Turkey 1998

[ozgurluk at xs4all.nl]

TURKEY 1998:

The peoples of the world are engaged in a difficult war and each year
has its difficulties. Victories are achieved, and there are defeats.
In Turkey, the  year 1998 was a year of beauty, as well as the
harshness of war. It has been difficult because the oligarchy
continued the attacks with its violence, thousands of people were
arrested, detained, murdered. But there was beauty as well because we
defended justice, dignity and independence against this violence. We
never withdrew. We never ever thought of bowing for the "strength" of
imperialism and the oligarchy. 1998 was a year in which we showed our
responsibility towards history and our people with strength of mind.
Every day of the year, it was in our mind, being the answer to the
desire of our people for justice and its liberation; therefore we
attacked the enemy, we organised ourselves, and we went into the
mountains. And therefore we expanded our war. 1999 will be a year in
which the war will develop and expand, led by the Front. This is not
meant as a "prophecy", its a certainty, because the oligarchy is no
longer able to prevent the expansion of the people's liberation war.
VICTORY WILL BELONG THE OUR RESISTING AND FIGHTING PEOPLE, SOONER OR
LATER!

January 1998:

January 1
- The economical crisis in Southeast Asia shocked the entire world
economy and the stock markets. - The cigarette factories Samsun and
Yeni Harman are, under the pretext of "privatisation", given away to
the British-American Tobacco company. January 4 - In the neighbourhood
of Bakirkoey, the People's Councils protest against the massacre in the
UEmraniye prison. January 5 - Cihan Tarho, a student at the Malatya
Inoenue University, is attacked by fascists with a knife. He dies as a
consequence of his wounds on January 11. Actions are carried out in
protest against his murder. Dozens of pupils are wounded because of
fascist attacks in January. January 12 - The 120-page report about the
Susurluk scandal, prepared by the chairman of the Investigation
Committee of the prime-minister, Kutlu Savas, is presented. January 15
- Attack against the revolutionary female prisoners in the Usak
prison. 40 prisoners are wounded at different part of their bodies.
January 23 - The fifth session of the Gazi trial in Trabzon. Two
accused policemen are released. Besides the People's Councils, the
relatives of the martyrs, there was also a 20 people strong
international delegation to monitor the trial. January 28 - The
Kurtulus representative in Adana, Mehmet Topaloglu, and two fighters
of the Akdeniz Armed Propaganda Rural Unit of the DHKC, Buelent Dil and
Besat Ayyildiz, are murdered by the contra-guerrilla in a house in
Adana.

February 1998

February 2
- During the night, dozens of people are arrested after increased
attacks against the People's Councils in the Istanbul neighbourhoods
of Gazi, Birlik, Esenler, Bagcilar, Beykoz, UEmraniye, 1 Mayis, Kartal
and Guelsuyu. - The chairman of the HADEP is arrested and detained.
February 8 - The army of the oligarchy carries out a border crossing
operation with 15.000 soldiers in Northern Iraq. February 9 - The
local People's Councils carry out actions against the beer halls in
Okmeydani under the slogan "We will remove these filthy institutions".
February 15 - The peasants of Bergama rally in Istanbul/Kasimpasa with
the slogan "Cyanide company get out". February 17 - The torturers of
the Susurluk State, entering the central offices of the KURTULUS
magazine with a fabricated search warrant in order to destroy the
offices, are confronted with a barricade resistance. Numerous people
gather outside the building in solidarity with the Kurtulus. The
co-workers of the magazine are beaten up and arrested and held for 7
days in the torture chambers of the police stations. Several people
are arrested at a later time. The office was totally wrecked.

February 25
- The TIBSET workers, resisting for 206 days, are being attacked by
the gendarmes.

March 1998

March 3
- During an evening attack in Istanbul/Nurtepe, the police arrests 20
people in a bakery shop. The People's Council initiative of Nurtepe
marches up to the Kagithane police station to stand up for the
detainees. The police is forced to release their prisoners. March 4-5
- On March 4, empowered by the abolition of the fake Union Law, the
police attacked the sit-down action of the 5.000 workers in the civil
service with gas grenades, water cannons and armoured vehicles. The
workers had gathered on the Kizilay square in Ankara. Despite the
hindrances by the KESK (Civil Servants Union), on a line of
compromises and negotiations, the workers, led by the Revolutionary
Civil Servants Movement, continued their action on the Kizilay square
the next day, shouting out their demands. March 11 - The Manisa Trial,
in which policemen were accused of torturing DLMK-sympathisers
(Fighting Committee for a democratic Gymnasium), ended with an
acquittal because of "lack of evidence". March 12 - 20.000 people
participated in the commemoration of the Gazi Massacre on March 12,
1995. A mass of 13.000 people marched behind the banners of the Front,
the People's Councils and the Platform for Rights and Liberties. - The
seven revolutionary, democratic pupils, murdered by the
contra-guerrilla on March 16, 1978, were commemorated at the scene of
the massacre, on Beyacit square. 2.500 people participated in this
commemoration. - After the initiative by the Okmeydani People's
Council again the bars, beer halls, and gambling halls, the Istanbul
chief of police, Hasan OEzdemir, ordered the protection of the gambling
halls by hundreds of policemen and armoured vehicles. - Newroz was
celebrated in several neighbourhoods of Istanbul, as well as Ankara,
Burdur, Kayseri, Malatya, Kars and Osmaniye, by Front sympathisers who
ignited fires of rebellion. March 30 - The state carried out an attack
against the prisoners in Buca prison. The murderers who participated
in the Buca Massacre, brutally dragged away 10 DHKP-C prisoners from
the visitors cabins. Thereupon the prisoners in Buca started their
resistance by building barricades and causing a fire. Actions were
started in prisons all over the country, demanding the return of the
kidnapped prisoners. Dozens of prison guards were taken hostage. On
April 1, the state saw itself forced to give in to the prisoners'
demands. March 31 - The Susurluk State tried to carry out a mass scale
disappearance action. Neslihan Uslu, Metin Andas, Mehmet Ali Mandal
and Hassan Aydogan, arrested in Izmir. were "disappeared". 

April 1998

- Actions, commemorating the Martyrs of the Revolution who fell
between March 30 and April 17, and commemorating the foundation of the
Party-Front, were held in several neighbourhoods of Istanbul and
throughout Anatolia. April 8 - A freedom action attempt by the DHKP-C
prisoners in Bayrampasa prison, failed. - The torturing of the 2 .5
year old A.T., arrested together with his mother, accused of "being an
organisation member", was confirmed by a report of the Physicians
Chamber of Istanbul. - The "Murat Operation", said to be "the largest
operation of the last 14 years", was started against the people in
Kurdistan. - 12 revolutionary organisations from several countries
participated in the conference "Revolution and Power in the
neo-colonial countries", organised by the DHKP-C. April 21 - The trial
about the "murder and torture of Baki Erdogan" ended before the
Serious Crime Court in Adana. After the trial, the condemned policemen
attacked the lawyers and journalists who were present in the courtroom
as monitors. Several people were wounded. April 22 - It was announced
that the RAF (Red Army Faction), active in Germany, has dissolved
itself. 

May 1998

May 1
- The tens of thousands, marching in the Front's block during the
MayDay parade in Istanbul, did not bow to the state attacks. Hundreds
of people were arrested, hundreds were wounded. And also in Ankara,
Izmir, Adana, Antep, Mersin, Bursa, Malatya, Trabzon, Hopa, Usa,
Zonguldak and Kayseri, the people of the Front participated in the
MayDay festivities as massive, disciplined and enthusiast blocks.  The
tens of thousands who marched in the ranks of the Front crossed the
plans of the MGK, the union bureaucrats and the reformists. Before and
after the demonstration, there were massive attacks carried out by the
police in co-operation with the civic fascists. Numerous participants
in the demonstration were severely wounded. May 2 - Kenan Mak, a
student at the Bolu Izzet Baysal University, was murdered in a fascist
attack. May 5 - Ahmet OEzdemir, member of the People's Council
initiative in Esenler, committed suicide as a result of a brain
trauma, caused by beatings on the head during the police attack
against the Front's block in the MayDay demonstration. May 10 - The
relatives of the disappeared, carrying out their sit-down action at
the Galatasaray for the 155th. week, were attacked by the police. May
12 - The chairman of the IHD, Akin Berdal, was severely wounded after
an armed attack by the contra-guerrilla against the IHD central
offices in Ankara. May 13 - Demanding clarification of the fate of
their disappeared comrades, the DHKC bombed the building of the
fascist MHP in Okmeydani. May 20 - Hueseyin Kilic and Zeynep Korkmaz
fell as martyrs after a unit, belonging to the Dersim Ibrahim Erdogan
Armed Propaganda Rural Unit was ambushed. May 21 - Many people drowned
after floods in the Black Sea region and in Hatay. May 26 - The police
chief of Bueynkcekmece, Hueseyin Islamoglu, speaking in the name of "the
division commander of the artillery units of Hadimkoey", threatened the
printing-shop owner to stop printing the Kurtulus. May 29 - Demanding
accountability for the disappearance of four Front sympathisers in
Izmir, the DHKC carried out an armed action against the DSP-building
(Democratic Leftist Party) in Kustepe. A policeman, Cumali Akkurt, was
punished. May 31 - With the publication of the "Official Paper", the
new changes of the YOEK Disciplinary Directorate came into force..
According to these, pupils who seek their rights, within and outside
of the schools, respectively pupils who participate in actions, are to
be punished and can be "excluded from school". 

