TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 7 AUGUST 1995

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

 PKK can not 'control' itself

Challenge: Human Rights Association Chairman Husnu Ondul says those
who claim they are not terrorists should prove it by their actions

By Sinan Yilmaz

Turkish Daily News
  _

ANKARA- Despite its earlier announcement that it would abide with
the Geneva Convention in order to be accepted as a "belligerent party"
against Turkey, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) still
continues its attacks against civilians at full swing.

Among the primary demands which the PKK militants put forward during
their hunger strikes in prisons which they launched on July 14 are the
"observance of the Geneva Convention" and the "recognition of status
of prisoner of war." However the PKK is continuing its intensive
attacks against civilians uninterrupted.

Since July 23, 21 people, including six children, have been killed and
21 others wounded. While the sources close to the PKK link this
situation to existence of "uncontrollable" forces within the PKK, PKK
members say that the fact that civilians are killed or wounded is a
"normal" part of actions carried out against village guards.

Last January, PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan applied to the United Nations
requesting the application of the Geneva Convention. Despite Ocalan's
statement that his organization would respect the convention the PKK
has intensified its attacks against civilians. The PKK kills children
and women in their attacks against village guards. Following the
expiry of the May 31 deadline for the PKK-declared "amnesty" for
village guards, it has accelerated attacks against the guards.

On July 3, they opened fire against a minibus in the village of
Yumrumese in Bitlis province in which one civilian lost his life. On
July 23, PKK militants raided the hamlet of Atabilen in Van, killing
10 people including two village guards, two children and six women.
Thirteen people were wounded in the attack.

On July 30, PKK militants attacked the camp of Uzumkiran near town of
Semdinli killing two children and wounding another. In the same
period, they injured a village guard and his wife during a raid on his
house. On Aug. 4, PKK militants killed eight civilians, including two
children under 10, in an overnight attack in Hatay province. Four
others were wounded in the same raid.

The fact that the PKK still continues its attacks against civilians
despite its intensive efforts to gain the status of a "belligerent
party" is linked to the existence of "uncontrollable" forces within
the PKK. According to sources close to the PKK, some "commanders"
within the PKK intentionally carry out some actions such as raiding
villages and killing civilians in an attempt to maintain their power
in the region. In its statements, the PKK claims that women and
children have been killed in the attacks against village guards and
that civilian casualties are "normal" in such clashes.

The PKK explains away these deaths by stating in its announcements
that, ".... a village guard and his relatives have been killed."
Referring to the PKK's continuing attacks against civilians despite
its announcement that it would abide by the Geneva Convention, Husnu
Ondul, the general secretary of the Human Rights' Association (IHD)
said that anyone who says they are not a terrorist should prove it by
their actions. He continued, "Any organization or state which declares
it will observe the Convention should demonstrate that by its
conduct." Pointing out that he and his colleagues had been calling
continuously for the halt of the armed conflict, Ondul said, "Article
3 of the Geneva Convention prohibits unlawful methods of war.
Therefore actions carried out against those who are not parties to the
conflict are against the rules of war." Ondul added, " We are making a
general call. Democratic struggles are made with democratic methods.
If an armed clash is in the equation it is necessary to abide by the
humane rules of law."
  _

 Turkish and German interior ministers exchange letters over issue of
 terrorism

Turkish Daily News
  _

ANKARA- Letters exchanged between Interior Minister Nahit Mentese
and his German counterpart, Manfred Kanter, regarding the extradition
of criminals who have committed terrorist-linked offenses, have been
made public, the Anatolia news agency reported on Sunday.

In his letter to Kanter on March 10, Mentese, referring to earlier
talks in Bonn regarding the extradition of members of the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and other such terrorist organizations
who commit crimes in Germany, stressed that Turkey was ready to
receive such criminals.

Noting that Germany was concerned with the treatment of foreign
national criminals in their native countries after they were
extradited i.e., whether they would be subject to inhumane treatment,
Mentese said that before the deportation of such offenders from
Germany, officials of both countries would provide information to each
other about these criminals. In his letter, Mentese continued that if
the situation of the extradited person required prosecution by legal
authorities, Turkish officials would then provide necessary
information about the charges and where he would be tried. He also
noted that the person charged would be provided an attorney at every
phase of prosecution or litigation.

Minister Mentese wrote that all extradited Turkish nationals would be
handled with humane treatment within the rules of the constitution and
the Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms to
which Turkey is a signatory.

In his letter of reply, carrying the same date, Kanter said he agreed
with the content of Mentese's letter.
  _


 Ciller urges Bonn to protect Turks better

PM: 'A more resolute approach by security forces to moving against
the perpetrators and prosecuting them would have more of a deterrent
impact'

Reuter
  _

BONN- Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller urged Germany on Monday to
give better protection to her compatriots from a wave of firebomb
attacks that she blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).


Ciller acknowledged the efforts German police have made to counter
arsonists who have hit dozens of Turkish properties over the past
three weeks but said they had to do more. "A more resolute approach by
security forces to moving against the perpetrators and prosecuting
them would have more of a deterrent impact," she told the newspaper
Bild. "One may not allow Germany to become a paradise for criminals."

Turkish officials have repeatedly urged Bonn to take a harder line
against members or sympathizers of the PKK, which Bonn banned in 1993
after a series of violent protests. The ban has not stopped the PKK,
fighting for independence or autonomy in southeastern Turkey, from
exporting its violent campaign to Germany.

Around two million migrants from Turkey live in Germany, about a fifth
of whom are Kurds.

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 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)