>Delivered-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Delivered-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2000 14:58:00 -0000 >From: STEVE KACZYNSKI <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: "[Ozgurluk.Org]" Guardian article on prison crackdown, and DHKC letter >(Forwarding) >The article on page 12 of "The Guardian" on December 22, "400 inmates make >last stand in Turkey" by Suzan Fraser, read like the pure product of a >Turkish government press briefing. >The article says soldiers shouted through megaphones to prisoners to get >them to surrender, "Think of your parents waiting in front of the prison". >Since these same soldiers and police have frequently assaulted the relatives >of prisoners over the years, especially during prison visits, it is doubtful >whether they enjoy much credibility. >The government has done its best to stress its alleged lack of control in >the prisons to justify its assault now, which a number of human rights >organisations like Amnesty International have criticised. In fact, wardens >could search prisoners' compounds when they wished to. The government's real >problem is that thousands of highly politicised prisoners are concentrated >together. In the end the government is targeting the political ideas the >prisoners hold. That is why it wants to put the prisoners in isolation >cells. >The article claims the prisoners have little support. But hundreds of people >have been arrested in Turkey for demonstrating against the assault by state >forces, and it is in fact dangerous to be a supporter of the prisoners. In >London, where the same degree of repression does not exist, protests and >demonstrations, including the occupations on the 20th which attracted some >British media attention, have involved a significant section of the >Turkish-speaking community in this country. >The article only mentions the DHKP-C, which stands for "Revolutionary >People's Liberation Party-Front", not "Army-Front" as given in the article. >In fact prisoners from the Communist Party of Turkey (Marxist-Leninist) or >TKP(ML), and the Communist Workers' Party of Turkey (TKIP) were also on the >Death Fast, and TKP(ML) prisoners are certainly among those known to have >been killed. Incidentally, the death toll is far higher than the official >figures given. >You cite Turkish newspaper claims (hardly the most reliable source) that >senior DHKP-C members live in Britain and Belgium. In both countries, there >are active DHKC Information Bureaus. Our Bureau in London has publicised the >state in Turkey's use of torture and disappearances for years and our office >even has a sign and a flag outside. When the press in Turkey makes claims >about our organisation in Europe, it often happens that European police >forces then raid homes, offices and associations. We hope that so liberal a >newspaper as "The Guardian" is not lending itself to such a shameful >proceeding. >We consider the US and European governments to be accomplices in the crime >of the authorities in Turkey. > >DHKC (Revolutionary People's Liberation Front) >London Information Bureau >97 Kingsland High Street, Dalston, E8 2PB. >(0207) 254 1266 >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >-------------------------------------------------------------------- >400 inmates make last stand in Turkey > >Government approves amnesty to cut overcrowding in jails as protests at all >but one prison are crushed > >Suzan Fraser in Ankara >Friday December 22, 2000 > >Soldiers pressed defiant inmates to end their standoff in the last Turkish >prison holding out against authorities, after more than 150 left-wing >inmates in another jail >surrendered. >Prisoners across the country had embarked on a two-month hunger strike to >protest at plans to move them from huge, packed prison wards to small cells. > >After three days of raids on more than 20 prisons, 400 inmates remained >barricaded in Istanbul's Umraniye prison. The standoff at Canakkale prison >in western >Turkey ended earlier yesterday, with the interior ministry saying that two >more prisoners had been found dead, taking the official death toll in the >raids to 19 inmates >and two soldiers. > >NTV television showed some of the Canakkale inmates jumping out of a hole >soldiers had smashed in a prison wall and crawling towards the heavily armed >security >forces. > >Earlier, soldiers shouted "Life is beautiful" and "If you are not thinking >of yourselves, think of your parents waiting in front of the prison" through >megaphones, the >daily Milliyet reported. > >Parliament yesterday approved an amnesty that will nearly halve the >country's prison population of 72,000 and help end overcrowding. Parliament >passed the >amnesty bill for the second time after President Ahmet Necdet Sezer had >previously vetoed it. Turkish presidents cannot veto a bill twice. > >Officials have said it is vital for Turkey to reduce jail numbers as it >struggles to regain control of prisons where inmates often live in wards >that house up to 100 >people. > >Political groups frequently run wards like indoctrination centres and bar >warders from entering. Poorly paid guards are bribed and threatened and >telephones and >weapons smuggled in. > >Convicted murderers and thieves will benefit from the amnesty, but rapists, >corrupt state officials, drug traffickers and those accused of crimes >against the state, such >as Kurdish guerrillas and leftwing and Islamic militants, will not. > >Although hundreds have demonstrated in the streets in support of the >prisoners, the police raids appear to have been popular. The prisoners are >mostly from fringe >groups that have little support and many Turks have been critical of the >government for not reining in the prisoners earlier. > >"It is ... a great shame that the state has allowed the current mess in the >prisons to prevail for so long without taking effective steps," wrote Ilnur >Cevik, editor-in-chief >of the Turkish Daily News. > >The newspaper Radikal quoted the interior minister, Sadettin Tantan, as >saying that the government had chosen to take the "slow road" and use >psychological >warfare to end the siege. > >At Umraniye prison shots were heard throughout the day, the independent >Human Rights Association said. Security forces, throwing tear gas from holes >drilled in the >prison, were closing in on the prisoners who had barricaded themselves in, >the news agency Anatolia said. > >The protesters > > >• The Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front, DHKP-C, which organised >uprising, aims to replace government in Ankara with revolutionary republic > >• Up to 1,000 DHKP-C inmates said to be involved > >• Its gunmen have targeted generals, police officers, government officials >and US military missions > >• Several senior members said by the Turkish press to live in Britain and >Belgium > > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for geopolitics. 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