Turkish Daily News, 96-05-19

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From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>

TURKISH DAILY NEWS
19 May 1996

CONTENTS

[01] Kardak tour ends with confrontation of jets

[02] Attempt on Demirel

[03] Human Rights issues await Gonensay in Washington

[01] Kardak tour ends with confrontation of jets

ON A BOAT NEAR KARDAK- As Turkey and Greece arranged two separate boat tours for journalists,the jets of the two countries confronted each other Saturday near the disputed twin-rocks of Kardak (or Imia in Greek).

"This is a clear Greek violation of Turkish air space" Major Ali Kurumahmut said. "These Greek jets probably took off from the Greek islands, which under international agreements, should remain demilitarized."

On a sunny May day, more than 50 Turkish Journalists left Bodrum in two luxury yachts to participate in an information tour, that would take them to the twin-rocks of Kardak. The inhabited islands have created a conflict of sovereignty between Turkey and Greece last January and the two countries came to the brink of war. The crisis was temporarily resolved after an intense American initiative at the two capitals.

The Turkish information tour was prompted earlier this week when Greece announced its intention to take European Union journalists to the same area. Turkey hastily arranged its on tour to the same region on the same day.

However the boats of the two countries did not meet each other. When the Turkish group came to the twin-rocks the Greek party had left two hours ago. It was learned that no journalists on the Greek information tour landed on the rocks. Neither did the Turkish journalists. The cameras simply took the pictures of the disputed islands near which Turkish and Greek coastguard vessels and one military ship from each side remand anchored.

But the calm at sea was interrupted when two Greek jets started flights over the two Turkish boats which carried the Turkish journalists and resident representatives of foreign media in Turkey. Two other jets followed, flying dangerously close.

It was learned later that this was a confrontation, if not a duck fire between Turkish F-16s and Greek Mirages.

The incident which lasted five minutes was immediately reported two the Foreign Ministry in Ankara. Tomur Bayer, the head of the Foreign Ministry Maritime Affairs section, said Turkey was going to protest at Greece this violation of Turkish airspace.

[02] Attempt on Demirel

Turkish Daily News

ANKARA- Turkish President Suleyman Demirel on Saturday survived an assassination attempt in Izmit.

Demirel's chief security guard, Sukru Cukurlu, disarmed the assailant who had a hand gun, eye witnesses reported. Cukurlu, who reportedly jumped over the assailant as he took his gun, is wounded on the arm and hospitalized at the Izmit State Hospital.

Cukurlu's condition was reported not to be severe.

The attacker was identified as 48-year-old pharmacist Ibrahim Gumrukcoglu. According to reports, the assailant was acting in protest of the defense cooperation accord Turkey signed with Israel.

The lone assailant was reportedly retired from the State Hospital and running a pharmacy.

Demirel's bodyguards disarmed the assailant after he was spotted pointing a hand gun at the president.

Milliyet newspaper reporter Ihsan Yilmaz was injured in the foot as Demirel's bodyguards disarmed the assailant. Yilmaz was hospitalized at the Istanbul International Hospital. According to eyewitnesses the assailant was only 2-3 meters away from the president when he tried to aim at the president.

Demirel was attending the opening of a shopping centre at the Izmit fair, east of Istanbul.

According to eye witnesses the president, his spouse Nazmiye Demirel and Republican People's Party leader Deniz Baykal, who were accompanying the president, remained calm during the incident.

The president was attending the opening of a shopping centre at the Izmit fair when the incident occurred.

Demirel and his wife returned Ankara yesterday afternoon.

[03] Human Rights issues await Gonensay in Washington

By Ugur Akinci
Turkish Daily News

WASHINGTON- The Operation Provide Comfort, Ankara's military cooperation agreement with Israel, the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline and the release of ten Super Cobra helicopters will be among the top agenda issues of the talks Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay will be having here with American officials on Monday and Tuesday.

Yet, there is one more item that might confront Gonensay and his team during their short visit to Washington: human rights in general, and the prosecution of certain Turkish Human Rights Foundation (HRFT) members in particular.