June 1998

June 6
- The Gaziosmanpasa neighbourhood organisation of the DTP (Democratic
Turkey Party) was destroyed by the DHKC-Revolutionary People's Forces
who used bombs and Molotov-cocktails. A banner with the text "Where
are our four people who disappeared - DHKC" was left behind at the
scene. June 8 - The Platform for Rights and Liberties went to Ankara
to ask for the whereabouts of the four revolutionaries who
disappeared. A demonstration to the Gueven Park was started. After a
meeting with a representative of the Interior Department, a statement
was promised within 15 days. June 11 - The public service workers,
organised in the KESK unions, protested against the wage increase of
only 20% by laying down their work for one day. June 15 - Three DHKC
guerrillas fell during an armed confrontation in the village of Ardic
in Dersim-Hozat. The guerrillas Songuel Erkus, Alp Arslan and Dursun
Cakir, belonging to the Dersim Ibrahim Erdogan Armed Propaganda Rural
Unit, remained loyal to the tradition of the Party-Front to never
surrender. June 21 - Demanding clarification of the fate of the four
disappeared, the Revolutionary People's Forces occupied the OERF
television and radio stations in Graz, Austria, and the offices of
Amnesty International in Mannheim, Stuttgart and Frankfurt, Germany. A
hungerstrike in support of the disappeared was held in Brussels and
London. June 20-21 - Founding congress of the Genel-Is union,
affiliated to the DISK. With only a slight majority, the reformists,
MGK-unionists took the leading positions. June 27 - 145 people died
during an earthquake in Adana/Ceyhan, 1517 people were wounded. There
were aftershocks for days. The state abandoned the people, leaving
them alone with the catastrophe, and only came up with hypocritical
statements. The people carried out protest actions. 

July 1998

- The Platform for Rights and Liberties in Izmir announced that they
are going to meet every Saturday on the Konak square for those who
have disappeared. - The wage increases for the public servants
ostensibly caused a coalition crisis, but in the end it was done what
the IMF ordered. The civic servants received a meagre 20% increase. -
Because of the 75th. anniversary of the republic, the governing DSP
offered an "amnesty" for the social prisoners. July 6-15 - First
issues of the papers Voice of the People in Gazi and Voice of the
People in Okmeydani. July 7 - The People's Council initiative in
Alibeykoey started a campaign against drugs. July 23 - The workers of
all the American firms in Adana, Incirlik, Izmir and Adana went into
strike to fight for their rights. July 25-26 - The martyrs of the
Death Fast of 1996 were commemorated with several ceremonies in
Istanbul, Ankara, Antakya, Mersin, Aydin and Denizli. 

August 1998

- Kurdish seasonal workers, coming to the Black Sea region to collect
hazel-nuts, were not allowed into the cities because of fascist
decrees by the governors of Ordu and Giresun. August 5 - TAYAD closed
down. August 8 - The collaborator and traitor Ali Tokmak, responsible
for the murder of 7 DHKC-guerrillas in Sivas, was punished with death
in Okmeydani. - "Boran Firtinasi", the music cassette of Grup Yorum,
telling the epic story of the 1996 Death Fast, appeared. August 13 -
German imperialism bans DHKP-C activities within the German borders.
Based on the same decree, the Kurtulus magazine is outlawed as "press
organ of the DHKP-C". August 14 - Demanding accountability for the
disappearance of the four Front people, the DHKC carried out bomb
attack against members of the Special Police. - 80 people died after
landslides and floods in the neighbourhoods of Beskoey, Suermene, Of and
Koepruebasi, in Trabzon, and the neighbourhood of Rize in Ikizdere. -
Cevre Radio closed down for three months after orders of the MGK. -
The fascist Mafia gangster Alaatin Cakici was arrested in the French
city of Nice, carrying a special red passport, handed to him by the
MIT. August 20 - The USA bombed Afghanistan and Sudan. August 21 - The
Idil Cultural Centre stormed by the police. 25 people arrested. -
After publishing the tapes, containing telephone conversations between
state minister Eyuep Asik and Mafia gangster Alaatin Cakici, the "dog
fight" within the ranks of the oligarchy turns into a "Tape War".
August 29 - The DHKC carries out a bomb attack against the ANAP
building in the neighbourhood of Bakirkoey, demanding accountability
for the disappearance of four Front sympathisers. August 30 -
DHKC-guerrillas block the street in Tokat-Niksar. 

