Reporters Sans Frontieres on Turkey

[Press Agency Ozgurluk]

ZONE Europa and the former Soviet Union

Turkey

A journalist was beaten to death by police at the start
of 1996, but the trial of his killers is dragging on.
Dozens of other journalists were tortured in detention
and more than 200 were arrested or jailed. The year
1996 opened in Turkey with the killing by police on 8
January of Metin Goktepe, a young reporter for the
extreme-left daily Evrensel. The officers' guilt has
been established and the murder has aroused a wave of
indignation in Turkey and abroad. The policemen have
been put on trial, but the proceedings have been slowed
by adjournments and changes of venue for security
reasons. The Goktepe trial well reflects the state of
press freedom in the country; a degree of democracy
does exist, as evidenced by the freedom with which the
established media discuss politicians, but officialdom
still tolerates behaviour hostile to freedom of
expression in the name of protecting the state and its
servants. The media scene is still dominated by a few
press groups which own the major dailies and privately
owned television channels. A trial of strength is under
way between these media and the coalition government
led by prime minister Necmettin Erbakan's Refah
(Prosperity) Islamic party. The government unveiled a
bill in November to amend the press law, which includes
a provision to "prevent publication of false
information liable to affect the political or financial
prestige of the state, cause panic or provoke the
people". The draft law, which sparked an outcry in the
press, would however do little to change the situation
of the myriad partisan publications, mainly pro-Kurdish
and/or extreme-left, which are already being hit harder
than ever by the provisions of the criminal code and
the antiterrorism law.

Journalists killed

On 8 January 1996, Metin Goktepe, a reporter on the
extreme-left daily Evrensel, was covering the burial in
Istanbul of two political prisoners killed in jail. He
was arrested by riot police at a roadblock because he
"talked too much". He was taken to the Eyup sports
complex and given a preliminary beating. He fainted,
but was revived and beaten again by his torturers. He
was left where he lay with no medical attention and
died that afternoon. The autopsy report concluded that
"death resulted from cerebral haemorrhage caused by a
head wound". On 16 January, the human rights minister,
Adnan Ekmen, publicly admitted: "It is clear that Metin
Goktepe was arrested and that he was killed while in
detention. The fatal incident occurred in the Eyup
sports complex, under police control and protection."
The interior ministry opened an inquiry, and on 22
January the then prime minister Tansu Ciller promised
that "the guilty men will be found". The Istanbul
administrative council gave the go-ahead on 8 February
for charging 48 police officers, at least 11 of them
with direct involvement in the journalist's death. A
17-year-old student, Deniz Ozcan, told a press
conference at the Istanbul human rights association on
25 March that he had been arrested and tortured twice,
in February and March, since Metin Goktepe's death
because of evidence he had given in the case. On 11
July, a few days before the date set for the opening of
the trial on 15 July, Deniz Ozcan was again kidnapped
by men he said were plain-clothes policemen, who
tortured him to make him retract his evidence. On 15
July the trial was immediately transferred, for
"security reasons", from Istanbul to Aydin, near Izmir,
600 kilometres south-west of Istanbul. The first
substantive session of the trial opened at Aydin
criminal court on 18 October -- without the accused
policemen. No legal action has yet been taken against
the Istanbul police chief at the time of the murder,
Orhan Tasanlar, who has since been transferred to
Bursa. After a one-day hearing the Goktepe trial was
adjourned to 29 November. On 8 November, the supreme
court of appeal decided to move the trial to Afyon,
again 600 kilometres from Istanbul and again for
"security reasons". The second hearing was scheduled
for 6 February 1997.

Journalists missing

On 9 May 1996, Mustafa Genc, Adana correspondent for
the monthly Barikat, and a friend disappeared in
Istanbul. During the night police searched his home in
Osmaniye. Mustafa Genc spent 11 years in prison after
the military coup in September 1980 for belonging to an
illegal organisation.

