03:Kurdistan Info Bulletin #1

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From: newsdesk_aps_nl at apsf.aps.nl (newsdesk at aps.nl)
Subject: 03:Kurdistan Info Bulletin #1


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)

14) Kurdish MP's Sentenced

     On Thursday, December 8, 1994, heavy sentences were handed
down against eight Kurdish parliamentarians from the now-banned
Democracy Party (DEP). Although the court, under international
pressure, dropped the charges of high treason and separatism,
which carry the death penalty, all of the Kurdish politicians
were convicted of supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK). Two MP's were given sentences of 3 1/2 years, another was
sentenced to 7 1/2 years, and five others, including the first
Kurdish woman to ever be elected to the Turkish parliament, Leyla
Zana, were sentenced to serve 15 years in prison. International
trial observers, including members of the European Parliament,
condemned both the trial and the verdict.

15) Kurds Resist Criminalization In Germany

     Despite Germany's banning of the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) and more than 30 other Kurdish organizations in November
1993, Kurds continued to take to the streets to protest Turkey's
dirty war in Kurdistan and Germany's open support for that war,
both in the form of arms sales to the Turkish military and harsh
repression against Kurds living in exile in Germany. Kurds
demonstrated on several occasions and in several cities all
across Europe, particularly in Germany, throughout 1994. When
Kurdish Newroz celebrations in March 1994 were banned and
violently attacked by German riot police, Kurds set up buring
barricades on Germany highways. In June 1994, tens of thousands
of Kurds marched in Frankfurt to demand a political solution to
the war in Kurdistan. At each of these events, people proudly
displayed the flag of the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan
(ERNK), an act which is itself illegal in Germany. The following
is a very small compilation of actions, mostly from August 1994.

     On Thursday, August 18, 1994, a demonstration by 100 Kurds
in Bonn's inner-city was violently dispersed by dozens of riot
police. Several Kurds were injured. The reason for the police
attack was the fact that the demonstrators were publically
displaying symbols of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is
illegal in Germany.
     As police moved in to break up the demonstration, men,
women, and children sat on the ground and chanted slogans. Police
beat people on the ground and used pepper spray to break up the
gathering. The demonstration had been organized as a send-off for
a group of Kurdish youths who are set to make a bike trip to
Geneva. On August 27, the UN Human Rights Commission is going to
meet in Geneva to discuss peoples' rights to self-determination.
     After police had violently attacked and dispersed the
demonstration, approximately 45 Kurds fled into Bonn's main post
office. Riot police then stormed the building and arrested 22
men, women, and children, several of whom were injured by police.
     In total, more than 100 Kurds were arrested by police in
Bonn. Interior minister Kanther (CDU), who was responsible for
the November 1993 banning of the PKK and more than 30 other
Kurdish organizations, has stated that he wants all those Kurds
that were arrested to be immediately deported to Turkey. Kanther
stated on Friday, August 19: "People who so blatanly abuse their
guest rights must leave Germany immediately." On Saturday,
however, all the arrested Kurds were released from police
custody.
     On Saturday, August 20, around 500 Kurds demonstrated in
Frankfurt in protest of the police action against the Kurds in
Bonn. The demonstrators demanded that the police give back the
bikes which they had confiscated from Kurdish youths in Bonn, as
these were needed for the youths' protest ride to Geneva. Riot
police threatened to use force to break up the demonstration, as
several youths were waving PKK flags and wearing T-shirts with
photos of Halim Dener, the 16 year old youth who was murdered by
a plainclothes cop in Hannover. After tense negotiations, the
demonstrators puts away their PKK symbols and police handed over
the confiscated bikes. The demonstration then dispersed without
anyone being arrested.
     On Monday, August 22, a spokesman for the Bavarian justice
department confirmed reports that as many as 31 Kurdish prisoners
had been on hungerstrike for several days. The hungerstrike is
designed to protest Germany's repression of Kurdish activists, as
well as to draw attention to the ongoing trial against six
Kurdish parliamentarians in Turkey who are facing the death
penalty for "high treason and separatism". Among those on
hungerstrike are the PKK-supporters recently sentenced for the
June 1993 take-over of the Turkish consulate in Munich.
     On Sunday, August 21, approximately 1100 Kurds held an event
in Frankfurt. Police did not intervene, but they did confiscate
PKK/ERNK literature. Demonstrators called on Germany to stop
supplying Turkey with tanks and other forms of military aid.
     In Paris, France, at least 190 Kurds were arrested on Monday
night, August 22, after police attacked a Kurdish vigil. The
Kurds had unfurled banners condemning Turkey's dirty war in
Kurdistan and also brought mattresses to a city square in order
to stage an all-night vigil for Kurdistan. Riot police then
attacked and broke up the gathering.
     On Wednesday, August 24, German police once again used
violence to break up a Kurdish demonstration, this time in the
city of Freiburg. When demonstrators held up PKK flags, riot
police attacked and made three arrests. Ten police officers were
injured in the confrontation.
     On Wednesday night, a carload of five Kurds was stopped by
police at a roadcheck in Frankfurt.Police confiscated six molotov
cocktails and arrested the five Kurds. Four have since been
released from police custody, but one is being charged with
planning an armed attack. Police say the men were all PKK
activists.

