[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 18, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1104-E1105]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       TURKISH GOVERNMENT REPRESSION: TAKING LESSONS FROM BEIJING

                                 ______


                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 18, 1996

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, the United Nations Habitat II 
conference on sustainable urban development has concluded in Istanbul, 
Turkey. While most observers will point to the conference's focus on 
the pressing challenges of urbanization, the repression employed by the 
host Government of Turkey in response to criticism of its human rights

[[Page E1105]]

record has cast a pall over the meeting and should be protested at an 
international level.
  While Turkey cannot be compared to China in terms of democratic 
development, Ankara seems to have taken some lessons from Beijing when 
it comes to stifling dissent. As Habitat was just convening, Turkish 
police forcibly evacuated the headquarters of 35 NGO's organizing an 
``Alternative Habitat.'' These NGO's were protesting the government's 
destruction of some 3,000 Kurdish villages and the creation of 3 
million refugees in southeast Turkey. These groups rightly believe that 
such policies were incompatible with the spirit and goals of Habitat 
II.
  Mr. Speaker, last week, Turkish authorities detained hundreds of 
peaceful demonstrators, including a Habitat NGO representative, and a 
handful of TV journalists filming the police actions. The demonstrators 
were protesting government policies, and the reaction of Turkish 
security forces was reminiscent of China's action during the UN Beijing 
Conference on Women.
  These attacks on free speech and the right of free assembly are 
cynical attempts by the Government of Turkey to deflect international 
scrutiny of their policies in southeast Turkey. Yet, Mr. Speaker, these 
heavy-handed tactics bring even greater scrutiny to the government's 
repressive, undemocratic activities. Mr. Speaker, I have to imagine 
that the thousands of NGO's and officials from around the world who 
attended Habitat II have taken home a distinct impression that Turkish 
democracy is severely lacking.
  Mr. Speaker, the Turkish Government tried to prevent its repressive 
policies in southeast Turkey from coming to light, but a group of 
mayors from towns and villages in the region did submit a revealing 
report to the conference. The report linked human rights abuses in the 
region directly to Habitat issues and the urban ills facing Istanbul 
and other large cities in Turkey. The mayors believe that crowding, 
poverty and instability in Istanbul originated in the towns and 
villages of southeast Turkey, where economic deprivation and the 
government's war on terrorism had forced millions from their homes to 
urban centers unequipped to meet their needs.
  Mr. Speaker, I fear Turkey is headed down a road of increasing 
instability and upheaval. As long as the government stifles the 
protests of its own people and refuses even to allow open debate of 
these problems, there will be scant hope for resolving such tough 
issues.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to enter into the Record an article from 
the Turkish Daily News, June 14, 1996, edition, which further spells 
out the problems faced by those attempting to bring human rights issues 
before the Habitat II meeting.

              [From the Turkish Daily News, June 14, 1996]

                 The Olympic Struggle for Human Rights?

                           (By David O'Byrne)

