Türkiye
21.02.00
Urgent Interventions
Turkey: arrest of three Kurdish mayors
Case TUR 210200
Geneva, February 21, 2000
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Turkey.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a the Centre Europe Tiers Monde (CETIM), a member of the OMCT network, of arrest of three Kurdish mayors in Turkey. According to the information received, three Kurdish mayors,all members of the People's Democracy Party (HADEP), elected in democratic polls last April, were arrested by Turkish police on 19th February 2000 on the basis of an investigation involving presumed links with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party); Mr. Feridun Celik, Mayor of the city of Diyarbakir, Mehmet Selim Ozalp, Mayor of the city of Siirt, and Mr. Feyzullah Karaaslan, Mayor of the city of Bingol. They are currently detained in the Turkish Gendarmerie in Diyarbakir.
Feridun Celik and Mehmet Ozalp were accused of "aiding the work of the terrorist organisation, the PKK at home and abroad". The HADEP party campaigns for Kurdish rights and a peaceful end to the conflict in the south-east.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Turkey urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned persons;
ii. order their immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these arrests in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards
Addresses
Bulent Ecevit, Prime Minister, Fax: 0090 312 417 04 76
Hikmet Sami Turk, Minister of Justice Fax : 0090 312 417 39 57
Yildirim Akbulut, President of the Parliament, Fax: 0090 312 417 39 57
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Geneva, February 21, 2000
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Turkey.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a the Centre Europe Tiers Monde (CETIM), a member of the OMCT network, of arrest of three Kurdish mayors in Turkey. According to the information received, three Kurdish mayors,all members of the People's Democracy Party (HADEP), elected in democratic polls last April, were arrested by Turkish police on 19th February 2000 on the basis of an investigation involving presumed links with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party); Mr. Feridun Celik, Mayor of the city of Diyarbakir, Mehmet Selim Ozalp, Mayor of the city of Siirt, and Mr. Feyzullah Karaaslan, Mayor of the city of Bingol. They are currently detained in the Turkish Gendarmerie in Diyarbakir.
Feridun Celik and Mehmet Ozalp were accused of "aiding the work of the terrorist organisation, the PKK at home and abroad". The HADEP party campaigns for Kurdish rights and a peaceful end to the conflict in the south-east.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Turkey urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned persons;
ii. order their immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these arrests in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards
Addresses
Bulent Ecevit, Prime Minister, Fax: 0090 312 417 04 76
Hikmet Sami Turk, Minister of Justice Fax : 0090 312 417 39 57
Yildirim Akbulut, President of the Parliament, Fax: 0090 312 417 39 57
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.