Editorial

Back to:Mehmet loves Bariş* Documentation: Conscientious objection in Turkey

On 8 April, early in the morning, Turkish police arrested Mehmet Tarhan, a known gay activist and conscientious objector. This is the third arrest of a conscientious objector since the release of Osman Murat Ülke from prison, and again it is not clear whether Mehmet Tarhan has been arrested "by mistake", or if this marks a change of policy.

This documentation is a collection of documents related to conscientious objection in Turkey, and has been put together by War Resisters' International in a hurry. It documents the case of Mehmet Tarhan, who is presently in prison, and the earlier cases of Mehmet Bal (arrested in October 2002) and Halil Savda (arrested on charges of desertion in November 2004). In addition, this documentation includes information on the legal framework governing military service and conscientious objection in Turkey, and looks back at the history of the Turkish antimilitarist movement.

Last but not least we include documents of international institutions which dealt with the issue of conscientious objection in Turkey.

It is presently not known if Mehmet Tarhan will share the fate of Osman Murat Ülke, who went through a vicious cycle of arrest, sentencing, and re-arrest. After 2 1/2 years in prison he was released, but is presently in a legal limbo, factually being a deserter but practically not being searched for. Mehmet Tarhan refused to be discharged on grounds of his homosexuality - which might seem as an easy way out, but Mehmet Tarhan refused to accept it, as he sees it as discrimination based on sexual orientation (and rightly so). The second arrest of Mehmet Tarhan after the trial on 9 June marks the beginning of a vicious cycle of trial, prison, release, and arrest - nobody knows for how long.

Mehmet Tarhan is only one of some fifty declared conscientious objectors in Turkey. What is happening to Mehmet Tarhan could happen to anyone of them: arrest early in the morning, transfer to the military recruitment office, and subsequently to the military unit, and then trials - who knows for how long. Not only does Turkey not recognise the right to conscientious objection, it also violates international law in trying conscientious objectors repeatedly for the same offence - a vicious cycle with an unknown end. However, only very few conscientious objectors get arrested in practice - most live quite openly - with the daily threat of being arrested at any time.

For these reasons it is important that Mehmet Tarhan and other conscientious objectors in Turkey receive our support and solidarity. It is important that the Turkish authorities have to realise that they can no longer avoid facing the issue of conscientious objection.

Otherwise, there will be more cases such as Mehmet Tarhan, Halil Savda, Mehmet Bal, and Osman Murat Ülke.

Special thanks go to Ugur Yorulmaz for providing most of the pictures used in this documentation, and keeping us updated on new developments.

Andreas Speck, 22 June 2005

This documentation has been compiled by War Resisters' International.

It can be downloaded from the WRI website (wri-irg.org), and can be freely distributed. Special thanks go to Ugur Yorulmaz, to the Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA), and to all others who provided the documents for this documentation.