>Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 00:29:37 +0100 >From: "Press Agency Ozgurluk . Org" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >Sunday, February 13 12:08 AM SGT > >Turkish police prevent rights march, detain more than 200 > >ANKARA, Feb 12 (AFP) - > >Police in Istanbul on Saturday prevented some 2,000 activists from holding >a human rights march and detained more than 200 people, Anatolia news >agency reported. > >The demonstrators were detained on the grounds they had failed to ask for >authorities' permission to hold the demonstration, the organizers said. > >They had said earlier Saturday that about 100 people were arrested. > >Among those detained were the head of the Istanbul branch and other >manangers of the Human Rights Association (IHD), Turkey's leading rights >group and the organizer of the march, Kiraz Bicici, a member of IHD's >executive board, told AFP. > >Bicici said IHD representatives had informed the authorities in advance of >their intention to hold the march, titled "Respect for human rights in the >2000s," and had been given a positive response. > >The semi-official Anatolia news agency, however, quoted Istanbul police >chief Hasan Ozdemir as instructing his officers "not to allow the illegal >demonstration." > >The IHD said: "The state has once again proven it does not and will not >respect human rights." > >"We will not be silenced. We will continue to struggle for human rights >despite all obstructions and oppression," the group's statement added. > >Riot police, equipped with armored vehicles, set up barricades and closed >off the upmarket Istiklal boulevard in Beyoglu district on the city's >European side, where the march was to take place, Anatolia said. > >Turkey has long been criticised by the international community for its >poor human rights record. In December, the European Union declared Turkey >a candidate for membership, but urged it to carry out comprehensive >democratic reforms. > > >Saturday February 12 7:56 AM ET > > Istanbul Police Detain Over 200 Rights Activists > >ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police on Saturday detained at least 200 >human rights activists before they could march in central Istanbul to >protest at the government's failure to stop alleged human rights abuses, >witnesses said. > >Some 1,000 demonstrators gathered in the central Tunel district of the city >to begin a rally, organized by the Istanbul branch of the independent >Human Rights Association (IHD). > >But their march was stopped by police, who cordoned them off at the small >square where they gathered and later made them board police buses to be >taken to custody, witnesses said. > > ``Our count is that there were something like at least 200 detentions. >They were packed into on seven police buses,'' a spokeswoman from IHD >told Reuters. > >``This was a fully legal and permitted march, and we still do not >understand why police stopped it,'' she said. > >Some demonstrators shouted slogans including ``Humanity's Honor will Defeat >Torture.'' > >The Turkish government has been criticized by local and international >human rights groups for failing to stop torture, especially during police >and paramilitary gendarmerie interrogations. > >Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit pledged in December after the European Union >gave Ankara candidate status to prevent torture and other abuses, and raise >the country's tarnished human rights record up to EU standards. > >The EU is seeking tangible steps from the government to bring an end to >rights abuses, particularly in the country's conflict-ridden, mainly >Kurdish southeast. > >More than 30,000 people have been killed in fighting between troops and >Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels who have waged a campaign for >self-rule since 1984. > > > >ns 100 Rights Activists > > > > Updated >8:56 AM ET February 12, 2000 > >ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - Police on Saturday detained more than 100 activists >preparing to march through central Istanbul to demand an end to human >rights violations in Turkey. > >Turkey's independent Human Rights Association, which organized the march, >said at least 111 people were detained, including the head of the >association's Istanbul branch, Eren Keskin. > >Riot police lined one of Istanbul's main commercial streets and detained >the activists before they reached the square where the march was to begin. >Police had not given authorization for the march. > >"No to torture! Pressure will not stop us!" a group of activists chanted >while police hauled them into buses. Human rights groups say torture is >widespread in police stations. > >Turkey has vowed to improve its human rights record. Ankara formally >became a candidate for the European Union in December and EU leaders said >human rights are key to its accession to the union. > > >Pressagency Ozgurluk.Org >In solidarity with the Peoples Liberationstruggle in Turkey and >Kurdistan http://www.ozgurluk.org >DHKP-C: http://www.ozgurluk.org/dhkc > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
