TLHRC: Turkey — A Human Rights Update

Congressional Documents and Publications
November 30, 2009

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DOCUMENTS

Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission at a hearing
on human rights conditions in Turkey. The hearing will be held on
Thursday, December 3, from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., in room 2200
Rayburn HOB. The hearing is open to the public and media.

The Justice and Development Party (AKP, by its better-known Turkish
acronym) has had a mixed human rights record during its seven years
in office. Particularly in its early days, the government initiated a
number of important reforms and it now professes to favor expanding
freedoms for Turkish Kurds. Overall, however, the human rights
situation has deteriorated in recent years, especially regarding
freedom of the press and freedom of expression. As The Washington
Post editorialized on November 23, "Frustrated by hostility toward
his government by media conglomerates that formed part of Turkey’s
traditional secular establishment, the prime minister and his allies
have resorted to increasingly heavy-handed measures…. Turkish
journalists say that a pall of fear has fallen across their business.

Editors practice self-censorship. Many journalists are believed to
be among the more than 100,000 people whose phones have been tapped
by the government in recent years."

At the same time, other journalists have been victimized by
independent, nationalist prosecutors. According to Reporters
Without Borders, in the past four years, 200 Turkish intellectuals,
journalists, publishers, and dissidents have been charged and tried
on political charges. One particularly troubling case is that of Nedim
Sener, a journalist investigating the killing of a fellow journalist,
the Turkish-Armenian Hrant Dink. Sener received a 32-year jail
sentence for publishing an article and a book about Dink. Meanwhile,
the overall situation is complicated by the ongoing investigation
of alleged coup-plotting – the so-called "Ergenekon" case – and the
associated divisions in Turkey between secular and religious camps.

To discuss these issues, we will welcome as our witnesses:***

I. Panel:

Representatives: Amnesty International; Reporters without Borders.

II. Panel:

Riza Turmen, columnist, former ambassador, and former judge, European
Court of Human Rights

Ihsan Dagi, Professor, Middle East Technical University, Ankara,
and columnist

Sedat Ergin, columnist, Hurriyet Daily

Hasan Bulent Kahraman, columnist, Professor of Political Science,
Sabanci University

Dr. Selma Acuner, Association for Supporting and Training Women
Candidates, coordinator for international relations

***Witness list subject to change.

If you have any questions, please contact Hans Hogrefe (Rep. McGovern)
or Elizabeth Hoffman (Rep. Wolf) at 202-225-3680.

James P. McGovern,M.C. Frank R. Wolf, M.C.

Co-Chairman, TLHRC Co-Chairman, TLHRC