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| Europe |
| Turks Free 4 Kurds Whose Jailing Irked European Union |
| 2004-06-10 |
| via NYT Gee - think this might be related to the NATO story? Lol! Erdogan is such a dupe. Login: freenytimes freenytimes In a decision hailed by human rights advocates, a Turkish appeals court on Wednesday ordered the release of four Kurdish former members of Parliament who were convicted 10 years ago of belonging to an outlawed separatist movement. Among those freed was Leyla Zana, whose campaign for Kurdish rights made internationally known. The four were convicted of links to the Kurdish Workers Party; a hearing on their appeal is set for July 8. Amnesty International called on Turkey to drop the case altogether, saying the four Kurds were prosecuted only for their political beliefs. In an interview with Reuters after the release, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul predicted that the four would not return to jail. They have already served all but nine months of their sentences. In Brussels, GÃŒnter Verheugen, the European Union’s commissioner for enlargement, said: "Today’s decision is a sign that the implementation of political reforms, which Turkey has been introducing in the past two years, is gaining ground." Since the 1994 convictions, Turkey has made wholesale changes in its Constitution and laws in an effort to fulfill European Union conditions for starting accession talks at the end of this year. The special state security courts created for terrorism and treason cases were abolished last month. The official ban on playing Kurdish music and teaching the Kurdish language in schools has been lifted, and on Wednesday, state television broadcast its first-ever program of news and culture in Kurdish. As Mrs. Zana and her colleagues emerged from Ulucanlar prison in Ankara, they were mobbed by a crowd throwing flowers and shouting, "Turkey is proud of you!" Commentators spoke of the beginning of the end of a long national conflict over state recognition of Kurdish cultural and language rights. Later, Mrs. Zana said: "I believe that a new period has started in this country, and a new page is opened. Today is the day to unite, and today is the day that everyone frees himself and herself of all prejudices." How many times will Erdogan be an EU bridesmaid? As many times as he listens to Chirac, methinks. Good for the Kurds in Turkey, however, and on their behalf, thanks Tayyip! Lol! |
| Posted by:.com |
| #15 Speak softly and carry a big carrot. I know I do And so do I, Doc. Been doin' it for decades. You'll be hearin' from the Warner Brothers lawyers. |
| Posted by: Bugs Bunny 2004-06-10 9:11:02 PM |
| #14 Speak softly and carry a big carrot. I know I do. |
| Posted by: Zpaz 2004-06-10 8:13:47 PM |
| #13 Shipman> Exactly. Sometimes the deprivation of the carrot is by itself enough of a stick. Not always, but often enough. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-06-10 8:03:47 PM |
| #12 How many times will Erdogan be an EU bridesmaid? As many times as he listens to Chirac, methinks. Can you say, "The Capitulations"? I knew you could. These famous Capitulation's were one of the factors that brought about the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The word is little understood in the Europe of today. The Capitulations were a system of trade agreements which granted certain fiscal privileges to foreign importers and exporters. These advantages were denied to indigenous merchants, who were thus forced to focus exclusively on internal commerce. From: http://www.mfa.gov.tr/grupe/eg/eg05/11.htm Seems they haven't learned much. |
| Posted by: Kentar 2004-06-10 6:38:06 PM |
| #11 Re: 10. Right on! Which is why Capitalism will always win. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2004-06-10 6:32:14 PM |
| #10 Yep, greed works everytime Aris. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-06-10 6:05:39 PM |
| #9 Contact us again in about, oh, 8 years, Murat, and we'll see. In the meantime, Gitmo's holding terrorists captured outside of Geneva protections, while turkey jailed citizens exercising their political rights. And for all their stupidity, AI hasn't yet declared shooting at a legitimate military a politically protected right. Your moral comparator is clearly busted: get it replaced. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2004-06-10 3:51:21 PM |
| #8 *g* People here do sometimes seem to hold the two contradictory opinions that a) Turkey has been improving only because of the EU, and b) That EU hasn't done anything to further the cause of democracy and freedom in the world. In the meantime I'm bookmarking this article as yet another good sign from Turkey, partly indeed because of EU's support of freedom in its wider neighbourhood. *gleeful* 50 years of NATO membership didn't help Turkish democracy much, but the mere possibility of EU entry did. */gleeful* |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-06-10 3:26:10 PM |
| #7 first muRAT - the only reason they were let out is becuse the euro lesh was tugged... still dangling that eu membership thing..which, if left up to the current nationalistic politicians in the eu will never happen.... so i guess now turkish prison system is humane??? gitmo is for foriegn terrorists - not homegrown...so how can you compare....being locked up in turkey is whole diff world than being locked in the states....wouldn't want either but if i had to choose it would not be a hard choice.. so i guess destroying the kurdish culture and forcing the turk language on the populace plus 10 years in jail is ok??? you disgust me...your left one day then right... guess depends on which way you bent over last night... |
| Posted by: Dan 2004-06-10 2:09:20 PM |
| #6 Do I really have to bend over during my prayers to Mecca? Can't I just stand with my back against a wall? |
| Posted by: Turkish Prisoner 2004-06-10 12:35:14 PM |
| #5 yep - your prisons suck |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-06-10 10:48:10 AM |
| #4 Nope, I would say 10 years of prison for them was enough, at least they got fair trials unlike those Guantanomo prisoners. Is there any American dude who has still the balls to critisize Turkish prisons? :) |
| Posted by: Murat 2004-06-10 10:28:39 AM |
| #3 Send Murat to the EU Parliament before letting his head explode. That is, if it explodes at all. I somehow doubt Murat would/will make a big deal out of this, saying something along the lines of "Yeah it sucks but you're worse than us". |
| Posted by: Charles 2004-06-10 8:44:02 AM |
| #2 Watch ou,standback and breakout the splatter shields!Murat's head is going to explode. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2004-06-10 7:35:32 AM |
| #1 The official ban on playing Kurdish music and teaching the Kurdish language in schools has been lifted, What was Turkey's official justification for this ban? Does anybody happen to know? . |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-06-10 7:01:37 AM |