16) Joint Statement From Kurdish Groups In Germany

     The thing that needs to be banned is the genocide being
carried out by Turkey with the help of German weapons.
     The cooperation between the Turkish and German governments,
who have tried for years to criminalize the Kurds and to place
them in a bad light, has finally led to the banning of legal
Kurdish organizations. This decision, taken under direction from
Turkey, is a political decision. It has no legal basis. If there
are concrete accusations, then these should be made openly. The
normal legal procedure should be followed. Our organizations are
strong enough to stand up to these accusations. Up until now, no
trials have ever been opened against our organizations.
     This incredibly undemocratic decision was made during
Ciller's most recent visit to Germany. It resembles the laws
which Turkey imposed during its period of martial law. We shall
defend our right to organize internationally, both in Germany and
elsewhere. Our organizations enjoy the support of tens of
thousands of Kurds. They have their own goals and are not bound
to any one party. All Kurds are fighting against their ethnic
extinction at the hands of Turkey. Germany has made a big mistake
if they think that banning our organizations will lessen the
support and sympathy of the hundreds of thousands of Kurds in
Germany.
     Problems can best be solved through dialogue. This problem
especially cannot be solved by banning Kurdish organizations. If
that were the solution, then the Turkish state would have solved
this problem long ago.
     The banning of our organizations is the result of growing
cooperation between Turkey and Germany. Turkish authorities
welcomed the ban and Turkish TV stations even interrupted their
broadcasts to report the news. Germany needs to tell the Kurds
whether or not it wishes to be complicit in the genocide in
Kurdistan. How many millions of dollars has Turkey paid to
Germany for weapons deliveries since 1980? Who is responsible for
the 870 Kurdish villages that have been burned to the ground? Who
delivered the German tanks, which have even been seen on German
TV stations, which are put into action in Kurdistan? Throughout
its history, Germany, by means of delivering weapons to Turkey,
was complicit in Turkey's mass-murder of the Armenians, are they
now going to support genocide against the Kurds?
     We, Kurds and Kurdish associations, stand for peace and a
peaceful solution. But the tanks and other forms of military aid
which are delivered from Europe, and especially from Germany, are
killing our people. But Germany wants the Kurds, who are face to
face with genocide, to remain silent.
     We, the organizations that have jointly signed this
statement, as well as the approximately 200.000 Kurds who support
us, wish to protest this undemocratic decision. This situation
must change and place must be made for genuine democracy.

November 26, 1993

Kurdistan Committee
Feyka Kurdistan
Kurdistan Centre, Bonn
Cultural Centre, Berlin
Workers' Union, Bremen
Organization for Culture and Support for the Kurdish People,
Frankfurt
Kurdistan Cultural Association, Nurnberg
Culture and Workers' Association, Coblenz
Medya Cultural Association, Hagen
Kurdistan Cultural Association, Mannheim
Kurdistan Centre, Bielefeld
Cultural Association of the Kurdish People, Duisburg
Kurdish Cultural Centre, Celle
Kurdistan Solidarity Centre, Stuttgart
Kurdish Cultural Association, Hamburg
Association of Kurdish Workers, Hannover
Kurdish Workers' Union, Cologne
Kurdistan Cultural and Workers' Union, Saarbrucken
Kurdish Cultural Association, Rendsberg
Kurdish Womens' Centre, Leverkusen
Kurdistan Cultural Centre, Kassel
Kurdistan Association, Munich
Kurdistan Cultural Centre, Ingostadt
Kurdistan Culture and Information Centre, Freiburg
Kurdistan Cultural Solidarity Centre, Dortmund

17) GSG-9 Storms Kurdish Cultural Gathering

     On Saturday, May 28, 1994, 80 masked and heavily-armed
members of the elite German "anti-terror" police unit GSG-9
stormed the Alte Feuerwache cultural center in Saarbruecken
during a meeting of a Kurdish cultural association. 62 persons
were handcuffed and arrested; several Kurds were kicked as they
on the floor. According to police, the meeting was a leadership
gathering of the PKK, which was banned in Germany in November
1993. In particular, the police say they were looking for one
specific PKK leader believed to be at the gathering, but he
turned out not to be present. All but one of those arrested (a
Kurdish woman who German authorities plan to deport to Belgium)
have since been released.

18) Kurds Sentenced For Consulate Take-Over

     On Wednesday, July 6, 1994, 13 Kurds, ranging in ages from
21-31, were given jail terms of 2.5-4.5 years for the June 24,
1993 take-over of the Turkish consulate in Munich. During this
action, which was part of a European-wide day of actions
coordinated by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), 21 embassy
personnel were held hostage for several hours. The Kurds demanded
a meeting with German chancellor Kohl and a television broadcast
to protest Turkey's genocidal war in Kurdistan. Although these
demands were not met, all the hostages were released unharmed.
     The sentences given in this trial were well below what the
state prosecutor had requested. Surprisingly, in handing down his
ruling, the presiding judge stated that the Kurds had acted with
a "positive goal" in mind, and that, considering the political
situation in their homeland, they had acted from a sense of
"personal emergency". (ND)

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