       Istanbul--``Turkey is dedicated to advancing the cause of 
     human rights despite the presence of malign element-
     terrorism-pinching the Turkish nation from within and 
     without.''
       This rather ungainly quote is taken directly from the 
     introduction to a brochure on human rights published by the 
     Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs. One of a package of 
     material prepared for participants in the UN Habitat II 
     conference, this heavily qualified and ungrammatical 
     statement is fairly typical of the document as a whole. For a 
     country like Turkey with a more than dubious record in the 
     human rights department and aspirations to host the 2004 
     Olympics, this government publication is far from unequivocal 
     acceptance of widely accepted standards.
       In fact, the tone of the brochure is decidedly defensive. 
     Much of the brochure is concerned with alleged criticisms of 
     the Turkish human rights record by the Kurdish Workers' Party 
     (PKK) and its supporters. But as a terrorist organization the 
     PKK is certainly not noted for its human rights record, so 
     it's indeed strange that their opinions should carry such 
     weight. Shorter mention is made of other religious and ethnic 
     minorities, again aimed at countering what the Foreign 
     Ministry sees as unwarranted criticism from, apparently, 
     foreign sources.
       The unfortunate implication is that human rights are 
     something only demanded by ``minority groups'', and then only 
     at the bidding of `outside' forces. Despite giving details of 
     numerous amendments to the Turkish constitution and listing 
     Turkey's many accessions to international treaties, nowhere 
     are human rights referred to as something to which the 
     Turkish population as a whole should be concerned with.
       At the Habitat NGO forum however, there was no sign of 
     Turkish people ignoring the human rights issue. In fact many 
     of the stalls were occupied with Turkish groups whose sole 
     concern was human rights. Chilling photographs and texts in 
     several languages detail terrible human rights' abuses in 
     several different countries. Turkoman people in Iraq have, 
     not surprisingly perhaps, suffered terribly under the 
     despotic regime of Saddam Hussein. In western China--or 
     eastern Turkistan as it is also referred to--native Turkomens 
     have been remove from positions of authority as the region 
     has been settled by increasing numbers of Han Chinese moved 
     in by the Chinese government.
       Continued nuclear testing in the region has left many parts 
     uninhabitable and has led to the predictable increases in 
     cancers. Displays showing the results of Russian occupation 
     of Chechenya and the occupation of parts of Azerbaijn by 
     Armenian government forces were equally disturbing.
       The Turkish speaking minority from Greece were also 
     represented. Greek government policy has long centered around 
     moving the Turkish Muslim community from Western Thrace to 
     areas where it can more easily assimilated. The closure of 
     schools and mosques coupled with continued harassment by the 
     police and civil authorities has forced many to Turkish 
     Greeks leave. Another Foreign Ministry brochure available to 
     people attending Habitat details these and other human rights 
     abuses.
       Groups concerned with minorities inside Turkey received no 
     such official sanction however. This in spite of the 
     government statement reprinted above. On the contrary, 
     foreigners attending the NGO forum complained constantly 
     about the presence of plain clothes policemen. One utterly 
     innocuous seminar on the ``colorful life of dark people''--ie 
     gypsies--attracted 11 people, two of whom were plain clothes 
     police. While one of the policemen dominated the discussion 
     with loud irrelevant contributions, the other attempted to 
     interview the three Turkish participants and ascertain why 
     they were interested in gypsies.
       Outside of Habitat too further Turkish interest in human 
     rights issues made itself evident. The Turkish human rights 
     group IHD organized an ``Alternative Habitat'' conference, 
     only to find it closed down practically before it started. 
     Further interest was shown by the friends and relatives of 
     the 400 or so people who, since 1979, are alleged to have 
     ``disappeared'' whilst in police custody. Their silent 
     peaceful protests have been taking place outside Galatasaray 
     school for the past year. Coverage by the press was minimal, 
     with journalists attending dutifully in case of incident.
       Last Saturday they were rewarded (sic). Although officially 
     banned the demonstration went ahead anyway with predictable 
     results. A larger than usual but none the less peaceful group 
     of people attempted to sit down in Galatasaray Square but 
     were immediately set upon by the legions of waiting police. 
     Journalists, photographers and even delegates from the 
     Habitat conference were arrested, many being severely beaten 
     in the process. Television pictures of the unwarranted 
     brutality were shown all over the world and photographs were 
     published in many of the world's leading journals. A press 
     conference held the following day to protest at the arrests 
     was also broken up by the police with many arrests.
       There were by this time an estimated 1500 people in 
     custody. As releases began--without charge--groups of people 
     congregated outside police stations to welcome their friends. 
     Prominent human rights lawyer Serpil Kaya emerged from her 
     incarceration to find a group of her friends being harassed 
     by the police. On pointing out that they weren't breaking the 
     law she was immediately rearrested. Judging the reaction of 
     shocked delegates to the Habitat conference was not 
     difficult, they were only too happy to express their anger at 
     what they had witnessed. As a spokesman for the NGOs 
     explained in a press conference, ``We have witnessed that 
     hundreds of individuals have been beaten, arrested and 
     detained while demonstrating peacefully on the city streets. 
     We will not forget what we have seen.''
       During the whole length of the Habitat conference another 
     demonstration has been going on, largely unnoticed. Teams of 
     runners have been jogging along the Bosphorus bearing Olympic 
     flags. Turkey's bid for the 2000 Olympics failed to make much 
     impression. The Habitat conference is one of the first major 
     international events to be staged in Turkey. The current bid 
     for the 2004 Olympic games has been making good use of 
     Habitat to show the international community what Turkey is 
     capable of. Those efforts now appear sadly wasted.
       Until a Turkish government can make a statement regarding 
     human rights that is both unqualified and is seen to be put 
     into practice it is most unlikely that the international 
     community will see fit to trust Turkey with another event of 
     major significance. After the events of the past two weeks 
     the effort required to bring the 2004 games to Istanbul would 
     seem to be more herculean than olympic.

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