ROLES Y RESPONSABILIDADES

During the year, events similar to the ones witnessed in Şırnak (*) _{in 1992, and in Lice in}

1993 frequently took place in some settlements in the Emergency State Region. In addition, village and hamlet evacuations and burnings continued with increasing pace. Settlements were destroyed during the operations or by security officers who opened fire at random or on the pretext of attacks or sniper fire by PKK militants. In consequence of those events 51 persons (in similar events 41 persons died in 1992 and 46 persons in 1993) died, and more than 50 persons were wounded. The damage during the events is estimated at billions of liras. Ten thousands of people left the settlements where they had been living for years and migrated to other places.

Cizre: Gunshots were heard from the mountains around the Cizre district on the night of 6 January. Upon the gunshots, the Tank Brigade opened fire indiscriminately with automa-tic guns and cannons. Mehmet Emin Kakmış (60), Mümine Kakmış (13) and Ali Kakmış (10-month) who were in a house hit by a cannon ball, died. In the incident, Hani Kakmış (50), Ismail Tetik, Yusuf Tetik and Osman Tetik (21) were severely wounded. In addition, the houses of Salih Kayasız, Emin Kakmış, Ismail Tetik and Ramazan Oran were damaged. In consequence of the random fire by security forces on the pretext of the gunshots heard in Cizre on the night of 9 January, a cannon ball hit a house, killing 6 persons, 2 of whom were children, and wounding 5 persons. The names of the 6 persons are as follows: “Ramazan Bilgiç, Sabiha Bilgiç (26), Hediye Bilgiç (27), Muhammed Bilgiç (5), Ahmet Bilgiç (6), Sabiha Bilgiç (Boz-kurt-30)”. Şırnak Deputy Mahmut Alınak claimed that Prime Minister Tansu Çiller and Head of the General Staff Doğan Güreş were responsible for the incidents in Cizre. Mahmut Alınak added that sniper fire opened by PKK militants does not justify bombing a settlement.

Following the attack by PKK militants against certain state buildings in Cizre on the night of 3 March, security officers launched an operation in the district on the morning of 4 March. The security officer who opened fire at random, caused damage to some houses in the Dağkapı, Karşıyaka and Yeşiltepe quarters. In the gun shots, a 1-year old child, Ibrahim Süner, and 3 adults named Abbas Zeyrek, Ismail Baliç and Resul Baliç, died. During the incidents, 11 shops on Mardin Street were burnt down by village guards. The Cizre Office of the newspaper Özgür Gündem was destroyed by rocket launcher fire. Fire was opened at some houses and shops on the night of 4 March and at tradesmen who wanted to go their shops on 5 March.

Derik (Mardin): Curfew was proclaimed in the Derik district of Mardin on 15 Febru-ary on the grounds that a group of PKK militants had entered the district, and an operation was launched. During the operation, houses in the district were searched one by one and about 2,000

(*) _{The sniper fire in Şırnak on the night of 18 August 1992 that lasted a short time, was harshly recipro-cated}

by security forces. Şırnak, under fire for more than 48 hours, was turned into rubble recalling scenes following an earthquake. During the incidents, a total of 26 persons, including a policeman and 3 enlisted men, died, 60 persons were wounded, and more than 500 persons were detained. During the incidents in Lice on 22 and 23 October 1993, at least 30 persons died, about 100 persons were wounded, 401 houses and 242 shops were burnt or damaged to a great extent, the municipality building was destroyed, and numerous vehicles were rendered unusable.

people were rounded up in the district square. Among those rounded up, fifteen persons, most of whom are members of the DEP, were detained. The security authorities in the district told the crowd that had been rounded up that they would repeat similar measures if necessary. The people from Derik alleged that the security officers had registered them on records in order to make them targets of counter-guerrilla actions. They said the following: “First we heard sounds of gun shots in the morning. Then, the security officers raided houses and gathered all the men in the square. In the square, photographs of us were taken one by one. There were 2 civilian dressed persons in a military panzer in the square. By making us pass in front of the panzer, they showed us to the two persons. Most probably, they were repentants. Subsequently, they said to us ‘We have been informed that a group has sneaked in the district. Therefore, we have gathered you together. We will resort to similar measures when we search for militants in the future.’ and then they asked us to disperse.”

