Highest Turkish Court Closes DTP

Democratic Society Party, the voice of Kurdish people in North Kurdistan was closed and banned on Friday 11 December 2009. The state basically told it's Kurdish citizens that democratic means will not bear fruit. The AKP and its supporters as well as the intelligentsia in Turkey were constantly talking about how things were going to be different this time and Kurds should stop being paranoid and trust the state and the AKP.

To date, Kurds have not had ONE single reason to trust the Turkish state. Closure of DTP has just confirmed Kurds' suspicions. So, how is this different? Where are those who were trying to get Kurds trust the oppressor? I hope closure of DTP has also served as a gentle reminder to Kurds in South Kurdistan.

Zaroken Roj must unite and rely on themselves and themselves alone. If there is to be peace, it has to be on Kurds' terms. Oppressors' compassion only dictates slavery.

Obama's Advanced Democracy: In Turkey, hundreds of minors imprisoned on 'terrorism' charges

This article appeared in CS Monitor:

In Turkey, hundreds of minors imprisoned on 'terrorism' charges
The 2006 antiterror law makes it a crime to take part in demonstrations supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
By Yigal Schleifer | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

Diyarbakir, Turkey - Few would peg Hebun Akkaya, a 17-year-old with a high, nasal voice and polite manner, as a criminal convicted of supporting a terrorist organization.

But the criminal court here in Diyarbakir did. The crime: protesting the prison conditions of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed head of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Designated a terrorist organization by the European Union and United States, the PKK enjoys grass-roots support among citizens here in Turkey's predominately Kurdish southeast.

"I never thought I could go to prison for throwing a stone," says Hebun, who spent 10 months in an adult prison awaiting his initial trial. "I become really angry when I think that just for throwing a stone they were asking to put me away for 28 years. It's unjust." Now out on bail pending an appeal, he faces an amended sentence of seven years.

Hebun is one of hundreds of minors, some as young as 13, who have been arrested and jailed in Turkey over the past few years under strict new antiterrorism laws that allow for juveniles to be tried as adults and even be accused of "committing crimes in the name of a terrorist organization" for participating in demonstrations. Critics and rights defenders say the amended antiterrorism laws are deeply flawed and also violate international conventions on the detention of children.

"There is a lack of proportionality between the crime and the sentence," says Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey researcher for the New York-based watchdog group Human Rights Watch. "Counting what these children do, such as throwing stones or damaging property, as a terrorism offense is a problem."

"You are subject to a court system that doesn't see you as a child," adds Ms. Sinclair-Webb.

Over 1,500 minors prosecuted under antiterror law

As part of its European Union membership drive, Turkey has updated its penal code to more closely reflect European and international standards. But observers say the country took a step backward with a 2006 amendment to the country's antiterror law that made it possible to try minors between the ages of 15 and 18 as adults when the crime is deemed to involve terrorism.

That same year, Turkey's Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that children taking part in demonstrations supported by the PKK could be charged with aiding or acting in the name of the organization.

According to Turkish officials, 1,572 minors were prosecuted under the antiterror law and 174 of them were convicted during 2006 and 2007. Hundreds more court cases against minors have been launched since then.

"The court's decision is very dangerous for the rule of law and for individual freedoms," says Tahir Elci, a Diyarbakir lawyer who is defending several of the jailed children. "According to the high court's decision, prosecutors don't need evidence to claim that somebody committed crimes on behalf of the PKK. Just participating in a demonstration is evidence enough.

"We accept that these kids may have thrown stones, but they didn't do it in the name of the PKK," he adds. "They are children."

Turkish policy conflicts with UN, EU

The 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child deals specifically with the issue of the arrest and imprisonment of minors. According to the convention, which Turkey has signed on to, "The arrest, detention, or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time."

A European Union official in Ankara says the arrest and imprisonment of minors is a cause for "concern."

The official, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, added, "They are not being treated as juveniles, and that is against international conventions. They are being treated as terrorists, and they are not even aware of what they have done."

Brussels has previously expressed concern about what it sees as deficiencies in Turkey's juvenile court system. An EU report last fall on Turkey's progress as a candidate country stated, "Despite some progress in the juvenile justice system, the number of child courts is still inadequate, there is a lack of social workers in these courts and their workload is heavy."

In Adana, for example, the lack of juvenile justice facilities has meant that even children under the age of 15, who by law were supposed to be tried in juvenile court, ended up having their court cases heard in an adult court.

For one boy, jail prompted 'awakening' to PKK views

Turkish prosecutors have defended the heavy sentences given to the children arrested in protests, saying they are a response to an effort by the PKK to mobilize Kurdish youth against the state.

But Sinclair-Webb, of Human Rights Watch, says that sending children off to jail could backfire.

"It's a very hardening process for children and psychologically very damaging," she says. "If you go in as a child who was just having a lark throwing some stones, you may come out as a full-fledged militant.

"If you are trying to win hearts and minds and get people to not join the PKK, this is not the way to do it," she adds.

One teenager, imprisoned for 13 months after participating in a demonstration and now out on bail while he awaits trial, says he was "changed" by his experience in jail.

"I became more aware," says the 16-year-old boy, who asked not to be named because of his upcoming court case, where he could face seven years in prison if convicted.

"The things I learned in prison about myself, about the Kurds, about the PKK, it was like an awakening."

Do I really need to add anything?!

Main Characteristics of the Regime --III

Dr. İsmail Beşikçi has written a nice article at Kurdistan Post which analyzes the double standard put in place against the Children of the Sun. The article makes good points on Fethullah Gülen's role in assimilating Kurdish children and how state supports his activities. Here is the relevant parts of the article translated for your pleasure:

Main Characteristics of the Regime --III

"The twelfth wave"

As part of the Ergenekon investigations, on 13 April 2009, some individuals were detained. The detained included some university presidents (current and retired) and some NGO workers. Some professors' homes were searched. Home of Prof. Dr.Türkan Saylan, the president of Association in Support of Modern Living (ASML), was searched and some documents were confiscated. Tijen Mergen, who administers "Father, Send me to School" campaign in Milliyet daily, was detained. Tijen Mergen, who is on the Board of Management for Dogan Holding, was released a few days later. ASML was searched, some documents were confiscated. CEO Gülseven Yaşar was nowhere to be found.

When we look at the Turkish press after 12 April, we see a great deal of support for those detained as part of the Ergenekon investigations. Starting 14 April 2009, there have been systematic detentions and arrests of Democratic Society Party (DTP) managers, members, and sympathizers. With raids in different cities, over 300 people associated with or sympathizing with DTP were detained, over 150 were arrested [the number of people detained so far is over 400]. While Turkish press showed great interest in those arrested for Ergenekon investigation, it didn't show any interest in DTP. It was stressed in the press that the Ergenekon detainees were under pressure and the operation unfair. The injustice done to DTP was overlooked, nobody spoke of it. It's clear that there is discrimination among the two cases [Ergenekon and the recent detainment and arrest of DTP-related individuals].

Articles praising President of ASML Dr. Türkan Saylan, "Father, Send me to School" campaign manager Tijen Mergen, and Gülseven Yaşar. The articles described how these individuals helped the needy families and provided scholarships for students. It was told "Ms. Türkan didn't deserve this". Dr. Saylan's poor health was brought up to discredit detainment of these ladies further.

In this article, I would like to touch on a subject the Turkish press didn't mention and tried to hide with diligence. The real intention of ASML, "Father, Send me to School" and "Girls Let's Go to School" campaigns, Multi Purpose Community Centre (MPCC), and Modern Education Association (MEA) can only be understood when these organizations and activities are considered within the context of the Kurdish Question. The Turkish press, Turkish intelligentsia mentions of people who work at such organizations as "modern" and "humane". The main purpose of these organizations and activities is to assimilate Kurdish girls into Turkishness. The understanding is that 'mother tongue is learnt from the mother. Therefore it's more important to assimilate the Kurdish girls who are future mothers'. This is the main reason why these organizations focus more on Kurdish girls. Assimilation is the main reason for the dormitories built for girls at Regional Boarding Primary Schools (RBPS) located in Kurdish regions.

It is a known fact that these efforts have support and collaboration from militarist organizations and entities and Turkish Industry and Businessmen Association (TIBA). There is no collaboration with Human rights' organizations or entities. These issues were analysed in an article titled "What is ASML Giving to Kurds?", which appeared in Kurdistan-post on 19 March 2008.

During the last 25 years, one of the important realities of Kurdish geography has been involving burning of houses, razing of villages, and destruction of sources of income [by the state]. People have been forced to leave their home and made homeless.

[Similar events have been at play for the border villages of South Kurdistan. Iran and Turkey have been constantly bombing the border villages and destroying livestock, farms, and infrastructure.]

The "unsolved homicides" have been an important and continuous phenomenon as well. The Gendarmerie Intelligence and Anti-Terror Unit (JITEM) has kidnapped and killed young Kurdish people, Kurdish villagers, traders, business men, etc. JITEM killed Kurds with torture, put their bodies in mass graves, throw into wells, destroyed in acid wells or incinerated them. It's stressed that number of such murders is over 17,000.

