Attack on the Newspaper Kurtulus

Tue Feb 17 17:52:49 GMT 1998

URGENT PRESS STATEMENT, 2400 CENTRAL EUROPEAN TIME TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17,
1998

Turkish police attacking newspaper office and beating and arresting
journalists

Today, February 17, the police of Istanbul, Turkey came to the building of
the socialist weekly newspaper Kurtulus (Liberation). They came in on the
pretext of attempting a search and then started beating and arresting the
people they found in the building, some of whom are lawyers, and others
journalists. According to pictures shown on the Turkish TV channel Show TV,
several of the people inside and outside the building were being beaten and
were covered in blood. Other pictures showed that there were still people
holding out inside and the police were putting on gas masks, probably as a
prelude to launching an attack using tear gas or some other form of gas.

On January 28, Mehmet Topaloglu, the representative of Kurtulus in Adana,
southern Turkey, was killed by police who sprayed his flat with bullets. Two
other people died in the attack. This incident looks like a kind of
introduction to today's attack on the Istanbul headquarters of Kurtulus.
Kurtulus reflects the views of the DHKP-C (Revolutionary People's Liberation
Party-Front), considered an „illegal leftist organisation" by the Turkish
authorities. Kurtulus itself is a legally registered newspaper in Turkey,
however.

Last Saturday in the Istanbul district of Kadikoy seven workers for the
newspaper were arrested when they tried to read out a press statement. 
Then, yesterday, there were attacks by the police when workers for Kurtulus
expressed their public opinion of the murder of the newspaper's Adana
correspondent Mehmet Topaloglu, who was the victim of an extra-judicial
execution on January 28, 1998 during a raid on his flat by the police.

The protests were above all made against the mass arrests which have been
going on for days. In the course of these, the police have arrested many
people, among them Kurtulus workers, and beat them, sometimes while they
were made to lie on the floor of police buses.

Today, at 1330, a press conference was held at the Kurtulus head office on
Cagaloglu in order to protest against the attacks the previous day. Once
again the police attacked, and, as was shown on several Turkish TV channels'
evening news broadcasts, that afternoon the police arrested  more than 40
people. The police surrounded the building and barged in on the pretext that
they were "looking for someone". The iron door was opened with a halogen
torch by the police. Then the people inside tried to throw up barricades,
but these were broken down with violence. More than a hundred Kurtulus
readers and journalists gathered outside the building to protest, and were
themselves attacked by the police. Several people were wounded and arrested.
Various reporters who wanted to make reports on the spot about the incident
were also attacked by the police. It was reported in the news that one of
the journalists attacked in this way is in danger of losing the sight in his
left eye.

So far the names of 30 people arrested have been confirmed. These were
Kurtulus workers or people who showed solidarity. All those in the building
and gathered outside were arrested. 

The following were arrested in the building and taken to hospital as a
result of the injuries they received.

VAHAP KAYA; UFUK DOÐUBAY; YAÞAR DÝLÝBAY; BÜLENT TEGÜN; ZEHRA KURTAY; BARIÞ
BAYAR; BANU GÜDENOÐLU

Of these, ZEHRA KURTAY is in a coma. One other person whose name is unknown
was also arrested in the office. 

Our latest information is that the following people were also arrested in
the building.

HAMDI KAYSI; AYNUR CIHAN; SENGUL AKKURT; AYNUR KORUCU; MUSTAFA BALCI; MAHMUT
KILILI; TUNAY AKAN; FETHI DOGRU; SEVDA GOKTAS; YUKSEL DOGAN; OMER TUNCER;
ECEVIT ULAVUR; LAZER FIDAN; SAHIN ERDOGAN

The following people are known to have been arrested in front of the
building.

TULIN SOYHAN; NURHAN YILMAZ; SAFFET ERCAN; EBRU TURKOGLU; AYDIN AKTAS;
KIYMET KILIC; YUSUF ARACI; MEDIHA ARACI

We call on European public opinion to send protest faxes to the Turkish
authorities. Last August, an attack by the police on the Kurtulus building
in Istanbul was suspended when protests were made, both by people outside
the building and by West European institutions and individuals who sent in
protest faxes. This time we can only try to shorten the time the arested
ones are tortured. Please lend us your assistance again.

Please send protest faxes to the following places:

Istanbul Police HQ: 0090 212-635 4381 
Ministry of Internal Affairs: 0090 312-418 1765
Please send a copy of any message you send to our fax number: (++32) 02
7337281

DHKC 
(Revolutionary People's Liberation Front) 
Brussels Information Bureau

--------------------------------------------------
DHKC Front Revolutionnare de Liberation du Peuple
Bureau d' Information
Leuvensensteenstraat 323
1030 Brussel
Tel/Fax: 32 2 73 37281
e-mail: dhkc at xs4all.be
www: http://www.xs4all.be/~dhkc

-- 
Press Agency Ozgurluk
For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan!
Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org                          
mailto:ozgurluk at xs4all.nl / mailinglists: petidomo at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl
List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl