Turkish MP Says Army Fired Mortar Bombs on Village

[english at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl]

Subject: Turkish MP Says Army Fired Mortar Bombs on Village
From: Press Agency Ozgurluk <ozgurluk at xs4all.nl>


Note: Tunceli is the "Turkified" name of the Kurdish province Dersim

 (03:50) Turkish MP Says Army Fired Mortar Bombs on Village

TUNCELI, Turkey, Aug 5 (Reuter) - A leftist MP said on Tuesday the
Turkish army was responsible for a mortar attack on a village in
eastern Tunceli province which killed a 55-year old woman.

"The army was responsible for the attack. Two officers even went and
apologised after it happened... Mortars had been fired at the village
10 days earlier to frighten them, the army thinks they (the villagers)
support the terrorists," Tunceli MP Orhan Veli Yildrim told Reuters.

The woman died and three people were injured last week when up to 15
mortar boms rained down on the village of Karsilar, residents
said. They said nearby troops fired the bombs.

A spokesman for the military was not immediately available for comment
but officials earlier said they were looking into the villagers'
allegations.

The mountainous province of Tunceli has been the scene of some of the
heaviest fighting between Turkish security forces and terrorists of
the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighting for independence since
1994.

Yildirim said a food embargo enforced in the province since 1994 with
the aim of stopping supplies reaching the guerrillas had left
villagers in a perilous condition. "Since 1994 our people are
struggling to survive in very primitive conditions," he said. "About
80 percent of the roads are closed after 3 o'clock in the
afternoon. All our schools are closed... Our people are under
pressure, by night by the terrorists, by day by the state," Yildirim
said.

Local officials deny the existence of any embargo. "There is no food
embargo in Tunceli, although we send food products going to villages
and country areas in a controlled manner," Tunceli governor Atil
Uzelgun told Reuters.

Uzelgun said that the since the start of the restrictions in 1994,
less food was reaching the PKK units in the area.
                                       
Villagers say they have to prove to police how many people they have
in their family before they are issued with a document stating how
much food they are allowed to purchase. "Sometimes the police station
doesn't give us the necessary permission, so we can't take enough food
home," Ozturk said.
                                       
Such pressures have led to large numbers of people leaving Tunceli
province in recent years.
                                       
"The military are saying to the people: 'Go, it doesn't matter where
you go, but go,' now they are firing artillery at them," said Huseyin
Ayrilmaz of the Tunceli Culture and Solidarity Association in Megaköy.
                 
-- 
Press-Agency Ozgurluk: http://www.ozgurluk.org
The struggle for human right, freedom, justice and democracy in Turkey
and Kurdistan
Press Agency Ozgurluk
The struggle for human rights, justice and democracy in Turkey and Kurdistan
http://www.ozgurluk.org