Neither any of the organizations like ASML, MPCC, MEA, etc. nor any of their workers has had the smallest criticism of state forces for the atrocities being committed against Kurds. They won't let such news [news related to persecution of Kurds by state forces] appear on their Internet sites or in the press. The systematic persecution of Kurds is ignored. The attention is given to the children of the families who are made homeless, poor, and in need of help. This attention is a requirement for applicability of assimilation policies; it's a necessity of the assimilation policies.

In the last few years, 7 & 8-year-old Kurdish children have been detained, tortured, arrested, and put into prisons because they throw stones at the police and armoured vehicles. They are tried for 25-year sentences. They are not tried at the children's court; with a modification in the anti-terror law, it is made possible to try the children who throw stones at police or armoured vehicles as adults. These children are placed into adult prisons. Even 6-year-old Kurdish children are detained and tortured. In Diyarbakir [Amed], Van [Wan], Batman [Êlih], Adana, and Mersin there are close to 300 children ages 8-15 who are already in prison and being tried. None of the organizations like ASML, MPCC, MEA, etc. has said anything about children being detained, tortured, put in prison, or tried [as adults]. These organizations [ASML etc] and people who work for them find the persecution policies against children as positive.

Considering the environment in which these children live, these actions [throwing stones at the police and armoured vehicles] could be considered as freedom of expression. These children's family homes have been incinerated and villages destroyed. They don't have a healthy life in the suburbs of cities where they live. No job, no food, no health services, no education... Security forces constantly curse at these children's parents and belittle them. Children's homes are raided often, mother, father, older brother, grandfather, etc, are harassed. Under these conditions, it should be accepted as natural that these children are angry at the police and express their anger by throw stones at the police.

[...]

Humanization

To be human, humanization, is an important goal for every individual, every society. How does one become human? How is humanization achieved? The basic indication of humanization, the main criteria of a human, is the way he treats others. Let's remember Bulgaria in 1985-1988. Bulgaria was pressuring its Turks to change their names. Turks were being told "if you change your name and get a Bulgarian name, you will have a chance to advance in Bulgarian Communist Part and in Bulgarian government. Otherwise you will face heavy difficulties...". Bulgaria's actions faced heavy criticism and blame in Turkey from the state, government, press, universities, and NGOs. Bulgarian authorities were blamed with being imperialist, colonialist, primitive, assimilating, backwards and fascist. Of course, the policy Bulgaria had in place for Turks was to assimilate Turks into being Bulgarians. This was causing big reactions in Turkey. Humanization shows itself right at this point. Organizations like ASML, "Father, Send me to School" and "Girls Let's Go to School" campaigns, MPCC, MEA, and people who work for them were forcefully against the process of assimilating Turks in Bulgaria but they voluntarily implement Turkish state's assimilation policies against Kurds. That's why, here, a process against humanization exists. It's obvious that this is a primitive and backwards process.

[...]

Destroying villages and sources of income, "unsolved" murders, hundreds of thousands of people being forced to leave their homes, denial of Kurdish identity, and assimilation policies, without a doubt, aim to destroy the Kurdish community and Kurdish national values. It goes without a doubt that these actions and policies have made life difficult for Kurds and hurt the Kurdish nation. However, it has to be stressed that these practices have been hurting Turkish society and Turkish community values as well. Propositions planned and put in place to destroy the Kurdish community are in fact destroying the Turkish communal values. Turkish universities and press are mouldering away. Hiding and twisting the facts about Kurdish question becomes academia's main purpose. Hiding the facts and events has turned into being main function of the press. JITEM bombed a book store on 9 November 2005. The perpetrators were caught at the scene. We know how the events developed after that. [the military made sure the bombers are set free.]

Firing the prosecutor who filed charges against these bombing suspects who were members of JITEM, Van [Wan] Court sentencing each of these perpetrators to 39 years in prison... Supreme court's voiding of these sentences and the case being forwarded to the military court... Military supreme court's letting these suspects walk away in one sitting...

What do such opposite interpretations of law between military and civilian courts show? It shows rotting of judicial organizations. Yasin Hayal, the person who had a major role in murder of Hirat Dink, was sentenced to three years in Trabzon because he bombed a work place. In Diyarbajir [Amed], the children who throw stones to police and armoured vehicles are being tried for 25 year sentences. These are indications of a rotten judicial system. It's known that the Turkish press generously praises the Palestinian children who throw stones at Israeli soldiers and tanks. Those children and their parents are praised constantly. When Kurdish children do the same, then it becomes "who is turning these children against us?". Having such double standard in thinking is nothing but a rotting of the conscience.

