistan to carry out a special war. As a result of the alienation of the Kurdish people from the Turkish Republic, the Turkish army has become a foreign occupying force. The people in Kurdistan no longer recognize the authority of the Turkish Republic. The oppression, massacres, and all the methods of destruction practiced by the Turkish state only make the Kurdish people more militant. This is a hopeless situation for the Turkish Republic, for one thing because the people and the PKK have grown together. The PKK has become the Kurdish people itself. As a result, the PKK, as praxis has shown, is the people, and the people are the PKK. Therefore, it is now impossible to separate the Kurdish people and the PKK from one another. That is the reason why the Turkish Republic is carrying out a war of total destruction. Because the Turkish state has not had any success against the PKK and has had to endure continual blows from the PKK guerrilla, it has turned its entire military might against the people. The Turkish state tortures and arrests people at will and puts them in internment camps. It destroys houses, burns villages, and puts people in flight. Last but not least, it bombards the mountains and burns the forests with the goal of reducing the guerrilla's ability to move around freely. All of these are clear signs of the defeat of the Turkish Republic and of the victory of the PKK. Kurdistan is not only a defeat for the Turkish Republic, but also for Western imperialism. Germany's repressive intervention against the Kurdish people is at a point where the Turkish Republic can no longer find a solution. So the banning of the PKK and the ERNK are not without reason. Germany is trying to defeat the Kurdish liberation struggle in order to protect its own economic and political interests. Therefore, Germany has made itself guilty. Its justifications for its position with regard to the Kurdish people and for the banning of the PKK and the ERNK cannot be maintained. The only terrorist who should be accused is the Turkish Republic. Neither the PKK nor the Kurdish people are terrorist. The PKK and the Kurdish people have no quarrel with Germany and they do not ask anything of Germany. Our people have simply made use of their right to organize solidarity events and demonstrations. Such activities have been carried out in several other Western states without any problems. If confrontations break out in Germany, then Germany itself is responsible on account of its pro-Turkish politics. If Germany doesn't want to have any problems, then it should leave the Kurdish people in peace and stop supporting Turkey's special war. Certainly Germany is not interested in bearing the brunt of the anger of the Kurdish people, because anyone who opposes the Kurdish people will surely be defeated. Just as the Turkish Republic will lose this struggle, the same thing applies for Germany. Germany also uses methods of repression against the Kurdish people, as does the Turkish Republic. The Kurdish people support their liberation movement, the PKK, in Europe, and just as they do back home in Kurdistan, they shout the slogan: "The PKK is the people, we are the people!" Repression and bans will only make the Kurds living in Europe even more militant and it will strenghten the organizations and the individuals. Germany should bear this in mind and back off from its present political course. We call on the German people to recognize this reality and to protest Germany's aid for genocide. We call on the German people to support the Kurdish peoples' struggle for humanity and freedom. Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) European Representatives November 23, 1994 14) Kani Yilmaz Being Kept In Isolation Kurdistan Information Centre Press Release - December 2, 1994 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) European Representative Kani Yilmaz, who was detained by police on his way to address a meeting of parliamentarians at Westminster on October 26, is now being held in the Category A section of Belmarsh Prison, where he is being denied access to visitors. According to prison regulations, Category A, the highest security category, is reserved for inmates "whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public or the police or the security of the state." "These will be inmates charged with or convicted of the most serious crimes." It is a scandal that Mr Yilmaz should be put in Category A, as he has committed no offence in this country and is not charged with any offences here. It is ridiculous to suggest that a man who has visited the U.K. on several occasions recently could pose a threat to the security of the state. Mr. Yilmaz now faces extradition to Germany, where he has refugee status, to answer charges of "suspicion of being a ringleader of a terrorist organisation". The PKK has been banned in Germany since 27 November 1993. Mr. Yilmaz is now completely isolated. He is not permitted to have visitors or make phone calls unless the