Journalists tortured

Despite official assurances to the contrary, torture is
still current practice in Turkey, especially by
antiterrorist units that keep an especially close watch
on journalists working for the pro-Kurdish and
extreme-left press. According to the International
Human Rights Federation, 1,412 people were tortured
during detention in 1995. At least 31 journalists
suffered this fate in 1996. On 8 January 1996, Malik
Corlu, a journalist with Partizan Sesi, was held by
police in the Eyup sports complex in Istanbul as he was
covering the burial of two political prisoners killed
when a jail mutiny was put down. He said he was freed
shortly after Metin Goktepe was taken away in an
ambulance, probably already dead (see above). He was
given a certificate at Haseki hospital attesting that
he had been tortured. Taylan Turkmen, the Evrensel
correspondent in Adana, was arrested by police on 16
February while he was on a reporting mission at Urfa.
He was held for two hours in police headquarters, where
he said he was beaten with truncheons, insulted and
threatened with death after he said he was a
journalist. His films and notebook were confiscated. On
26 March, Muammer Kalkan was arrested by police as he
was leaving the offices of Proleter Halkin Birgili
because was "in possession of seized and banned
magazines". The next day, the magazine's proprietor,
Hidir Sari, was also taken into custody when he went to
the police station to ask about Muammer Kalkan. When
the journalist was released two days later he told
about the torture he had suffered: "They submerged me
naked in cold water for half an hour. Then the chief
superintendent made me lie on the floor and kicked me.
Eight or ten policemen beat me until I lost
consciousness. I was revived and dressed, then beaten
again and put back in the water. The superintendent dug
his thumbs in behind my ears and twisted, and showed me
to the other detainees, saying: 'Take a good look. He
is a communist, a traitor. The police are a mafia and I
am the godfather'". On 28 March, Muammer Kalkan was
taken before the local prosecutor, who ordered his
release. The police doctor gave him a certificate
describing his injuries and a seven-day leave of
absence from work. At three in the morning on 3 May,
police arrested four young women journalists on
Alinteri, Mehtap Kurucay, Sabiha Budak, Filiz Ozturk
and Incigul Basel. They were mistreated during the
arrest and taken to the antiterrorist section of
Istanbul central police station (Aksaray). Two hours
later, Incigul Basel was taken to the intensive care
unit of Capa Tip Fakultesi hospital with head injuries.
She said she had been beaten and sexually molested when
she was arrested. Then at the Aksaray political police
department she was blindfolded and beaten again. The
other three journalists were released on 19 May. Mehtap
Kurucay said she too had been tortured.