Kurdish Renaissance

The Turkish state, for the sake of destroying and assimilating the Kurds, is letting the main organizations of the state such as judiciary, education, and press go rotten. However, despite all these persecutions, the Kurds are still standing. In fact, Kurds are living a Renaissance today.

How is it that Kurds are living a Renaissance? There has been some criticism directed to Prof. Türkan Saylan from some right wing individuals who are close to Fethullah Gülen. These individuals blame Prof. Saylan with being a missionary and providing scholarship to PKK members. The perspective of these right wing individuals on the Kurdish question is similar to that of state's. Especially, Gülen's followers are trying to promote and spread Turkishness in Kurdish regions under the disguise of "religious and spiritual values". Just like how Kurdish is forbidden to children who are taken away from their families and sent to RBPS, Kurdish is forbidden in the Kur'an schools organized by Fethullah Gülen's followers. Spreading Kur'an schools in the region [Kurdish] is state's policy. Children who attend to these Kur'an schools stay at dormitories. While the state objects Kur'an schools and Islamic movements in the west [of Turkey], it encourages both in the Kurdish regions. State's policy is "to leave Kurds behind, to melt Kurdish demands within religious movements". That's why as far as Kurdish question is concerned, there is a great deal of similarity between Kemalism's Turkishness, which is disguised in 'education' and the Turkishness disguised in 'religious and spiritual values'. However, one can say that Fethullah Gülen's followers have a relatively more humane approach to the Kurdish question than Kemalists.

Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı, published an article titled “Fethullah Gülen and Abdullah Öcalan” in Taraf daily on 22 April 2009. The author says that both Fethullah Gülen and Abdullah Öcalan have support of masses in Turkey and the state and the public need to get used to the fact. This is not a complete view, however. Fethullah Gülen and Abdullah Öcalan are not in the same situation. The line Fethullah Gülen represents against Kurds and the Kurdish question is the line mobilized by the state and the deep state. The state is able to use anyone, any organization, any opportunity, and any means to weaken Kurds, Kurdish movement, and PKK. Left wing, right wing, liberals, religious movements, etc. It's a known fact that Hizbullah [in Turkey] was established by the state to fight PKK, in fact, the patriotic Kurds in the cities. [it seems now the state has openly assumed the role Turkish Hizbullah assumed in the past]. It's also a known fact that Fethullah Gülen's followers have distorted and published incomplete versions of Said-i Kurdi's writings about Kurds. [Said-i Kurdi, also known as Said-i Nursi was a Kurdish Imam who authored the books which Gülen movement republished distorted versions (all references to Kurds and Kurdishness have been removed or altered into Turks and Turkishness). These distorted books are used by the Gülen's movement for religious education]. No doubt, there are Kurds who publish Said-i Kurdi's writings without distortions and criticize the Gülen movement for their anti-Kurd stand.

I have stated above that Gülen's followers take advantage of Kurds' situation and accumulate Kurdish children into Kur'an schools and forbid them Kurdish language, make an effort to raise these children in an environment with Turkish language and culture. The clergy against these impositions are defending Kurdish language and culture. Despite all oppression, great interest in Kurdish language and culture is building among workers, traders, young people, students, clergy, women, and villagers. This can be considered as a Renaissance. There is no way this process can be stopped either. In this context, for sure there will be efforts to develop a consciousness of homeland.

[...]

İsmail Beşikçi

Amazed?

Jail Sentences for Kurdish Children

In Adana, Turkey, on April 27 2009, thirteen children were sentenced to a total of 112 years 10 days. They were found guilty of "committing crime in the name of an organization" which means taking part in a demonstration; "performing organization's propaganda" which means shouting some supportive slogans, "resisting to an officer", which simply means you resist to let one of those thugs smash your skull with butt of his weapon, shoot you with a gas canister or run you over with an armored vehicle. Again in Adana, on April 28 2009, eleven children were sentenced to a total of 84 years 6 months. So, in two days twenty-four children were sentenced to a total of 196 years, 6 months, and 10 days. Eight of the 24 children are 15-years old or below. Four of them are 15, two are 14, and two are 13 years old.

Turkey's democracy is pretty advanced about handing jail sentences to children, is it not?

DTP are Children of the Sun!

They are children of the sun

They won't give into oppression

No... They won't


No, they won't

They won't...

Won't happen

...


Zaroken roj will never give in!!!




Bijî DTP!

HERE WE ARE!

We, the Kurds, are the children of the sun. We are here. We have been here for over four thousand years and we shall be here.

No matter how brutal and denying the oppressors, how cheap the jash and korucu; we shall remain here; defiant, causing nightmares for the oppressors. Our flame will warm the hearts of our friends and burn the enemies of our people. We are people of fire.