Discusión por hipótesis

Clashes Among Civilians

On 12 May, Iranian refugee Taher Serzai killed police officer Kadir Aydın in Halilağa quarter of Van. Serzai took the gun of the police officer during an ID control and killed him. He was detained some time later.

On 1 January radical right-wing students in Kastamonu Faculty of Education of Gazi University attacked leftist students injuring Fadıl Oktay, Cengiz Boztoğan, Yaşar Kıyda and Özkan Rona.

On 8 January, during a panel discussion held at the Faculty of Law at İstanbul University on “Turkey, Cyprus and Northern Iraq” with the participation of former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Şükrü Sina Gürel, Chairman of The Labor Party (IP), Doğu Perinçek and retired general Necati Özgen, IP followers attacked a group of students attacked when they protested Doğu Perinçek. The student Ekin

Çiftçi was wounded to her head. 20 students were detained in connections with the incident.

Answering questions of journalists Doğu Perinçek alleged that the protesting students were provocateurs and added, “Of course you have to put them out of action. If you don’t, Turkey will collapse.” When a journalist reminded Perinçek that the attack was bloody, he said, “Of course, it would be this way. When one acts with knives and sticks the result would be this. It will be much more terrible from now on. The heads of those who want to divide the Turkish people in Turkey will be smashed in the following period”.

After a fight that broke out on 12 January between leftist and rightist students at Van 100 Year University Merisah Student Dormitory 15 rightist and 47 leftist students were detained. The gendarmerie intervened and detained another 7 students on 13 January when they wanted to protest their friends’ detention. Later the students were released.

In Baykan (Siirt) Halil Tanboğa, AKP chairperson for Baykan district, beat Erdal Emeç and Yılmaz Ete, who told AKP Van MP Yekta Haydaroğlu, and AKP Siirt MP candidate Merdan Gül during their election campaign on 21 January that they didn’t want war. The juveniles were taken to Siirt Police HQ and reportedly threatened there.

In a press conference of the Gaziantep branch of the HRA Gökhan İmrek, journalist with the daily “Evrensel”, declared that he was beaten by a group of rightist students including their leader Yunus Uzunlar on the campus of Gaziantep University on 26 February.

On 28 February, a group of rightist students raided the Atatürk Dormitory in Zeytinburnu (İstanbul) and attacked leftist students. During the incident the students Abdüllatif Gümüşgöz and

Sedat Yıldız were heavily injured, 8 students were slightly injured. The police detained 32 students

after the incident. The official statement claimed that the fight started between two groups when they were playing billiards.

The students later announced that the administration of the dormitory and the security forces had turned a blind eye on the attackers. They also alleged that three members of the dormitory administration participated in the attack.

The injured Abdüllatif Gümüşgöz said: “The right-wingers meet in block 4. The meetings are attended by people from outside, who come in vehicle of the Idealists’ Union in Topkapı. Last year the administrators for block 4 with the first name of Ziya had threatened Kurdish students and the deputy director of the dormitory Alper and another administrator called Selami had participated in an attack, where gas bombs had been thrown into the rooms of students and shots had been fired at the windows.

An investigation was launched against the students on allegations of having damaged public property. Mesut İmrağ stated that the investigation was directed against him and his friends Onur Kaya, M. Ali Koran, Arif Cebe and Hüseyin Korkmaz, although they had been injured during the incident.

On 12 March a clash broke out between students of İstanbul Marmara University. Some students, members of the Turkish Communist Party (TKP), wanted to hang a placard on the building of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to protest a possible U.S. attack on Iraq. Right-wing students objected to this and attacked the TKP members. In the clash the students Volkan Bahtiyar Karabeyin,

Gültekin Küpeli, Orhan Aslıhan, Mehmet Akkuş, Deniz Aktaş, Ali Tecer and Adnan Kemal Başaran

were injured. After the clash the police detained some 40 students, most of them TKP members. A group of rightist persons attacked DEHAP offices in Altınova (Ayvalık-Balıkesir) on 15 March. The persons were detained after the incident, but released the same night. According to the press release of Abdurrahman Akın, DEHAP chairperson for Altınova, a row occurred between rightist students and Kurdish students in Altınova Lyceum on 14 March. After the row some 10 students were detained and released the same day. On the night of 15 March the gendarmerie detained 10 more persons. After their release some 150 persons marched to the offices of DEHAP and caused material damage.

On 5 May, many students were injured during the fight between left wing students and members of the Federation of Kemalist Thought Clubs (ADKF). The police intervened and detained many students, but the students continued to fight on Barbaros Boulevard. The police intervened and used tear gas and truncheons to disperse the students. The student Erkan Karaaslan was reportedly injured by a meat cleaver. 28 students and a police officer were hospitalized and many injured students reportedly did not go to a hospital in fear of detention.