Heybetli village (Batman): Security officers opened cannon fire at the Heybetli vil-lage of the Sason district in Batman on the night of 24 February. In the incident, 9 persons, 3 of whom were children, died and 12 persons, 4 of whom were children, were wounded. The first cannon ball fired at the Heybetli village, whose people had been targetted by security officers since they gave up serving as village guards, fell near the mosque. The ball wounded the imam who was in front of the mosque. Two cannon balls hit the villagers who went to the scene in order to help the wounded imam. Those cannon balls killed 9 persons and injured 12 others. Subsequently, 3 more cannon balls fell on the village. However, they did not cause any damage. The names of the 9 persons that were killed are as follows: “Sadık Aydın (57-imam of the village), Esad Çetin (60), Vahdettin Öngün (23), Kadir Dilek (55), Hanifi Yıldız (13), Abdül-rahim Yıldız (23), Hüseyin Tekin (16), Halime Öngün (30) and Sohbet Öngün (3).” Out of the wounded, Hayriye Sayım (60) and Ayşe Aydın (5) were treated at the Diyarbakır State Hospital while the remaining were treated in Batman. The names of some of those who were treated in Batman are as follows: “Yusuf Yıldız (60), Yusuf Çelikbilek (25), Naime Çelikbilek (20), Aziz Öngün (21), Adile Öngün (25) and Abdullah Akman (60).” The Heybetli village was raided by security officers also in January and 8 persons were detained while 7 houses in the village were burnt down. After the raid, a great number of the villagers migrated to other places.

Kumçatı, Sapaca, Gever, Çağlayan and Hisar villages (Şırnak): The Kum-çatı, Sapaca, Gever, Çağlayan and Hisar villages of Şırnak were bombed by war planes on 25 and 26 March. In the Kumçatı village, Sever Koçar, Hone Koçar (60), Şemsi Koçar (18), Ayşe Bengin (65), Newroz Bengin (6), Zahide Kıraç (2), Hone Koçar (40) and Fatma Bedir died, and Lale Erdil (25), Bahar Bengin (4), Bediye Bengin (31), Zülfü Bengin, Nafiye Bengin (4), Hüsniye Karaağaç, Ercan Bayır (6) and Mehmet Ayhaç were wounded. In the Sapaca village, 2 persons named Meryem Şen (55) and Salih Şen (65) died and 6 persons named Esmer Şengül, Nimet Şengül, Hikmet Şengül, Emine Şengül, Leyla Şen and Abdullah Şengül were wounded. As a result of the bombing, at least 10 persons reportedly died in the Gever village while at least 4 persons (the names of 2 of them are Ahmet Ceren and Selamet Inegül) died in the Çağlayan and Hisar villages. Those who were wounded during the bombing were taken for treatment to hospitals in Diyarbakır, Mardin and Şırnak. A woman named Hikmet Şengül who was wounded when the Sapaca village was bombed, said the following: “The security officers were putting pressure on us in order to make us accept to serve as village guards. For this purpose, they came to the village once more 2 hours before the village was bombed. We did not accept to serve as village guards. After two hours we saw planes flying towards the village. We thought that they would bomb the mountains, as usual, but they started to bomb the village. As a result of the bombing, the village, with 50 houses,

was razed to the ground. Since our village is located on a flat field, each of the bombs hit.” Later, an important part of villagers migrated to Northern Iraq and were settled in refugee camps there.

Protesting the village bombing, IHD Secretary General Hüsnü Öndül said the follow-ing: “Village bombing is one of the most savage actions. State authorities are silent. Which military/civilian authority gave the bombing order? Which pilot bombed settlements, houses, babies, women, old people and civilian and unarmed people?” Out of those wounded during the bombardment, Leyla Şen, Emin Şengül and Hikmet Şengül were later taken to Mersin for treatment. The HRFT provided financial support for treatment of those persons. Leyla Şen (70) said that they had had to come to Mersin since they had not found a chance for treatment at the Şırnak State Hospital and Diyarbakır Medical Faculty Hospital. Alleging that a physician at the Şırnak State Hospital said to her “We will not treat you, unless you say that you were wounded by stepping on a mine planted by the PKK.”, Leyla Şen said that the village had been bombed since they had not accepted to work as village guards.