Journalists jailed

On 1 January 1997, at least nine journalists were still
held in Turkish prisons for their opinions or because
of their work -- Naile Tuncer, Isik Yurtcu, Salih Bal,
Guray Ulku, Muteber Yildirim, Hasan Ozgun, Ismail
Gunes, Ali Toprak and Hatice Onaran. As always, it is
difficult to give an estimate of the exact number of
journalists in jail because there are so many of them.
At least 100 journalists were jailed (for more than 48
hours) in 1996, although this figure may well be an
underestimate. We have selected the following cases: On
17 January 1996, Hasan Ozgun, former Diyarbakir
correspondent of the now-defunct daily Ozgur Gundem
(closed in 1994), was sentenced to 12-1/2 years in
prison by the Diyarbakir state security court (CSE). He
was charged under article 168/2 of the criminal code
with being a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK), on the basis of political tracts found in his
office. He has been in jail since 9 December 1993, when
police raided Ozgur Gundem (see 1994 Report). His
sentence was confirmed by the supreme court of appeal
at the end of October 1996. On 26 January, Isik Turtcu,
a former editor of Ozgur Gundem who has been held in
prison since 28 December 1994, was sentenced to a
four-year jail term and a fine of 400 million Turkish
lira (TL) (3,600 dollars) by the Istanbul CSE. He had
already been found guilty in 1994 on the same charges
(articles published in the 21, 22 and 26 September 1992
issues) but the court ruled that his sentence should
not be reduced despite the reform of the antiterrorist
law, because there was a risk he would "commit a crime"
if he were released. On 2 February, Isik Yurtcu was
sentenced to a year in prison and a fine of TL 100
million (900 dollars) by the Istanbul CSE for other
articles published in Ozgur Gundem in 1992.Hatice
Onaran, former editor of Devrimci Cozum, was arrested
on 19 March when her 4-1/2-year sentence under the
antiterrorist law became effective. She was jailed at
Gebze prison for infractions of articles 312 and 159 of
the criminal code and articles 6, 7 and 8 of the
antiterrorist law. Ertan Aydin, cartoonist on the
extreme-left daily Evrensel, was arrested on 15 April,
when a ten-month sentence came into effect, and was
jailed at Istanbul's Bayrampasa prison on 19 April. The
offending cartoon, published in the pro-Kurdish daily
Ozgur Gundem in 1994, criticised the seizure of works
by the sociologist Ismail Besikci at the Istanbul book
fair. The charge, under article 159 of the criminal
code, was "insulting the legal status of the state".
Ertan Aydin served four months of his sentence and was
released from prison on 14 August. He was immediately
held for another hour and a half without explanation at
an Istanbul police station. He still faces two other
charges, one for a cartoon showing a police box in the
form of a dog kennel and a courtroom sketch with the
judge represented as Mehmet Agar, a former police chief
turned justice minister. On 24 May, Gul Dogan, a
journalist with Ozgur Gelecek, was arrested for
"attempting to take part" in a demonstration held in
the Tuzla neighbourhood of Istanbul at the tomb of a
person killed during riots on 1 May. She was freed on
15 August without being either questioned or put on
