A-Infos (en) Turkey: URGENT Do Forward !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

["O. Wenxunawel" <wenxunaw@entelchile.net>]

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-----Original Message-----
De: Marko Ajdaric <marko@workmail.com>
Para: Readers of A Luta Contínua <marko@workmail.com>
Fecha: Martes 12 de Mayo de 1998 01:21 PM
Asunto: Turkey: URGENT Do Forward !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Sorry for eventual double issuing

Marko Ajdaric A Luta Contínua

http://www.angelfire.com/ok/markoajdaric/index.html


> The bullets are aiming all of us!
>
>The President of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (IHD), Akin Birdal
is shot today by two
>assailants and his situation remains severe. The following information is
prepared by the Turkish
>Daily EMEK newspaper. The photos of the attack belong to UBA (National
Press Agency).
>As you will see in the news, Birdal and IHD, whose only aim is defending
and developing the
>human rights struggle, was targeted by the state and the media as
"terrorists".
>The other targets of this state operation are:
>1. EMEK DAILY NEWSPAPER (the voice of the working class)
>2. GUNDEM DAILY NEWSPAPER (pro-Kurdish)
>3. SATURDAY MOTHERS (the mothers of the disappeared, who gather every
Saturday in
>Istanbul and demonstrate)
>4. KESK (The Confederation of Civil Servants Unions)
>
>GUNDEM was closed down by the state. Last saturday, the mothers, who have
been
>demonstrating every saturday for 154 weeks now, were attacked and beaten by
the police. The
>police said to the mothers that "there won't be a 155th time".
>Lots of lawsuits were launched against EMEK and we are expecting other
legal or illegal attacks
>now.
>Pass this news to other democratic organizations.
>Defend human rights in Turkey.
>Oppose state terror.
>
>CONTRA ATTACK TO AKIN BIRDAL
>The President of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (IHD), Akin Birdal
was shot today at
>12.30 Turkish time, by two men who came to IHD Central Office in Ankara,
the capital of Turkey.
>Birdal was taken immediately to Sevgi Hospital and taken into surgery. At
18.00 pm by Turkish
>time, his life was still in danger.
>The assailants fled on foot after the attack and "were not found anywhere".
It should be noted that
>IHD center is continuously under police watch.
>The attack which in reality is an attack against everybody who supports
democracy and peace
>was carried out on 12.30, at 12th May, Tuesday. Two men who came to IHD
center at 12.20 said
>that they wanted to talk with Birdal. After being takin in, they asked some
questions to Birdal and
>wanted help. Birdal said that IHD's Ankara branch could help them.
>The assailants then went to IHD Secretary Turkan Demir and took the address
of IHD Ankara
>branch. But they suddenly turned back, took out their guns and started
shooting at Birdal. A total
>of 13 shots, and 6 of these hit Birdal.
>When he was taken to hospital, it was declared that three of the bullets
hit the leg, two to the
>chest and one to the shoulder. The bullets in the leg cut the arteries. The
operation at the
>hospital lasted 4 hours and Akin Birdal's situation remains serious.
>
>A familiar name
>The police said that the attack was undertaken by Turkish Revenge Brigade
(TIT). TIT is known
>to be a bubble name for counterguerrilla hit squads and for more than 20
years, the name
>appears in killings of hundreds of democrats, socialists, working class
leaders and Kurds.
>After tha attack, state officials went to the hospital to declare their
"deep grief". Interior Minister
>Murat Basesgioglu and Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit was protested by
slogans of "Killer is
>the state" by hundreds of people.
>When the news was heard, hundreds of people started gathering in front of
the hospital. They
>started chanting slogans "The killer is the state", "Resist Akin, we are
with you", "Shoulder to
>shoulder against fascism". Also, hundreds of people wanted to give blood to
Birdal.
>
>The first bullet was shot by the media
>Akin Birdal was targeted by a recent media operation, which involved a PKK
(Kurdistan Workers
>Party) commander, Semdin Sakik, who was captured by the army. At 25th of
April, two media
>giants, Hurriyet and Sabah, gave their first pages to this man's so-called
"confessions".
>According to these, Birdal was "one of the best members of the PKK" and
"IHD was the gun of
>PKK in Turkey".
>
>The struggle of IHD
>The Human Rights Association of Turkey, IHD is founded in 1986 by 98 human
rights defenders.
>11 of its directors and members were killed by contra gangs up to now. The
"Western Study
>Group", a "half-legal" formation within the army has stated in ist reports
that the activity of IHD
>should be stopped. This group was formed against human rights supporters,
Kurds, democratic-
>socialist parties and organizations and working class leaders. But the
state declares that it is
>formed "against Islamic fundamentalism".
>The secret 1997 report of the group says that: "...some human rights
organizations and
>seemingly legal associations take side against the state" and "...some
people who act as illegal
>organization sympathisers join the terrorist groups via these
associations..."
>After this report, lots of branches of IHD were closed down and lawsuit was
launched against the
>association to close it altogether.
>
>You may send faxes of support to IHD at:
>00 90 312 425 95 47
>We plan to publish messages, so they may also be sent to
>00 90 665 69 43 and 44
>The faxes of protest should go to Interior Ministry at:
>00 90 312 425 18 59
>
>




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