HIrgUr MUstemleke; Sanki Fiyasko Ha

[newsdesk_aps_nl at apsf.aps.nl]

From: newsdesk_aps_nl at apsf.aps.nl (newsdesk at aps.nl)
Subject: HIrgUr MUstemleke; Sanki Fiyasko Haberler, 3/3/95, 08:00 TSI


(1) Germany closes Kurds' office

BONN, Germany (AP) -- Responding to attacks on Turkish-owned businesses,
authorities shut down a Kurdish information office Thursday, calling it a
front
for an outlawed separatist group.

Police closed and searched the Cologne headquarters of the Kurdistan
Information Bureau and took similar action against its branches in five German
states. They also searched nine apartments belonging to bureau workers. No
arrests were reported. But police said they found a pistol and boxes of
banners
from the banned Kurdish Workers Party in the home of a founding member of the
bureau.

The violent Marxist group, which seeks Kurdish autonomy in southeastern
Turkey,
was banned in November 1993 after a series of attacks on Turkish businesses
and
embassies.

The Interior Ministry said Thursday the Kurdistan Information Bureau was
acting
as a front for the outlawed party. It seized personal computers, and copy and
fax machines from the Cologne office. In the past, bureau members have
insisted
they are only trying to publicize the plight of Turkish Kurds, and are not
part
of the banned party.

Over the weekend, Kurdish arsonists attacked Turkish travel agencies and other
businesses in three cities. Five other cities were targeted Wednesday and more
businesses were attacked overnight. The attacks caused minor damage and no
injuries.

(2) Germany bans Kurdish organisations

BONN, March 2 (Reuter) - Germany on Thursday banned the Kurdish Information
Office (KIB) in Cologne and five similar organisations in Bavaria which it
said
were closely linked to the outlawed militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Interior Minister Manfred Kanther said a spate of petrol bomb attacks on
Turkish travel agencies in Germany in the last few days showed it was
important
for the federal states to enforce a ban already imposed on the PKK in November
1993.

"The ban on the KIB is the state's answer to the PKK's constant efforts to
circumvent the ban," Kanther said in a statement. "The KIB is an organisation
which through propaganda has shown solidarity with the activities and aims of
the PKK."

The interior ministry said police had raided the KIB's premises in Cologne and
nine apartments in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, Berlin,
Lower
Saxony and Thuringia. It said the KIB had been established in December 1993,
just one month after the PKK was outlawed, and had taken over the PKK's
premises.

"Security agency investigations show that through its active support of the
banned PKK, the KIB has almost seamlessly kept going the dangerous activities
for which the PKK was banned," Kanther said. Bonn banned the PKK and dozens of
associated groups in 1993 after a series of spectacular raids against Turkish
targets across Europe.

PKK militants were again suspected of being responsible for fire-bomb attacks
on 13 Turkish and German travel agencies in Germany late on Tuesday and last
weekend. No one was injured in the attacks which caused slight damage to the
agencies' premises in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Hanover and Munich.
Windows were smashed and petrol bombs thrown into some of the buildings,
police said.

Leaflets saying "No holidays in Turkey" and signed "Children from the country
of fire and the sun" were found scattered near the travel agencies in Hamburg.
At the scene of one fire-bombing, police found a note from the National
Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK), the political wing of the separatist
PKK. The note demanded a boycott of Turkey's tourism industry.

The PKK has waged a 10-year war against Ankara for an independent Kurdish
homeland in southeast Turkey. Militant Kurds have frequently targeted Turkish
installations in Germany to protest against what they see as Ankara's
oppression of Kurds living in southeastern Turkey and Bonn's close ties with
the Turkish government.

(3) Turkish troops kill 37 Kurds

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AP) -- Turkish troops killed 37 Kurdish guerrillas in a
three-day operation in southeastern Turkey, the regional governor's office
said
Thursday.

Security forces killed 19 rebels Thursday in Bitlis province. A total of 18
guerrillas were also killed Tuesday and Wednesday, the statement added. No
details of casualties on the Turkish side were given.

The Kurdish guerrillas belong to the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) which
has been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey since 1984. More than
15,000 people have been killed in the violence.

Turkish newspapers reported on Thursday that there was extensive movement of
Turkish troops in southeastern Turkey, reportedly massing on the border with
northern Iraq. However, a Turkish military official, speaking on condition of
anonymity, told the Associated Press that they were routine operations to
replace old troops stationed in the region with new divisions. The Turkish
press speculated the troops were preparing to stage massive attacks against
PKK bases in northern Iraq.

(4) Turkey probes detained Greek reporter and aide

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, March 2 (Reuter) - Turkish authorities are looking into
the background of a Greek journalist detained with his interpreter in a
security raid in southeast Turkey, a senior official said on Thursday.

"We want to ascertain that he is a bona fide journalist. So far we don't
know,"
the official from the southeastern emergency rule based in Diyarbakir said.

Ioannis Kokkinidis and his intepreter Michael Yirmi were detained on Monday
during a security raid on the offices of the human rights association (IHD) in
Diyarbakir, the major city of the mainly Kurdish region.

"They were among 16 people detained in the IHD premises which was searched
after a security tip-off. Three have been released but inquiries into the
journalist and the others are continuing," the official said.

The Greek embassy in Ankara said Kokkinidis was employed by Greek newspaper
Abesmeftos Pypos. Yirmi was a Greek national born in Turkey.

Six members of the Diyarbakir IHD are on trial for issuing human rights
reports
that prosecutors say promote the separatist aims of the rebel Kurdistan
Workers
Party (PKK). The court has rejected a prosecution demand that the association
be shut down.

(5) Greece protest to Turkey over detained reporter

ATHENS, March 2 (Reuter) - Greece has protested to Turkey over the arrest of a
Greek journalist and his interpreter in a security raid in southeast Turkey,
the Greek Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

Ministry spokesman Constantinos Bikas told reporters the Greek ambassador in
Ankara protested to the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, asking for the
immediate release of reporter Ioannis Kokkinidis and his interpreter Michael
Yirmi.

"We were only told that the two were in custody by court order," Bikas said.
"We put great importance on this matter as it has to do with human rights and
asked for their immediate release." He said the Foreign Ministry would lodge a
further protest with the Turkish embassy in Athens on Thursday.

The two men were detained on Monday during a security raid on the offices of a
human rights association known as IHD in Diyarbakir, the major Turkish city in
the mainly Kurdish region.

"We want to ascertain that he is a bona fide journalist. So far we don't
know,"
a senior official from the Turkish authorities in Diyarbakir said. "They were
among 16 people detained in the IHD premises which was searched after a
security tip-off. Three have been released but inquiries into the journalist
and the others are continuing," he added.

Kokkinidis is employed by the conservative Athens newspaper Adesmeftos
Typos. Yirmi is a Greek national born in Turkey.

Six members of the Diyarbakir IHD are on trial for issuing human rights
reports
that prosecutors say promote the separatist aims of the rebel Kurdistan
Workers
Party (PKK). The court has rejected a prosecution demand that the association
be shut down. Turkey has criticised Greek politicians for pledging solidarity
with the PKK, which it outlaws as a terrorist group.

More than 15,000 people have died since 1984 in the PKK's violent fight for a
separate state.

--- APS (Newsdesk)