trial. She was accused of "belonging to an armed group"
under article 168/2 of the criminal code. Abdullah
Kaplan, the Demokrasi bureau chief in Elazig, and two
reporters, Turabi Sen and Nurcan Turgut, were held in
police custody for ten days after being arrested on 28
June. On 5 July, they were formally jailed. They
appeared before the Malatya CSE on 22 August charged
under article 169 of the criminal code with "belonging
to an illegal organisation". Turabi Sen was freed.
Abdullah Kaplan and Nurcan Turgut were jailed at
Elbistan prison in the south-eastern city of Maras.
Nurcan Turgut was kept in prison. On the night of 11-12
July, Istanbul political police arrested Evrensel
journalists Mustafa Kara, Zafer Kitik and Mehmet Fatih
Yurt, at Mustafa Kara's home in Beyoglu. They were
taken for questioning to the antiterrorist headquarters
in Istanbul. They were not told why they had been
arrested. Zeynal Danaci, a reporter with the Adana
bureau of Kizil Bayrak, was jailed at Ekisehir prison
on 13 August. He had been arrested the day before as he
was leaving the office to go home. He was accused of
resisting arrest. On 20 August, Ozgur Halk editor Inan
Perisan was jailed at Istanbul's Bayrampasa prison on
20 August on the orders of the Istanbul prosecutor, and
transferred three days later to Sakarya. He was charged
under article 8/1 of the antiterrorist law for an
article published in usse 67 of the paper, which was
seized under the same order. Mehmet Fatih Yesilbag,
former editor of the pro-Kurdish daily Ozgur Gundem
(from October to November 1993), was jailed at
Bayrampasa prison at the end of August for articles
published in October 1993. His currently serving time
for "insulting the legal status of the state" under
article 159 of the criminal code and faces several
possible sentences under article 8 of the antiterrorist
law. On 17 October, Alper Gormus, former editor of the
weekly Aktuel, was jailed at Ayvalik, 500 kilometres
south od Istanbul, after being convicted by the
Istanbul CSE of "press propaganda for an illegal
organisation" under article 7/1 of the antiterrorist
law. The article complained of was an interview
published on 16 December 1993 in issue 128, under the
headline "The PKK is the party of Turkey", with an
Islamic leader who called for the authorities to
negotiate with the Kurdish armed movement. On 20
October, Reha Magden, who wrote the story, pointed out
in an article in Demokrasi that no legal action had
been taken against him, even though his signature
appeared under the interview. Alper Gormus was released
on 19 December. Muteber Yildirim, a Demokrasi
journalist and secretary of the Istanbul branch of the
contemporary journalists' association (CGD), was jailed
for ten months at Bayrampasa prison on 20 November for
an article published on 22 December 1994 in Ozgur Ulke
headed "Action in the street for the general strike".
Her sentence, which includes a fine of TL 433,000 (four
dollars), was confirmed by the supreme court of appeal.
She was convicted under law 2822 on strikes and
collective bargaining and under article 312/1 of the
criminal code ("praising a crime") by an Istanbul
police court. At the same trial, the then editor of
Ozgur Ulke, Mensure Yuksel, was fined TL 2 million (20
dollars).

