: TRKNWS-L NEWS

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

From: tabe at newsdesk.aps.nl
Subject: : TRKNWS-L NEWS
Reply-To: kurdeng at aps.nl


Turkey's Human Rights Leaders Discuss Issues
    WASHINGTON, June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The Helsinki Commission and
International Human Rights Law Group will host a briefing by leaders of
Turkey's foremost human rights monitoring organizations, Akin Birdal and
Yavuz Onen, leaders of the Human Rights Association and Human Rights
Foundation, respectively, will be in Washington, D.C. to accept awards on
behalf of their groups at the Law Group's 1995 Awards Dinner.
    Members of Congress, their staff, the press and public are invited
to attend the briefing and pose questions.  The briefing will take place
on:
    TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 1995
    2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

    2200 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
    The human rights situation in Turkey remains perilous.  Violence by
extremists, terrorists and Turkish security forces exacts a growing toll of
innocent lives and increasingly threatens internal stability.  Over 1000
Kurdish villages have been destroyed or forcibly evacuated and hundreds of
thousands have been displaced.  Human rights activists routinely face
harassment, arrest, detention or have been victims of unsolved murders.
 Restrictions on free expression are vigorously enforced, and scores of
journalists, academics, other intellectuals and even Turkey's most well-known
author are imprisoned or face charges for expressing views deemed
unacceptable by authorities.

    Appearing at the briefing will be:
    YAVUZ ONEN is President of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey. The
Foundation, established in 1990, compiles printed and video documentation and
prepares daily human rights reports on subjects including torture,
extrajudicial killings, freedom of expression and issues concerning Turkey's
Kurdish citizens.  The Foundation publishes reports and advocates for human
rights throughout Turkey.  The Foundation also runs four centers for the
rehabilitation of torture victims.

    AKIN BIRDAL is Chairman of the Human Rights Association of Turkey. The
Association, founded in 1986, has over 60 branches throughout Turkey.  It is
Turkey's largest and oldest human rights monitoring organization.  The group
investigates reports of human rights abuses throughout Turkey, organizes
conferences, issues reports and plays a leading role in grass roots human
rights education.

CO:  Helsinki Commission; Commission on Security and Cooperation in  Europe

Kurdish Ceasefire Extended for Limited Period
      ANKARA, June 1 (Reuter) - An Iraqi Kurd party has extended its
unilateral ceasefire with a rival faction for six weeks from Thursday, a
party leader said.
    ``In order to provide another opportunity for reaching a just political
solution of the crisis and to safeguard the harvest season and give the
students the chance to finalise their exams, we have extended the ceasefire
truce until 15 July 1995,'' said Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP).
    The KDP announced a unilateral ceasefire on April 7 for two weeks, which
was extended until June 1.
    ``Over the past two months it has been relatively quiet and there have
been no major clashes,'' KDP Ankara representative Saffeen Dizayee told
Reuters.
    The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the rival Iraqi Kurdish militia
with which the KDP shares power in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, has not
formally responded to the truce, but says it welcomes all efforts to stop
fighting.
    ``We do not feel the need for a reaction now, as from the beginning we
have said that the ceasefire should be indefinite,'' said Shazad Saib, PUK
spokesman in Ankara.
    He said the PUK still held the northern Iraqi city of Arbil, which it
took in March after fierce fighting. The KDP demands it demilitarise the
city, which housed the Kurdish parliament.
    The Kurds stook a small step towards ending months of dispute on Saturday
by agreeing to extend the mandate of the Iraqi Kurdish parliament for a year
from June 4, when it was due to end.
    That was the first time the asssembly had met in more than five months.
KDP-PUK fighting has also stymied election plans.
    Dizayee said the two parties still had to reach a lasting settlement and
elections could help ease the situation.
    ``I believe elections would be a way out although it would not be able to
resolve all problems,'' he said, adding polls were the only alternative to
the current ``gun rule.''
    A Western allied force based in southern Turkey shields the Iraqi Kurds,
who broke away from Baghdad after the 1991 Gulf War, from possible attack by
government troops.

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 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)