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against the Kurdish people.

The voices of those calling for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem could not be heard among the clamour of those who defended and applied methods of persecution. Ideas and initiatives which strayed from the official ideology were subject to severe punishment. Journalists and writers were arrested and sentenced to imprisonment. Pressure on political parties, democratic mass organisations and human rights activists intensified. All that had happened in the State of Emergency Region, and everything that had taken place there, was hidden from the public or made public with the facts distorted. Chauvinistic and nationalistic emotions within society were incited by media hype of certain incidents. An example of this was the attitude of aggravation witnessed after the tearing down of the Turkish flag during the HADEP Congress in Ankara on 23 June.

The legislation of the state of emergency, which has prevailed in Southeastern Turkey since July 1987, and the village guard system, were not lifted despite numerous promises. The legislation of the state of emergency was extended four times in 1996, once for a period for 45 days. The legislation had been extended 29 times by the end of 1996. However, on 30 November 1996, when it was extended for the 29th time, Mardin province was taken out of the area of legislation. The 9 provinces covered by the State of Emergency legislation as of the end of 1996 were Van, Bitlis, Tunceli, Şırnak, Hakkari, Diyarbakır, Batman, Bingöl and Siirt. In October 1997, the state of emergency was lifted in Batman, Bitlis and Bingöl. The legislation still prevailed in Diyarbakır, Hakkari, Siirt, Şırnak, Tunceli and Van.

Although the State of Emergency rule was in force, a bill was prepared to spread a similar rule throughout Turkey. In June, the Provincial Administration Bill, which was publicised under headings of “democratisation” and “preparing the ground for the abolition of the practice of the state of emergency “ was in fact destined to conclude in the spreading of the emergency state practice throughout all Turkey, was submitted to the National Assembly. The bill was enacted by the National Assembly on 29 August, and brought amendments to the Law of Provincial Administration, the Anti-Terror Law, the Law of Those Provided for from the enlisted men’ Mess, the Law of Firearms and Knives and the Law of Declaration of ID. The bill, which became known as “martial law in disguise,” abolished the procedure to be followed by security officers when intervening in incidents (the stop warning, warning shots into the air, warning shots at the legs and general warning shots) authorised security officers to fire directly at the people not obeying the stop warning. In the bill, this authority had been limited to the State of Emergency Region. The act also authorised provincial governors to launch cross-border operations. Cross- border operations shall be launched upon the request of provincial governors, with permission from the government and the approval of the neighbouring country. The act also provided the village guards with the right to keep their unlicensed guns.

The highly damaging effects on the Turkish economy of the Kurdish problem continued at an increasing pace. As a result of the violence, Turkey was forced to take on financial burdens amounting to trillions of TL. The economic balances, which had been shaky for years, were completely disrupted. The bill for this economic bottleneck was again met by workers, state employees and other people of low income. In his response to a parliamentary question by RP MP for İstanbul Azmi Ateş in mid-December, Minister of National Defence Turan Tayan, stated that an average US$ 3,750,000 was spent daily for the combat against the PKK. Tayan said “The total daily expenditure is approximately US$ 1,250,000, of which $400,000 was spent by the Land Force Command, $800,000 by the Gendarme General Command and $50,000 by the Air Force Command. This amount does not include the money allocated for other public institutions, mainly the Ministry of the Interior (excluding the Gendarme General Command). Taking these institutions into account, one must conclude that the daily figure triples. These figures do not include money spent on operations by the security forces. When making such calculations, one must also take into consideration the amount spent by other bodies.”

In a meeting held in November, Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan presented the report prepared by Diyarbakır MP Ömer Vehbi Hatipoğlu, entitled “Terrorism and the Southeastern Issue: the Economic Aspects,” in which it was claimed that “most of the funds allocated to the

Selvi Gendarme Station in Genç, Bingöl), Hasan Korkmaz (Şırnak), Mecit Bayram (Şırnak), NCO Levent Karaçulu (Bitlis), NCO İrfan Yılmaz (Otluca region, Hakkari), Muzaffer Arslan (Genç, Bingöl), NCO Hacı Hüseyin Kütükçü, NCO Mehmet Remzi Yersel, Nurullah Sabırer, Mehmet Şahin. Five soldiers were laid to rest on 27 August. The names of the soldiers are Engin Özcan (Hakkari), Mehmet Şimşek (Hak-kari- Omurca), Yusuf Yitmez (Hakkari), Hakan Korkmaz, (Bağdattepe Silopi, Şırnak) and Erol Sunma.