Journalists arrested

At least 109 journalists were arrested and held for
less than 48 hours in 1996, a figure which is probably
an underestimate. We have selected the following cases:
On 23 March 1996, police charged 300 students occupying
Ankara university campus. Meryem Akpinar, of the weekly
Atilim, and Cengis Aslan, of Gencligin Sesi, were
beaten and detained by plain-clothes policemen. Necibe
Savaska, a British citizen and journalist working for
Atilim, was also violently arrested and was later taken
to hospital. Kemal Ertas, of Partisan Sesi, Cemal
Gokcamoglu, of Kanal 6 and Serkan Cinier, of Interstar,
were wounded. The police confiscated their
videocassettes and films. Gulmisal Basal, of the weekly
Ozgur Gelecek, received a head injury and a broken
finger during his arrest. He was released on 25 March.
Pervin Abduloglu, of Alinteri, was held in custody. A
correspondent for the American agency Associated Press,
Burhan Ozbilici, was punched and kicked by policemen.
He said: "I was watching the action from a distance
when police wielding truncheons suddenly attacked
journalists. I saw a cameraman fall down covered in
blood. Then a policeman shouted: 'There, there's
another journalist!' and they attacked me as I was
trying to leave the campus". Ulku Guney, the interior
minister, called on the AP correspondent in person to
apologise. On 28 March, media representatives invited
to attend a cabinet meeting turned up wearing yellow
helmets as a sign of protest. After the meeting, the
culture minister and government spokesman assured
journalists that they would no longer be the victims of
"unjustified attacks". Irfan Kurt, of the daily
Evrensel, was arrested at Alibeykoy, Istanbul, on 22
May, on his way to a news conference. His car was
stopped at a riot police roadblockand he was forced to
get out. He was arrested without explanation and taken
to Atif Odul police station, where he was held for
seven hours.On 8 June, police broke up the weekly
demonstration held in Istanbul's Galatasaray
neighbourhood by the families of people who have
"disappeared". More than 13 journalists were hit and/or
arrested. Mehmet Guc, of the privately owned television
channel ATV, Devrim Sevimay, of the daily Cumhuriyet,
Necdet Akdemir and Sevil Erdogan, of the extreme-left
daily Evrensel, Sevil Erol, of Siyah Beyaz, and Kadir
Biricik and Sukran Can, of the pro-Kurdish daily
Demokrasi, were held in police custody. Six journalists
with the extreme-left weekly Atilim and one from the
monthly Devrimci Emek were also arrested. Musa Agacik,
of the mass-appeal daily Milliyet, was wounded in the
leg. Shortly afterwards, Istanbul deputy police chief
Resat Altay apologised to the journalists and ordered
their release that evening. Meanwhile, during the
demonstration, police hit journalists who tried to get
past roadblocks to cover the protest, and arrested them
when they organised their own sit-down protest. All
these journalists were also released that evening. Two
days later, the interior minister made a public
apology, but added that "crowd control measures always
involve high risks for journalists". Evrensel
journalists Mete Karakil, Cengiz Simsek and Baris
Erbektas were arrested by Istanbul police on 19 June
while they were covering the arrest of hunger-striking
friends and relations of political prisoners. The same
day in Ankara, Fehmi Calmuk, of the daily Aksam, and
Ahmet Takan and Noyan Inal, reporter and cameraman for
the privately owned television channel Interstar, were
arrested while they were covering a closed-doors
meeting at which the Islamic party Refah and the True
Path Party were discussing the formation of a coalition
government. They were released four hours later. On 10
October, while they were covering a student
demonstration, Baris Erbektas, of Evrensel, and Hasan
Ogun Ozdemir, of Demokrasi, were held by police for an
hour on the pretext that "they had no yellow [press]
card" and had entered the university campus "without
authorisation". On 22 October, the local Radyo
Karacadag in the south-east city of Urfa, which had
been ordered to stop broadcasting on 23 and 24 October,
was raided by police who sealed the offices and
arrested the general manager, Mehmetcan Toprak,
programme director Hikmet Tasdemir and three staffers,
Luftu Sarac, Omer Karatas and Turan Cihanbeyli. They
were all released on 24 October. Thirteen journalists
with Kizil Bayrak were arrested on 5 November. They are
Canan Kaya, Ozcan Atas, Safter Korkmaz, Ali Eflek,
Bulent Lacin, Gonca Donmezer, Yeliz Cabuk Cunyet
Tiskaya, Beyazit Ekiz, Zulfu Ceyhan, Huseyin Turkmen,
Duygi Tuna and Gungor Yalcintas. On 6 November, Filiz
Kocali, editor of the women's monthly magazine
Pazartesi, and Arzu Erkol, a journalist with the
extreme-left weekly Ozgur Atilim, were arrested by riot
police while they were covering student demonstrations
in Istanbul's Beyazit Square. They said police simply
ran identity checks on them, but Arzu Erkol was beaten
while being arrested. Erol Malkoc, Bahri Colak and
Gonul Sayginer, of the Kizil Bayrak bureau in Ankara,
were arrested on 29 November and held in police custody
for two days. On 4 December, Demokrasi reporter
Zulfikar Ali Aydin was arrested at the literature
faculty of Istanbul university after interviewing the
dean. He was released by the prosecutor's office two
days later.