The case of village bombings was put on the agenda of the National Assembly by Şırnak Deputy Selim Sadak at the beginning of April. In the motion he submitted to the Assembly Chairmanship, he demanded a reply by Interior Minister Nahit Menteşe. Selim Sadak stated in the motion that he had news that 48 persons had died and more than 100 persons had been wounded during village bombings. Stressing that he could not learn the names of all of the dead or wounded since entrance to and exit from the region were forbidden and villagers had emi-grated to other places, Selim Sadak asked Nahit Menteşe some questions including: “Will an investigation be launched into the incident?”, “When will the testimonies of the people living in the bombed villages be received?” and “Will they make good the loss in the villages?” In addition, Selim Sadak demanded those who ordered the bombings to be found and punished.

Şemdinli (Hakkari): Military panzers patrolling in the center of the Şemdinli district at about 10.00 p.m. on 2 June opened fire at random. During the firing, which continued for about half an hour, nobody was killed or wounded, but many shops were damaged. Şemdinli Mayor Hacı Özel said that the soldiers had opened fire arbitrarily and said damage in the district was about TL 1 billion.

Yukarı Karataş village (Tunceli): The security officers who were carrying out an operation around the Ovacık district of Tunceli on 5 June opened fire with rocket launchers and automatic guns at the Yukarı Karataş village. A child named Didar Elmas (7) died and 3 persons named Zarife Boztaş (64), Gülender Akgül (55) and Ismail Akgül were wounded. Zarife Boztaş said the following about the incident: “They carried out operations in the region for 3 days. On 3 June, a clash broke out between security officers and PKK militants around the village. After the clash the village was surrounded. First, we heard sound of a big explosion and thought that a plane had dropped a bomb. Then, sounds of explosion and fire increased. The village was under fire for 20 minutes. Houses were damaged. Didar Elmas decapitated when rocket launcher artillery hit her house.

Lice (Diyarbakır): The security officers who carried out an operation after gunshots were heard in the Lice district of Diyarbakır in the morning hours on 18 July, burnt down and destroyed more than 100 houses, shops and sheds. The security officers who fired at random during the operation staged after proclaiming a curfew, searched the houses in the district. During the incidents that lasted until the evening hours, Hacı Tahir Kozat (70) whose house was burned down, suffocated to death, 2 youths named Tarık Yağan and Sedat Yağan were injured, and numerous animals perished. The incidents intensified in the Yeşilyurt, Çarşı, Molla, Körtü and

Yenişehir quarters in the vicinity of the Lice Gendarmerie Battalion Com-mandership. Protesting the incidents, Halit Temli, the Chairperson of the IHD Diyarbakır Branch, said, “No one can stand as mere a spectator to the burning of Lice. We invite all demo-cratic establishments to be sensitive to the incident. If we remain silent against the measures taken in Lice today, the same measure will be attempted in other centers tomorrow.”

Yüksekova (Hakkari): Upon gunshots heard in the Yüksekova district of Hakkari on the night of 23 July, the security officers in the district opened fire at random. During the incidents, which lasted for 5 hours, a woman named Perihan Soylu died, 2 men named Nejdet Adaş and Sait Kömür were wounded and 4 houses and 12 shops were damaged. On the one hand, people living in Yüksekova reported that firing into the air by several village guards had occasioned the incidents. On the other hand, the following was said in the official statement about the incident, “The incidents occurred because the security officers reciprocated against PKK militants who attempted to raid the district.”

Kunuklu village (Diyarbakır): During the cannon shots fired from the military positions around the Kunuklu village of the Kulp district of Diyarbakır towards the mountain-ous area where PKK militants were located on the night of 12 August, 2 of the cannon shells hit the houses in the Kunuklu village. In the incident, 2 women named Mümine Zümrüt (18) and Netice Coşkun died, and 8 people were wounded. Out of the wounded Hakkı Coşkun, Muğtezer Zümrüt and Habibe Coşkun, whose situation was critic, were taken under treatment at the Di-yarbakır State Hospital. Five people who were slightly injured in the incident were treated at the Kulp Health Center. Habibe Coşkun, one of the wounded who were hospitalized, said that their village had been intentionally bombed as they did not accept to be village guards.

Hazro (Diyarbakır): As a result of fire opened at random by village guards and soldiers in the Hazro district of Diyarbakır on the night of 14 August, Gazal Osnil (60) and his 8-year-old grand child (D.O.) were wounded. In the statement he made at the Diyarbakır State Hospital where he was treated, Gazal Osnil said: “I was performing ritual prayer. Suddenly, the electricity went out. I took my grandchildren on my lap. However, I was shot together with my grand child when a panzer passing by opened fire. My grandchild was severely wounded. I could not remember anything further.”