According to a press release by the SDP the incidents allegedly begun in İstanbul University, when ADKF members gave the ID cards of leftist students to the police. The “Youth of Labor” announced that the provocateur of the incident was Gökçe Fırat, a research assistant at Marmara University. Mehmet Perinçek, executive of the Labor Party, announced that the ADKF members who had been involved in the fights had been dismissed from the party one year ago.

On 6 May, the police jointly searched İstanbul and Yıldız Technical University in connection with the fights and detained 137 students. The police maintained to have found a large number of knives, sticks, meat cleavers and stones during the searches. Members of ADKF made a press release on 6 May alleging that they had been attacked by members of terrorist organizations who had been supported by members of the TKP, EMEP and SDP. On the other hand, students from the TKP stated that the attack had been carried out by groups from outside the university and that 18 students from the TKP had been detained, although they had not been involved in the incidents at all.

124 out of the 137 students were released on 7 May. 11 out of 58 students, who were detained after the fight on 5 May, were released as well. The rest of the students were sent to the prosecutor on 9 May. The Prosecutor at the SSC decided against prosecution and the students were sent to the Public Prosecutor. He released the students to be tried without remand.

In Afyon a group of rightists attacked the commemoration of Deniz Gezmiş, Hüseyin İnan and Yusuf Aslan, who had been executed on 6 May 1972. The juvenile Ö.S. was wounded during the incident.

The people who joined the picnic on 12 May organized by DEHAP in Torbalı (İzmir), were attack by rightists. The fight started after Cemile Çiçek was attacked by members of the Association for

People from Erzurum. Three DEHAP members were injured during the fight and two persons were detained.

On 20 May, a group of extreme rightists attacked 6 students of Çanakkale 18 March University. The perpetrators ran away after the attack. The same persons raided the student Ozan Fındık’s house at night. They left the house after beating Ozan’s mother Nurten Fındık and his sister Ezgi. Seven persons were reportedly detained in connection with the attacks. Ozan Fındık made a statement asserting that there were students among the attackers, whom he could identify. 21 rightists were later detained.

Soner Aytar, student at the University of Osmangazi in Eskişehir, was attacked by some 15 rightists in Köprübaşı district on 22 May. Aytar made an official complaint to the public prosecutor in Eskişehir on 26 May.

Yusuf Dündar, DEHAP executive in Hazro district (Diyarbakır) was attacked by rightists on 15

June. Dündar stated that among the perpetrators who stabbed him to his ribs and back was Mehmet Mehmetoğlu, executive for the MHP in the district. Dündar further stated that before being taken to hospital, he had been kept at Hazro Police HQs for an hour although he had been injured. Dündar reported that Mehmetoğlu had attacked several DEHAP members and himself before. Chair for DEHAP in Hazro district Hamit Ergin also made a statement alleging that for two years they had been receiving letters signed by “Turkish Revenge Brigade (TIT)”, and that young men of the Mehmetoğlu family had sent the letters.

The DEHAP offices in Hazro district were attacked twice on 19 June. During the first attack early in the morning DEHAP executive for the district Tahsin Kaçan was wounded by the attackers with sticks and stones. Hamit Ergin said:

“We were sitting in the offices and the secretary Hacı İçer and accountant Tahsin Kaçar were on the way to our offices. Mehmet Kopara, a supporter of MHP, and his son came and threatened us. They asked ‘why the door of this party was still open’. We answered, but they started to beat us with sticks. Then a group of some 50 persons came within a few seconds. They wanted to kill us. Mesut Mehmetoğlu, a repentant confessor, was among them. The police came and prevented the attack. Tahsin Kaçar was wounded and doors and windows were broken during the attack. The police detained some of the attackers.”

During the second attack in the evening of the same day DEHAP executive for the district

Selahattin Dilsiz was wounded with a knife. Mesut Mehmetoğlu allegedly participated in the second

attack. Hamit Ergin, Hacı İçer and the suspects of the attack Mehmet Koparan, Emin Dönen, Lütfü Mehmetoğlu and Mehmet Mehmetoğlu were detained after the attack on DEHAP offices in Hazro on 19 June, but released on 20 June. Ergin announced that the attackers apologized and DEHAP executives and members of the Mehmetoğlu family negotiated to lower the tension.

In December the public prosecutor in Hazro indicted Hamit Ergin and Hacı İçer for threatening and the attackers Seyithan Koparan for using a knife and Yavuz Gökçe for having drawn a gun.

On 24 June, village guards attacked M. Emin Akay, chairman for DEHAP in Midyat district (Mardin), İlyas Akbulut, executive for DEHAP in Midyat and Reşit Aslan, Ferit Aslan, Ahmet Akay, who were campaigning for a general amnesty. The DEHAP members were detained after the incident and released the same day.