Journalists attacked

At least 45 journalists were attacked in 1996. We have
selected the following cases: On 8 January 1996,
reporter Mustafa Erdogan and cameraman Tuncay Alpi,
from the private television station ATV, who were
covering the burial of two political prisoners in
Istanbul (see above), became worried about Metin
Goktepe, who had been supposed to join up with them.
Tuncay Alpi explained: "We followed the cars going to
the sports complex and climbed on a shed to film. The
police started to insult us and throw stones at us to
make us get down, then dragged us into the sports hall
and beat us up. They confiscated our cassettes and
cameras before throwing us out." On the night of 19-20
January, Aykut Tuzcu, proprietor of the Gaziantep local
paper Sabah, was shot at as he was parking his car
outside his home. He escaped unhurt. He said he did not
know who his assailants were. Aykut Tuzcu's car was
blown up on 24 February 1992. Responsibility for the
bombing was not claimed. On 20 March, the Kurdish New
Year's Eve (Newroz), students organised a demonstration
at Diyarbakir university. Police broke it up violently
and attacked two local cameramen, Hakim Cetiner, of Can
TV, and Salih Dundar, of Metro TV. Their films were
confiscated. Armed men in a car shot at the offices of
the daily Hurriyet in Istanbul on the night of 17-18
April. Bullets shattered fourth-floor windows but
no-one was hurt. Responsibility for the attack was not
claimed. Bekir Bayram, Giresun correspondent for the
daily Tirkiye, was beaten up by policemen at the end of
April, for no apparent reason. He had to stay off work
for two days. On 11 June, Zeynel Salt, an Ozgur Gelecek
reporter, was kidnapped as he was on his way to visit
prisoners in Istanbul's Bayrampasa prison. Four men
bundled him into a red Fiat then beat him for three
hours before dumping him on a building site. They took
his working papers, camera and press card.Arif Caya, a
cameraman with the privately owned television channel
Ege TV, was beaten by police breaking up a
demonstration in Izmir on 2 July to commemorate the
1993 Sivas massacre, when Islamic extremists burned
down a hotel, killing 37 people (see 1994 Report). Arif
Caya's left arm and foot were broken. Necati Aygin, a
reporter for Cumhuriyet, and Dilek Eski, a local
journalist, were also injured by police. On 15 July,
Istanbul police broke up a demonstration in support of
hunger-striking prisoners. They deliberately hit nine
journalists: Kaan Saganak, Alper Turgut and Hatice
Tuncer, of Cumhuriyet, Efe Erdem, of Milliyet, Yuksel
Koc, of Global, Ifan Kurt and Muhittin Erdogan, of
Evrensel, Sevil Erdogan, of Siyah Beyaz, and Saban
Dayan, a photographer for the German news agency
Version. Saban Dayan said: "The police grabbed me for
no reason and damaged my camera. When I protested, more
policemen gathered round and punched and clubbed me,
slitting my lip". Police seized cameras and burned
films. When reporters sought refuge in of offices of
the Turkish journalists' association, police followed
them in and threatened the secretary-general, Leyla
Tavsanoglu. They hit Yuksel Koc and Sevil Erdogan. Ifan
Kurt and Muhittin Erdogan were arrested but released
soon afterwards. Saban Dayan and Muhittin Erdogan were
off work for three days and Ifan Kurt for one day. All
three lodged a complaint with the prosecutor's office,
but no action was taken. A demonstration was organised
on 6 October in Istanbul's Taksim Square by
extreme-left parties and organisations to protest
against the deaths of ten political prisoners in
Diyarbakir jail. Nearly 60 people were detained by the
police and journalists were brutally kept away from the
scene. Alper Turgut of Cumhuriyet, Serhat Oguz, of
Milliyet, and Ifan Ucar, of Demokrasi, were hit by
police. On 26 October, journalists rushed towards the
riot police headquarters in the southern city of Adana
which had just been bombed, supposedly by the PKK.
Police came to grips with them and Murat Dogukanli, of
Milliyet, was taken unconscious to the nearest
hospital. Mehmet Ali Yilmaz, a reporter for the
privately owned television channel Kanal 7, and his
camaeraman Mazul Dayanan were briefly detained.

