[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 106 (Thursday, August 4, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 4, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______


                      DEMOCRACY ON TRIAL IN TURKEY

 Mr. DeCONCINI. Mr. President, this day marks a sad milestone 
on Turkey's path toward democracy. Today, before a court in Ankara, six 
Kurdish parliamentarians face capital punishment for expressing 
political views deemed treasonous by Turkey's civilian and military 
leadership. Altogether, 13 duly elected Deputies of the Democracy Party 
[DEP] have been thrown out of Parliament, including 6 who fled the 
country so they could not be silenced.
  Mr. President, I am flabbergasted that such a spectacle is taking 
place in Turkey, a staunch friend, a NATO ally, and CSCE participating 
State whose officials regularly express commitments to democracy and 
international human rights standards. This trial will take place before 
the world press and hundreds of lawyers, foreign parliamentarians, 
human rights activists and others on hand to demonstrate their concern 
and support. In addition to starkly illustrating how free speech and 
political activity is restricted in Turkey, the trial will bring 
attention to other underlying obstructions to democracy.
  Mr. President, I was initially dismayed at the widespread popular 
support for the Government's dogmatic campaign against the DEP members. 
But what is becoming increasingly clear is that public opinion is being 
openly manipulated by major media outlets controlled by government or 
other political sources. With respect to Kurdish rights issues and the 
war in southeast Turkey, informed debate has fallen victim to 
inflammatory prefabrications or severely restricted information. I 
believe, as long as major media sources remain controlled by political 
and military interests, and journalists and others remain silenced, 
informed public debate will be impossible. Mr. President, free 
expression and an unrestricted press are prerequisites of democratic 
societies. The Turkish press must be enabled to report responsibly on 
Kurdish issues and other human rights concerns.
  The DEP trial will also likely underscore the deficiencies of the 
Government's unrealistic military approach to the Kurdish question--a 
cornerstone of which is the criminalization of Kurdish-based political 
parties. When political parties are banned, the pattern in Turkey is 
that like-minded groups form on their heels or members move to more 
extreme parties. It would seem that allowing Kurds to form legal 
political parties would be a plausible way of diminishing support for 
the PKK and other extremist groups. The CSCE Copenhagen Document 
clearly outlines commitments taken by 53 participating States regarding 
unrestricted political party activity. The campaign against the 
Democracy Party and its predecessors raises serious questions about the 
Government of Turkey's commitment to these principles.
  Mr. President, while the start of this political trial marks a dark 
day for Turkish democracy, one can hope that the attention drawn by 
this event will bring added pressure on the Government to pursue 
nonmilitary resolutions of the Kurdish crisis and to address other 
pressing rights issues. I would remind my colleagues, that two of the 
deputies face the death penalty for statements made at a Helsinki 
Commission briefing in the Rayburn Building. I find it truly 
unfathomable that a professed democratic Government could press capital 
charges against elected parliamentarians simply for their speeches or 
writings which advocate neither violence, secession nor solutions 
outside of a democratic framework. On this inauspicious occasion, I 
urge my colleagues to join me in expressing to the Government of Turkey 
our disappointment at their irrational campaign to squelch free 
speech.

                          ____________________