The students İlker Evin and Alev Karakoyun at Selçuk University in Konya were attacked with firearms on 12 October. Evin was shot to his right leg and Karakoyun to his left heel. The students Celal Erkan and M. Şener Habir were detained after the incident. The weapon used during the incident was reportedly found on Habir. The student Mehmet Sevinç was wanted in connection with the incident.

After rightist students beat Mehmet Ali Kızılkaya, student at Ağrı Education Faculty, on 20 October, the student Mehmet Doğan was wounded during the fighting between rightist and leftist students on 21 October. The students Salih Kızılkaya and Burhan Bülbül were detained after the incident.

Fuat Keleş, student at Ankara Gazi University, announced that he was beaten by two rightist students on the grounds that he had a beard. He stated that his nose was broken and his right ear’s membrane was torn apart.

Mevlüt Aslan, executive for DEHAP in Şişli (İstanbul) stated that a person of Azerbaijani origin named Elçin attacked him with a knife on the evening of 31 October in Ayazağa.” After I bought bread from the grocer, that man holding a knife appeared on my way. He attacked me with the knife. Then neighbors came and stopped him. The incident also has a political dimension. I’ve been receiving threatening phone calls saying that I should leave that neighborhood,” he said.

MHP followers attacked EMEP members, who were putting up posters in Beşevler quarter of Ankara on the evening of 2 November with clubs and chains. The attackers escaped. Erdal İmrek, executive for the youth wing of EMEP, was wounded during the incident.

Three unnamed persons came to the DEHAP offices in Avcılar (İstanbul) on 3 November and beat Ekrem Çağlayan. They escaped after tearing down posters from the walls.

Unknown assailants beat the worker Mustafa Aktürk in Çorum at the beginning of November on the grounds that he put up posters of a theater play over posters of the book named “Kur’an Mucizeleri” (Miracles of Koran). Mustafa Aktürk stated that 4 people attacked him because he covered posters with religious content. The attackers hit his head with stones and shouted: “We are fasting. Are you looking for trouble in Ramadan”.

Some rightist students attacked the students Neslihan Çam, Bilgi Alver, Alev Özgüler and Ebru Çetin in Gölbaşı campus of Ankara Gazi University on 3 November on the grounds that they were not fasting. The students complained to the HRA Ankara branch that they were not permitted to eat in the canteen and smoking students had been assaulted and threatened. They said: “When we wanted help from the administration they said: ‘You are provocateurs. Investigation will be launched against you’”.

İsmail Özbek (17), who insulted 4 students at İnegöl Commerce High School on the grounds that they were not on fast, was reportedly wounded with a knife on 6 November.

On 7 November rightist students attacked leftist students at Uşak Education Faculty of Kocatepe University. Adnan Gül was wounded during the attack.

The incident developed as follows: The students were attacked after they left the faculty in the evening of the day. The police dispersed the fighting groups in front of the faculty. The same evening at about 9 pm one of the leftist students Adnan Gül and two friends of him were shot at with arms from a car when leaving their house. Gül was wounded to his arm. Some students gathered in front of Gül’s house and were attacked once again by rightist students. The police intervened and detained 11 leftist and 5 rightist students. The detainees were released some time later.

A delegation formed by Mustafa Rollas, HRA chair for İzmir, Ahmet Dağlı, HRA executive in İzmir, Hüseyin Dağ, DEHAP chair for İzmir and Hasan Vural ÖTP executive went to Uşak in order to investigate incident.

On 2 December a group called “Muslim Youth” attacked students from the TKP, who put up posters against “Imperialism and the Sheria” at İstanbul University. After the fight the police detained 10 students.

Prof. Dr. Mehmet Kara, Dean of Ağrıculture Faculty at Selçuk University in Konya, was attacked by 5 unidentified persons on 8 December. Kara, who was hit at his head, was taken to hospital. He was reportedly attacked because he ordered the removal of posters about Northern Cyprus and photos of Alparslan Türkeş from the walls of the faculty.

A dormitory for university students in Çanakkale was raided by some 30 rightist students on the night of 8 December. The attackers, who were reportedly students at Çanakkale 18 March University, came about midnight, broke the windows and wanted to enter the rooms in the second floor. The police intervened and detained 10 students and the rest of them escaped.

Right-wingers attacked students in the dormitory of Bursa Cumhuriyet Lyceum on 13 December on the grounds that “they were speaking and singing in Kurdish”. The students went to the HRA Bursa branch and declared that the administration didn’t intervene when the attackers used clubs and wounded a student by a knife, and they didn’t call the police after the incident.

On 30 December a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Idealists’ Union office in Eminönü (İstanbul). There were no casualties during the incident that occurred at 7.30am.