Journalists threatened and harassed

At least 24 journalists were threatened or harassed in
1996, which is a minimum figure as so many
newsgatherers are threatened and harassed by
individuals, members of the security forces and
political activists. We have selected the following
cases: On 1 May 1996, The Malatya bureau chief of the
extreme-left weekly Ozgur Gelecek, Akiner Caglar, was
approached by police at nine in the morning outside his
home. He said the officers told him that, if he cared
about his children, he had a choice between
"cooperating", "leaving Malatya" or "taking the
consequences". The offices of the daily Evrensel were
searched on 16 July by Istanbul police, on the grounds
that "a suspect person has entered the building".
Officers, who had no search warrant, combed the
building with guns in their hands, and left an hour
later saying they would make a report to their
superiors.In the evening of 24 August, Diyarbakir
police raided the premises of the local television
station Can TV during a live debate on "The Kurdish
problem and peace". Officers entered the studio and
interrupted the programme. Those taking part were
arrested, plus the chairman of the debate, Cuneyt
Alphan.

Administrative, legal and economic pressure

Legal action was taken against journalists working for
at least 29 Turkish media between 1 January and 31
December 1996: Ada (at least 2 cases), Akit (2), Atilim
(5), Aydinlik (1), Cumhuriyet (1), Demokrasi (1)
Devrimci Genclik (1), Ekimler (1), Evrensel (4), Hedef
(2), Interstar (1), Jiyana Nu (1), Leman (3), Milliyet
(1), Odak (1), Ozgur Gundem (8), Ozgur Halk (1), Ozgur
Ulke (3), Ozgur Yasam (2), Partisan Sesi (1), Radio
Demokrat (1), Roza (1), Savasa Kasi Baris (2), Selam
(1), Show TV (3), Turkish Daily News (1), Yeni Politika
(1) and Yeni Yuzyil (2). On 7 February 1996, Cemal
Serik was sentenced by the Istanbul CSE to 16 months in
prison and a fine of TL 133 million (1,200 dollars) for
an article published in the pro-Kurdish daily Ozgur
Ulke on 28 October 1994. The trial opened in mid-April
of the privately owned television station Interstar for
"insulting the personal rights" of Tansu Ciller, leader
of the True Voice Party and former prime minister. Cem
zan, the proprietor, Ardan Zenturk, programme director,
and journalists Engin Ardic, Ozgan Ertuna, Mustafa
Ozden Akbal, Dilek Cansevgisi, Orhan Cem Sasmaz and Nur
Sakarya, face maximum sentences of two years three
months under articles 428/1, 273 and 80 of the criminal
code, for programmes broadcast between 6 September and
12 October 1995. On 9 May, the leader writer of the
daily Yeni Yuzyil, Ali Bayramoglu, was acquitted by the
Istanbul CSE. He and editor Ismet Berkan had faced
maximum sentences of six years in prison for
"incitement to racial hatred" under article 312 of the
criminal code. Ali Bayramoglu had written an editorial
headed "Why has Ahmed Altan been sacked?", referring to
the dismissal of a leading Milliyet columnist who was
sentenced on 18 October 1995 to 20 months in prison
plus a fine for a piece headed 'Ataturk' on 17 April
1995 (see 1996 Report). This controversial editorial
was the reason for his dismissal from the mass-appeal
daily. He now works for Yeni Yuzyil. A one-year
sentence passed on Kutlu Esendemir, publishing manager
of the humorous weekly Leman, by a Beyoglu court was
reduced by an Istanbul appeal court on 18 October to
ten months, which was suspended because of his "good
behaviour during the hearings". His conviction was for
"insulting the legal status of the state and the armed
forces" in an article published on 7 July 1996, headed
"The prisons are vomiting death". On 1 November, an
Ankara court acquitted the English-language Turkish
Daily News of "insulting the state and the prestige of
the armed forces". At the request of the army chief of
staff, legal proceedings had been taken against editor
Ilnur Cevik and journalist Hayri Birler over an article
published on 9 February 1996 headed "The army polls the
political crisis", referring to a survey that the army
was said to have ordered from a polling institute. The
next day the Turkish Daily News published a denial by
the army. The two journalists had faced a maximum
sentence of six years. Justice minister Sevket Kazan, a
member of the ruling Islamic party Refah (Prosperity),
unveiled a bill on 18 November to amend the press law.
It sparked an outcry in the press which saw it, as
Milliyet said, as "a step towards dictatorship". The
draft law includes a provision "prevent publication of
false information liable to affect the political or
financial prestige of the state, cause panic or provoke
the people". Publications breaking this law would be
liable fines up to 90 % of average sales receipts
during the previous month. Radio and television
stations would face fines ranging from the equivalent
of 50,000 to 200,000 dollars.

