Turkey

Arrest of nonviolent activists and conscientious objectors at trial in Sivas

In May, the situation of imprisoned gay conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan worsened considerably, and War Resisters' International put out several co-alerts on his case, and also set up a special Turkey campaign page - at present in English and German, to respond to the news on abuse and death threats against Mehmet Tarhan.

Cyprus, a tiny divided island in the eastern Mediterranean is a military minefield. Even after accession to the EU, no country in the world - with the exception of Korea - has seen its territory amassed with such a deadly array of weaponry with possible catastrophic consequences for the inhabitants. 40000 occupying Turkish forces and another few thousand Turkish-Cypriot soldiers face a few thousand Greek- Cypriots conscripts and Greek soldiers, with British troops and bases and a few thousand UN peace keepers guarding the ceasefire line.

In the previous month, the WRI office issued the following co-alerts:

(a full archive of co-alerts is available at http://wri-irg.org/news/alerts)

TURKEY: UPDATE: Sahin Ozbay released 28/04/05

TURKEY: Trial against Mehmet Tarhan adjourned.

On 28 April, Mehmet Tarhan, gay, anarchist, and conscientious objector, was tried for "insubordination in front of his unit" according to Article 88 or the Turkish Military Penal Code. This charge carries a punishment of between 3 months and 5 years imprisonment.

To show international support, War Resisters' International organised an international delegation to observe the trial.

On 18 December 2004, some twenty Turkish antimilitarists protested in front of the Harbiye Officers Club against the imprisonment of conscientious objector Halil Savda (see co-alert TR14682-161204). Police pushed the antimilitarists to the other side of the road, but did not make any arrests. The antimilitarists read out a press release, in which they gave details of Halil Savda's case and expressed their solidarity.

Halil Savda was born in Sirnak/Cizre in 1974, and graduated from primary school.

Turkey: Brief arrest of conscientious objector

The Turkish conscientious objector Cemal Karakus, who declared his conscientious objection publicly on 15 May 2004, was briefly arrested by police in mid-October. The reason for his arrest was that he is considered a draft evader. However, the police did not find any reason to keep him under arrest, and so he was released again.

Although War Resisters' International's focus for International Conscientious Objectors' Day is Chile and Latin America, activities in different countries obviously respond also to the local situation, while drawing attention to the focus region at the same time.

Britain

There will be a memorial event for conscientious objectors past and present at the commemorative stone for conscientious objectors in Tavistock Square, central London, on 15 May. The event will start at noon.

On Tuesday, 19 December, at 5 am in the morning, special units of the police and the army began to attach 20 prisons and the hunger strikers in these prisons. The aim was to transfer the prisoners to hospitals and "type F" prisons and to bring the hunger strike to an end. In this article, we document the events and do a first evaluation.

Militarism has been the traditional target for the peace movement's nonviolent action. But keeping in mind the issues discussed in WRI's 1999 Seminar, "The Changing Face of the Military", we must remain vigilant of changes. The dictionary definition of militarism includes references to:

WRI Statement on the actions of the Turkish Government against prisoners.

On 19 December at 5am in the morning, Turkish special police and the Turkish army stormed 20 prisons, using pneumatic hammers, building machines, and firing at the prisoners with tear gas and guns. With this attack, cynically called "Return to Life", and which so far left more than 30 people dead, the Turkish authorities aimed to break the hunger strike until death ("death fast") of 280 political prisoners, who were supported by 800 prisoners in a solidarity hunger strike.

Based on the newspaper Radical from 20. and 21.12.00 we prepared a chronology of the escalation.

Since the beginning of December small daily demonstrations, vigils and rallies in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and other cities.

3.12. On the 45th day of the hunger strike, premier Ecevit declares that they are thinking of an intervention. The Chamber of Physicians discusses, if forced feeding is in accordance with the professional ethos.

When on 14 October 1996, Osman (Ossi) Murat Ülke began to serve his sentence in the military prison of Mamak in Ankara, a flood of protest and solidarity letters soon poured in. His case shows how effective letters to Prisoners for Peace can be. Ossi's imprisonment had been expected and partner organisations in Western Europe (including many sections of the WRI) and in Turkey were prepared.