Evacuated, burnt down and raided villages

Village and hamlet evacuations continued at an increasing pace in 1994. During the year, more than 1000 villages and hamlets were evacuated. The evacuations targeted the vil-lages and hamlets where people who had refused to serve as village guards were living. Pressure against the villages and hamlets was not limited to evacuations. They were frequently raided. Villagers were killed, wounded, and tortured. Houses, stables and barns in many villages were burnt down and became unusable. Villagers were forced to migrate. Pressure generally con-tinued until the villagers left their villages. At the end of 1994, there were almost no inhabited villages or hamlets in the Emergency State Region and its surroundings, excluding those in-habited by village guards. In the official statements it was claimed that the villages had been evacuated or burnt down by PKK militants or because of economic bottleneck.

Interior Minister Nahit Menteşe stated in April that 871 villages and hamlets had been evacuated for various reasons since July 1987. Replying to a related question by Diyarbakır Deputy Sedat Yurtdaş, Nahit Menteşe said that 178 villages and 39 hamlets had been partially

evacuated, and 288 villages and 366 hamlets had been completely evacuated. Claiming that the villages and hamlets were evacuated because of pressure by the PKK or economic reasons, Na-hit Menteşe said “Therefore, people emigrated from rural areas to provincial and district cen-ters and to certain provinces outside the region.” With this statement by Nahit Menteşe, village evacuations under way in the Emergency State Region were officially confirmed for the first time. In another statement he made later, Nahit Menteşe said that the number of completely or partially evacuated villages was 2,297. Replying to a motion by Hatay Deputy Fuat Çay, Nahit Menteşe stated that a total of 285 hamlets and villages, 30 of which partially and 255 of which completely, had been burnt down. Indicating that the number of the burnt down houses in the region was 7,064, Nahit Menteşe said 37,752 people had migrated since their houses had been burnt down and 225,283 people had migrated since they had become homeless for other rea-sons. He stressed that most of the migrants had gone to settlements in the Şırnak, Mardin, Diyarbakır, Bitlis and Bingöl provinces. The figures given by Nahit Menteşe showed that the attempts to depopulate the region increased in 1994 (*)_.

Village evacuations and burnings, which caused many social problems, also harmed the economy of both the region and Turkey. In a study by the Turkey Agriculturists Association (TZD), it was indicated that the economic loss occasioned by village evacuations and burning forests was about 12-13 trillion Turkish Lira. According to the study, in Mardin alone 371,492 decares of agricultural areas, and 115,447 hectares of pastures were put out of use due to village evacuations. Also, 70,000 decares of the fields where cereals were cultivated were burnt down, and the fruit of 120,000 trees could not be harvested. A decrease of 31.2 percent was observed in animal breeding. In Diyarbakır, the number of animals fell by 50 percent while forest area decreased by 60 percent. Interpreting the data compiled through the research made in Diyarba-kır and Mardin, TZD Chairperson Ibrahim Yetkin said the following: “The place where we carried out the research is a region that we can call a zone of war. This region forms 15.88 per-cent of the total agricultural area in Turkey. The research shows us that the losses have put a great burden of 12-13 trillion Turkish Lira on the economy.”

Because of burnt down villages, Turkey was frequently put on the agenda in interna-tional platforms and condemned. In addition, such incidents were also on the agenda of the European Human Rights Commission as aggrieved persons enjoyed their rights to present individual cases. For instance; the case brought by the people of the Kelekçi village of the Dicle district of Diyarbakır, which was evacuated and destroyed in 1993, was taken into account by the European Human Rights Commission. The Commission began to examine the case on 17 October. IHD former Vice Chairperson Sedat Aslantaş represented the aggrieved villagers while a 3-person delegation headed by Prof. Dr. Bakır Çağlar defended Turkey. Pointing out that their case, which was brought before they tried all methods of legal recourse in the country, was accepted by the Commission, Sedat Aslantaş said: “This is an important issue. If the case is concluded in our favour, it will be possible to bring cases directly to the Commission without exhausting all internal legal avenues. The Law on Prosecution Procedures for Civil Servants, which has been in effect since 1913, is a big handicap to arraigning of public officers. There-fore, along with human rights abuses, we will continue to bring cases before the Commission. Turkey will lose trials, particularly