Obstacles to the domestic free flow of information

Between 1 January and 31 December 1996, at least 39
media were suspended for periods varying between a few
days and several months, or closed or suspended
indefinitely, under either anti-terrorist laws or those
regulating the audiovisual media (*): Akinci Yolu (at
least once), Alinteri (2), Atilim (3), ATV* (1) Cine 5*
(1), Demokrasi (2), Demokrat Radyo* (1), Devrimci Cozum
(1), Devrimci Genclik (1), Dost FM* (indefinite
suspension), Ekim Gencligi (1) Ekim TV* (1) Emekcinin
Alinteri (1), Evrensel (4), Flash TV* (1), FM12*
(indefinite suspension), Halkin Birligi (1), Hedef (2),
Interstar* (2), Kanal D* (7), Kanal 6* (2), Kanal 50*
(1), Kizil Bayrac (2), Odak (1), Ozgur Genclik (1)
Ozgur Halk (1), Partizan Sesi (1), Proleter Halkin
Birligi (1), Radyo Ekin (closure), Radyo Gercek*
(infefinite suspension) Radyo Gol* (indefinite
suspension), Radyo Karacadag (2), Radio Mozaik* (1),
Ronahi (closure), Selam (1), Sev Radyo* (1), Show TV*
(4), Sok Radyo* (1) and Sosyalizm Yolunda Kizil Bayrak
(1). Issues of at least 53 dailies, weeklies or monthly
magazines were seized under the anti-terrorist law: Ada
(at least once), Akinci Yolu (1), Alinteri (9), Atilim
(3), Aydinlik (3), Deng (1) Devrimci Cozum (3),
Devrimci Emek (1), Direnis (1), Emek (2), Emekcinin
Alinteri (3) Evrensel (9), Express (1), Genc Direnis
(1), Genclik (1), Gencligin Sesi (2), Haftalik Aydinlik
(1), Halk Icin Kurtulus(1), Hedef (4), Hevi (1),
Kahraman (1), Kaldirac (2), Kervan (2), Kurtulus (5),
Milliyet (1) Nu Roj (4), Odak (5), Oncu Partizan (3),
Oncu Yurtseverr Genclik (1), Ozgur Atilim (2), Ozgur
Gelecek (12), Ozgur Genclik (3), Ozgurluk (2) Partisan
(2) Partisan Genclik (2), Partisan Sesi (10),
Perspektif (1), Proleter Dogrultu (2), Proleter Halkin
Birligi (10), Reheval (2), Roj (1), Ronahi (61), Savasa
Karsi Baris (1) Sodak (1), Sosyalist Iktidar (2), Soz
(3), Tavir (1), Tempo (1), Uzun Yuruyus (1), Yeni
Demokrat Genclik (3), Yeniden Newroz (3) and Yeni
Dunaya Icin (2). We have selected the following cases:
On 10 January, number 218 of the extreme-left daily
Evrensel was seized by the Istanbul CSE under article 5
of the antiterrorist law, for an article headed
"Evrensel will not keep silence" recounting the
circumstances surrounding the death of Metin Goktepe
(see above). The paper was accused of "pointing out
police officers as targets for terrorist organisations,
by publishing their names". The daily Evrensel was
suspended for 75 days by the Istanbul CSE on 9 May for
printing an interview with an army officer who
confessed anonymously that the army was carrying out
exactions in the south-east of the country. Evrensel
was charged under article 312 of the criminal code
covering "incitement to hatred". On 15 July, the prime
minister, Necmettin Erbakan, intervened to ban the
privately owned television station Interstar from
broadcasting a report on hunger-striking prisoners.
Police entered the studio 15 minutes before the evening
newscast, acting under article 25 of law 3984 covering
radio and television: ["When national security is
clearly threatened or when there is a risk of a serious
breach of the peace, the prime minister may intervene
to prevent a programme being broadcast"]. The
pro-Kurdish weekly Ronahi was definitively closed down
in October by an Istanbul court for "separatist
propaganda". According to Ronahi, 61 out of the 72
issues it had published in 1996 had been seized. The
weekly has had three proprietors and five editors. On
15 October, the Istanbul CSE ordered the confiscation
of that day's issue of Evrensel, for "insulting the
armed forces" in an article on village guards, under
the headline "The headhunters' pay has been raised".
The daily stopped publishing on 31 October. The
management said 60 issues had been seized and 78
lawsuits had been filed against the paper, 19 of which
resulted in acquittals. Suspensions had totalled 125
days. The Turkish radio and television council (RTUK)
decided in November to suspend the privately owned
television station Kanal D for three days, from 30
November to 2 December, and its sister channel Show TV
for two days. The suspensions were for broadcasting
images evoking homosexual relations.

Obstacles to the international free flow of information

On 14 January 1996, Ritva Ronnberg, correspondent for
the privately owned Swedish television channel TV4, was
arrested by police in Diyarbakir. She was reporting on
the return to Turkey of a Kurdish family expelled from
Sweden. She was held in custody for two hours and asked
to translate the content of her videocassette. Her
tapes were returned to her and she was allowed to leave
the police station, followed by plain-clothes officers.
On 23 May, Leena Reikko, correspondent for Finnish
radio and television, YLE, was held in custody for six
hours with her Turkish cameraman, Kemal Gokalin. She
was arrested by the Istanbul antiterrorist police in
the offices of the pro-Kurdish Popular Democratic Party
(HADEP). Her videocassettes were returned two days
later, but the police had erased some passages of her
curtainraising report on the international "Habitat"
conference, including an interview with an elderly Kurd
exiled to Istanbul. Ebru Donmezoglu, who works for the
Greek news agency ANKA, was hit by police in Ankara on
6 July. She was in a park near the scene of a
demonstration backing prisoners on hunger strike when
she saw policemen beating someone. They attcked the
journalist when they saw she was taking notes.

Reporters Sans Frontieres

--
Press-Agency Ozgurluk: http://www.ozgurluk.org
The struggle for human right, freedom, justice and democracy in Turkey
and Kurdistan
mailto: in...@ozgurluk.org