September 1998

September 1
- For the third time, the PKK announces a cease-fire. 
September 4
- The Platforms for Rights and Liberties of Istanbul and Ankara went
to Izmir Cesme where the four Front sympathisers "disappeared". A
sit-down action was held later, together with the Platform in Izmir
and sympathisers in the region. A complaint was filed against the
State Prosecution. September 5 - With a joint declaration of all
revolutionary and patriotic organisations inside the prisons, the
revolutionary prisoners started their boycott action against the State
Security Courts. It was announced that the action, demanding the
closing down of all DGM's and the cancellation of all its verdicts,
was also supported by the revolutionary-democratic lawyers. September
9 - The DHKC-guerrillera Filizinal fell during an armed confrontation
in Niksar-Resadiye. September 15 - As a result of the mining of the
street between Hozat and Elazig by fighters of the Dersim Ibrahim 
Erdogan Rural Guerrilla Unit of the DHKC, demanding accountability for
the four disappeared, one torturer dies, and three policemen are
severely wounded. September 18 - The sell-out of the workers during
the wage and tariff negotiations by the Tuerk-Metal Union and the MESS,
all in the name of the 75.000 workers all over Turkey, and 16.500 in
Bursa alone, caused the largest mass action of workers in recent
years. - The TOFAS-workers froze production and blocked the traffic.
Later the police tried to stop the workers who marched into the
direction of the centre of Bursa. The workers of the Oyak Renault Car
Factory, Robert Bosch and Maka Beltan also joined the action. Masses
of workers left the Tuerk Metal Union, reaching a total of 10.000 all
over the country. September 19 - Demanding accountability for the four
disappeared Front sympathisers, the police station in Aksaray was
destroyed by the DHKC with a anti-tank grenade. - Second congress of
the KESK. The contra-revolutionary Dogu Perincek and the members of
the IP (Workers Party), invited by the reformist-compromising KESK
leadership, were thrown out of the hall by the Revolutionary Civil
Servants Movement. The leadership remained in reformist hands.
September 23 - The Baba Ishak Cultural Centre was opened in Kuecuek
Armutlu. September 29 - Peasants from the  regions of Denizli, Afyon,
Aydin, Mugla, Balikesir and Usak protested in Bergama and Soeke against
the high prices of cotton. 

October 1998

October 1
- Troops were gathered at the borders with Syria after a MGK decree of
September 30. October 2 - The police stormed the printing-shop of the
magazine Kurtulus for the People and arbitrarily confiscated 16.000
copies. Six co-workers of the Kurtulus were arrested and the Kurtulus
was closed down for one month. - The High Institution for
Privatisations decided to close down the SEKA factory in Izmit.
Thereupon, the resistance which started in SEKA Izmit, was continued
by the workers of the SEKA factories in Balikesir Giresun-Aksu and
Silifke-Tasucu. Actions like the refusal to leave the workplace,
demonstrations and meetings were carried out. After the resistance
spread across the country , the High Institution for Privatisations
withdrew its decision on October 31. October 7 - Using the pretext of
a search, the police arrested 24 co-workers and readers of the
Kurtulus. Two co-workers and the chief editor of the Devrimci Genclik
were jailed. October 16 - The fascist dictator of Chile, Pinochet, was
arrested in England on the request of Spain. October 19 - Using the
argument that the preparations for a tunnel had been discovered in the
cells of the DHKP-C and TKP(ML) prisoners, the administration of
Ceyhan prison launched an attack against the prisoners. Dozens of
prisoners were seriously injured. After this attack, the revolutionary
prisoners in all other jails carried out actions like refusing the
count, occupying the corridors, and taking hostages. As a result, the
state was forced to recognise the demands of the Central Prison
Co-ordination. - A tape was discovered, containing a telephone
conversation in which the "employer" Korkmaz Yigit and Tuerbank hired
the Mafia gangster Alaatin Cakici. October 22 - The contra-guerrilla
organisation JITEM (Intelligence Service of the Gendarmes) was
officially announced in Turkish parliament. October 24 - The attacks
against the relatives of the disappeared continue, 24 people are
arrested. - From October 24 till November 2, manoeuvres of the USA and
South Korea against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. About
35.000 US-soldiers based in South Korea and more than 50.000 South
Korean soldiers took part in the military manoeuvre "Eagle 98", using
state of the art military weapons. In the manoeuvres that were held at
the same time under the name of "Hwarang 98" more than 1,1 million
regular and semi-regular armed forces of South Korea and the USA took
part. October 30 - The Kurdish patriot Erdal Aksu, who kidnapped an
aeroplane in protest against the massacres in Kurdistan, was murdered
by the Special Team. October 31 - Instigated by the Revolutionary
Civil Servants Movement, the 2nd. Congress of the Workers in the Civil
Service was held in Istanbul.