Some non-governmental human rights organizations are preparing to make sure that their voices will be heard while Gonensay holds a series of meetings with Secretary Christopher as well as with Secretary of Defense William Perry; National Security Adviser Anthony Lake; and Deputy Secretary of Treasury Larry Summers.Sources say that the case of those doctors and centers that treat human rights abuse victims in Turkey will certainly be raised with Gonensay if Assistant Secretary for Human Rights, Democracy and Labor John Shattuck accompanies Secretary Christopher during the meeting on Monday.

A State Department official told TDN that the Administration preferred to raise such sensitive issues privately, and resolve them without any publicity, "as long as they [i.e. Turkish government] do the right thing."

Helsinki Commission to Christopher

US Helsinki Commission, the Congressional arm of OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), sent a letter on May 17 to Secretary Christopher urging him to protest during his meeting with Gonensay "the campaign against the Human Rights Foundations of Turkey and medical professionals who treat victims of human rights abuses."

The letter signed by Chairman Christopher Smith (R - NJ); Ranking Minority Commissioner Steny H. Hoyer (D - MD); and Commissioner Benjamin L. Cardin (D - MD), claimed that "rather than seeking to eliminate torture and to punish those responsible, the Government of Turkey instead attacks those who expose torture and torturers ... In fact, the United Nations and Council of Europe have documented torture in the Ankara police station commanded by Turkey's newly appointed Justice Minister, Mehmet Agar."

OSCE letter related the cases of Dr. Tufan Kose and Mustafa Cinkule, who both work with Adana center of HRF and were prosecuted "for refusing to comply with Government demands to reveal the names of patients and the health care professionals treating them."

Official Turkish view

A Turkish official told TDN that the reason why such names were demanded was not to punish the victim but actually to prosecute the torturer who victimized the patient in question."Turkish Penal Code 530 prohibits giving information on any patient when such notification will lead to legal proceeding," the official said."Patients are fully protected under the Turkish law."

Similar suits filed against Ankara and Izmir HRF centers were canceled "since prosecution investigation showed that no such 'torture treatment centers' existed," the official told TDN."When such centers do not exist, then there can't be any crime committed in such non-existent locations either," the official said.

According to the Turkish penal code, not to report a crime is a crime in itself as well -- reportedly carrying a "penalty" of only 30 (thirty) Turkish Liras.(Seventy five thousand Turkish Liras are equal to one US Dollar.)The official added that the existence of the alleged torture treatment center in Adana could also not be established by Turkish prosecutors.

A TDN source said that the above official views were again conveyed by the Turkish government in a letter sent last week to Senator Bob Graham (D) of Florida, a member of the Helsinki Commission.

Kizilkan

Helsinki Commission also asked Christopher to raise with Gonensay the case of Dr. Seyfettin Kizilkan, head of medical services at a state hospital in Diyarbakir and the President of the Medical Council for five southeastern provinces, who on May 5 was arrested and reportedly held incommunicado.

"Known for his humanitarian efforts and support for non-violence, Dr. Kizilkan has denounced torture and the conditions facing tens of thousands of Kurdish peasants in Diyarbakir who fled Turkish military operations," Smith, Hoyer and Cardin told the US Secretary of State."Turkey's position as a strategic and economic ally make it all the more important that our government encourage the Turkish Government to eliminate the use of torture and other practices which undermine its democratic institutions," the Congress members concluded their letter.

Twenty NGOs

TDN learned that twenty non-governmental (NGO) human rights organizations are currently drafting a letter on Turkey's alleged mistreatment of Human Rights Foundation and the doctors who treat the victims of human rights abuses.The letter is expected to be delivered both to Gonensay and Christopher on Monday.

Among those who will sign the letter are the following human rights organizations:Amnesty International; Human Rights Watch; Physicians for Human Rights; American Psychological Association; American Associations for the Advancement of Science; New York Academy of Sciences; Amigos de Los Sobrevivientes Inc.; Lawyers Committee for Human rights; Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights; Program for Victims of Torture; and Margery Covler Center for Treatment of Survivors of Torture.

These groups can be joined by Committee of Concerned Scientists (CCS) as well who on March 7, 1996 and again on May 2, 1996 wrote two letters to President Suleyman Demirel concerning the trial of Yavuz Onen and Fevzi Argun, both executive board members of HRFT.Co-chairmen of CCS told President Demirel that they were "disappointed that we have received no reply from you" to their letters and appeals to have the criminal charges against Onen and Argun be dismissed.

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