names, addresses and phone numbers are first subjected to a security check. Thus Mr Yilmaz, who came to Britain to address parliamentarians on the PKK's proposals for a peaceful solution to the conflict in North-West Kurdistan, has now been cut off from all contact with the outside world. It is obvious that Britain has decided to try to stifle discussion of the Kurdish issue, criminalise the Kurdish community in this country and lend support to Turkey's genocidal campaign against the Kurdish people. Kurdistan Information Centre 10 Glasshouse Yard Barbican London EC1A 4JN England Tel: (071) 250 1315 Fax: (071) 250 1317 E-mail: kic.london@aps.nl 15) Kurdish Newspaper Offices Bombed On Saturday, December 3, 1994, the offices of the Kurdish daily newspaper Ozgur Ulke in the Turkish cities Ankara and Istanbul were bombed. The editorial offices and printing presses were completely destryed in the ensuing fire. Office workers who attempted to put out the blaze were arrested by Turkish police, witnesses reported. At least two dozen people were hurt in blast, and a driver for the paper, Ersin Yildiz, was killed. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but indications are that it was either the work of the Turkish fascist party MHP or the Turkish secret police - or both. Just a few days before the bombing, Ozgur Ulke had published a ceasefire offer from PKK chairman Abdullah Ocalan; Turkish prime minister Ciller flatly rejected the proposal. On Monday, December 5, several thousand people took part in Ersin Yildiz' funeral. According to the European office of Ozgur Ulke, the Turkish police banned all gatherings and buried Yildiz themselves. Police then attacked and seriously injured several people wishing to attend the funeral. Several small Turkish democratic presses have pooled their resources in order to make it possible for Ozgur Ulke to continue publishing, albeit in a smaller form. 16) Statement From Ozgur Ulke Editor To The Media And General Public We received the following statement from the Chief Editor of the pro-Kurdish daily newspaper, Ozgur Ulke, A. Baki Karadeniz: Between 03.00-3.30 a.m. last night, explosions ripped through three of the main offices of our newspaper, Ozgur Ulke (Free Land) in Istanbul and Ankara. Once again the world is witness to another atrocity of the Turkish regime. Ersin Yilmaz, a driver was killed and 18 people seriously injured. There is no need to speculate as to the authors of this crime. They are very clear to all of us and are as follows: 1. Ozgur Ulke, following its predecessor Ozgur Gundem, has consistently fought against murderers masquerading as "generals", "ministers" or "journalists"; 2. By publicising new items, photographs and documents revealing the true nature of the dirty-war Turkish regime in Kurdistan, Turkey's mask was torn off before the eyes of the world; 3. Ozgur Ulke never pulling its punches, has been the voice of the Kurdish people and at every turn, proved to be the paper for both Turkish and Kurdish people; 4. Our newspaper always insisted on the need for a political solution to the war in Kurdistan, a war which has already claimed the lives of thousands, the destruction of hundreds of Kurdish villages, and the torturing, maiming and imprisonment of tens of thousands. Through this work, we have raised the awareness of the people and thus become the target for the blood-thirsty commissioners; 5. Despite confiscation of almost every issue and the repression resulting in the reduction of its circulation to between 12-13,000 in Turkey, Ozgur Ulke continued stubbornly to be the voice of the suffering masses. Therefore Ozgur Ulke had to face the myriad orders ranging from those of the chief of staff to interior Minister, from the police to the Special Forces, from so-called journalists to mayors and last but not least we neither wait on the "findings" of false investigations nor the "statements" of state officials because: 1. Already, Interior Minister Nahit Mentese, a few days prior to the atrocity, described our paper as a "separatist paper" and added "I would have closed it down, if I had the authority"; 2. Already, during the MGK (National Security Council) meeting four days ago, our newspaper was on the agenda when it was decided to silence it; 3. Already, our newspaper was declared a target by columnist Emin Colasan of the Turkish daily, Hurriyet, which is nothing but an arm of the contra-guerilla. These examples are enough to identify by conspirators. This attack which happens to coincides with the proposals for peace and dialogue shows the real intentions of the state. However, the state has failed again. They will not be able to silence us by razing our buildings and offices. Ozgur Ulke will be out tomorrow and for many, many days after tomorrow. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arm The Spirit E-mail: ats@etext.org PO Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 CANADA -----------------------------------------------------------------------------