November 1998

November 3
- At the second anniversary of Susurluk, more than 10.000 people held
the Susurluk State responsible by demonstrating in the streets of the
Gazi neighbourhood, of Okmeydani, 1 Mayis, Alibeykoey, Nurtepe and
Bagcilar. The loudest voices were heard from the avant-guard of the
front from the slum areas. November 4 - The police, storming the
Cultural Centres in Gazi and Okmeydani, as well as the Idil Cultural
Centre, arrested dozens of people. The people of Gazi took to the
street and stood up against the arrests. The police saw themselves
forced to release the detained people. - Hurricane Mitch caused the
death of more than  7.000 people in Central America. November 5 - The
DHKC once again asked "Where are the disappeared". The Sultanahmet
court building was bombed and destroyed. November 6 - The November 6
Boycott, started in 1990 by the TOEDEF, has now spread across the
entire country. November 7 - Hungerstrikes of the Kurtulus
representatives in Kocaeli, Bursa, Denizli and Izmir in protest
against the attacks against the paper. The co-workers and readers of
the Kurtulus in Kocaeli, attacked by the police and civic fascist
during the action, resisted and set up barricades. They were brutally
beaten up, arrested and some of them were later sent to jail. -
Thousands of workers in Kayseri, Yozgat, Nevsehir, Tunceli and
Kirsehir joined the hungerstrike which was started by the seasonal
workers of the General Directorate of Village Services in Erzurum and
Antalya. November 14 - PPK-leader Abdullah OEcalan arrested in Italy. A
statement of the DHKC Press Office reads: "The arrest of PKK-leader
Abdullah OEcalan is part of the terror and annihilation policy of
imperialism, applied against all the revolutionary organisation of the
world and their leaders." November 16 - DHKC fighters bomb the Tax
Department in Avcilar/Istanbul. November 19 - In protest against the
arrest of OEcalan, 17 Kurdish patriots burn themselves during the last
days of November. - The police force and civic fascist carry out
attacks nation-wide against the hungerstrikes which are organised by
the HADEP in solidarity with its leadership and the demand for peace.
Hundreds of HADEP supporters are arrested. Two Kurdish patriots
massacred during the chauvinist attacks. - A tremendous shock for the
Susurluk State when it heard about the existence of a DHKC guerrilla
unit in the mountains of Denizli. Thousands of soldiers, members of
the Special Teams and tanks are directed to Denizli and the
neighbouring region. After an operation which lasted for 10 days, that
state directed all its forces against the village of Balkica, in the
Goelgeli Mountains, where two DHKC fighters are spotted. After a gun
fight of 20 hours, the commander of the unit, Erhan Yilmaz and the
second commander, Mehmet Yildirim, fell as martyrs after shouting the
words "We are from the Party-Front, we are from the DHKP-C, we will
not surrender, you cannot break us, the members of the DHKP-C are
immortal".

December 1998

- Hurricane "George" kills and wounds thousands of people in the
Dominican Republic, and there are more than 300.000 refugees. There
are fears of a national famine because of the destruction of the
agricultural and industrial infrastructure. More than 90% of the
expected harvest of these months is destroyed. The material damages,
the damages to the eco-system, the production losses, the damages to
the infrastructure, irrigation works, schools, et cetera, are
enormous. According to the first estimates, the damages are more than
2 billion US-dollars, without taking into account the severe damages
to the eco-system. December 2 - In commemoration of the martyrs of
Denizli, the Revolutionary People's Forces carry out actions like the
hanging of banners and flags, and writing slogans, in several
neighbourhoods of Istanbul. - A civic fascist gang attacks a
revolutionary-democratic structure, the Kalaba Halkevi (People's
House) in Kecioeren, a neighbourhood in Ankara. December 4, 7 and 10 -
The Kurtulus representation in Hopa is stormed and destroyed for the
third consecutive time by the police. The co-workers of the paper are
arrested. December 17 - Using the delegation report to the UN as a
pretext, American and English imperialism once again attack Iraq. 


-- 
Ozgurluk!
For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan!
Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org                          
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