11 WITNESSES OF OPPRESSION SPOKE AT ISTANBUL GATHERING
BIA Magazine
May 26 2009
Turkey
At the sixth Istanbul Gathering, rights activists from Turkey and
other countries discussed freedom of expression.
Erol ONDEROÄ~^LU [email protected] Istanbul – BÄ°A News Center26 May
2009, Tuesday The Initiative against Crimes of Thought held the sixth
"Gathering in Istanbul" from 22 to 24 May. Panels at the Dolapdere
campus of Istanbul’s Bilgi University discussed freedom of expression
in Turkey and other countries bordering the Black Sea.
Prof. Turgut Tarhanlı, law faculty dean at Bilgi University, said that
especially September 11 had caused a debate of freedom of expression
in terms of security issues.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), so Tarhanlı, had made
less liberal decisions in the areas of art and culture than in the
area of political dissent. He argued that human rights activists
should be able to question ECHR decrees.
Alınak: "Praising criminals" During a part of the gathering dedicated
to "witness statements from Turkey", former MP Mahmut Alınak, who
had wanted streets to be named after student revolutionary Deniz
GezmiÅ~_, murdered Kurdish intellectual Musa Anter and murdered
Kurdish politician Vedat Aydın. Alınak was then convicted of
"praising criminals." He said, "In 1973, a prosecutor said to me,
‘Our democracy is still very young, don’t force the issue.’ I waited
for our democracy to grow up, but it never did. We grew up with our
Kurdish identity and our language in shackles."
Seropyan: Agos singled out Serkis Seropyan, former licence holder
of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos newspaper, told the audience how
their newspaper was tried for citing a sentence that journalist Hrant
Dink had said to the Reuters agency, although all the mainstream
newspapers had reported it. Dink had said, "A people who lived on
this soil for 4,000 years disappeared."
Demirer: Not the language of the state Writer Temel Demirer said that
he still faced a trial under Article 301 for saying that Hrant Dink
was murdered because he acknowledged the genocide of Armenians. Demirer
said, "My crime has been not to speak the language of the state."
Article 301 applied at Ministry’s discretion Writer Abdurrahman
Dilipak, who faced a trial for "denigrating the armed forces" in an
article entitled "Turban and gown", said that the Ministry of Justice
had not given permission for his trial. He pointed out however,
that the dependence on the Ministry was dangerous.
Ceren Baykal, law student at Istanbul’s Marmara University, took
up this point, saying that the condition of ministerial assent
to investigations and prosecutions under Article 301 violated the
separation of powers which they had been taught about for years.
Pacifists, caricaturists, victims of police violence…
Dogan Ozkan, a conscientious objector, summarised his court case,
which ended with a prison sentence converted to a fine.
Caricaturist Halil Ä°brahim Ozdabak, who had been tried and then
acquitted for a caricature entitled "Guguk", said that he had had a
"close shave". He said that his daily work had been overshadowed by
the fear of being tried again.
Mehmet Tursun, whose son Baran Tursun was killed by a police officer
in Izmir, recounted that he himself was facing a prison sentence for
his opinions and reactions to the trial of the police officer. He
called on people to mobilise against police violence.
…journalists, homosexuals, academics…
Mehmet Baransu, reporter for the daily Taraf newspaper, said that he
faced seven investigations and 22 court cases.
Bora Bengisu, a representative of the LGBTT LambdaIstanbul Association,
recounted the attempts to close down the association. Even when
the court decreed that the association would remain open, it did
so with the proviso that no attempts would be made to "encourage
homosexuality." Otherwise, the association would be closed.
Alp Selek, a lawyer and father of sociologist Pınar Selek, who
faces a life sentence in prison for allegedly planting a bomb in
the Egyptian Spice Bazaar in Istanbul, said, "This happened to her
because she refused to act as a spy." (EO/AG)