fight against terrorism to date have been wasted due to a vicious circle.” The report proposed that the State of Emergency Region should be denoted a “Disaster Area.” The report explained in detail the historical and economic situation of the East and Southeast. In the section entitled “State of Emergency, Expenditure in the Fight against Terrorism and the Regional Economy,” it was recalled that an annual average of 8-10 billion US Dollars was used for each stage of the fight against terrorism, and it said: “Apart from discussion related to such expenditure, measures taken failed to address the destructiveness of terror on the economic situation of the region. In general terms, the lowest estimate is that approximately US $ 48 billion have been allocated to the fight against terrorism within the last six years. However, since the expenditure was limited to one angle of the problem, it has been unsuccessful, and success against terrorist actions has been less than expected over the years. The increase in terrorist acts has led to the collapse of the economy, and economic collapse has resulted in social unrest. Disruption of this vicious circle will only be possible by dealing an economic blow to it. Attempts at disrupting it via military means have failed and caused the loss of lives and property.”

The following are the sub-sections covering information about developments related to the Kurdish problem, inhuman treatment in the State of Emergency Region, attacks by the PKK and similar events in 1996. (*)

a)- Calls for peace and cease-fire

Despite all negative aspects of the Kurdish problem and all the serious incidents, individuals and organisations demanding a peaceful solution for the problem continued their activities at an increasing pace throughout 1996. These demands, which were frequently voiced especially in the first half of 1996, called for a positive response to the cease-fire declared by the PKK in 1995 (detailed information on page 58), a permanent cease-fire, and a start to negotia- tions between the parties. Numerous initiatives were started both in Turkey and abroad in sup- port of a peaceful solution. The most notable of these initiatives was the campaign “A Million Signatures for Peace.” A million signatures collected within the framework of this campaign over all of Turkey were submitted to the National Assembly in 1997.

In the “Workshop for Peace” conference held at the Marmara Hotel in İstanbul on 28 January, the main issues discussed were the cease-fire and the Kurdish problem. Şanar Yurdata- pan, the chairman of the conference which included participants from various political circles and organisations, stated that their aim was to make the cease-fire permanent and to form a single peace movement supported by the people in general by pulling together the various peace initiatives. İHD President Akın Birdal said that Turkey was being offered another chance in the unilateral cease-fire declared by PKK, and articulated several proposals for the maintenance of peace. At the meeting, Mehmet Atay, Secretary General of the DİSK, Ufuk Uras, President of the ÖDP, Murat Bozlak, President of HADEP, Aydemir Güler, the President of the Socialist Workers Party (SİP), Siyami Erdem, the President of the KESK, academic and journalist Fikret Başkaya, journalist- writer Altan Tan, former secret service employee Mahir Kaynak and İhsan Aslan, President of the Islamic human rights organisation Mazlum-Der, presented their views. In the declaration published following the conference, the following views were aired: “The current war is one of most important reasons for the economic problems in the country and this economic bill affects the wider public sectors”; “The Kurdish problem should be resolved through democratic, peaceful and political methods under free conditions on the basis of equality”; “Attempts should be made to make the cease-fire declared by PKK bilateral and permanent”; “A single peace movement should be formed by the various peace initiatives preserving their differences.”

Following the Workshop for Peace conference, the “Kurdish Problem and the Democratic Solution” symposium was held by the Kurdish Institute on 4 February at the İstanbul Hilton. Among the communications presented in the symposium, which had an audience of almost a thousand, it was stated that there must be a response to the cease-fire declared by PKK. The speakers, including pro-Islamic author İsmail Nacar, Welfare MP Bahri Zengin, author Altan Tan, İHD President Akın Birdal, prominent liberal academic Doğu Ergil, former secret

(*) _{This section was prepared after evaluation of the developments on the Kurdish problem and the events}

which either occurred in the State of Emergency Region or in the places neighboring the region. However, the events which took place all over Turkey have been evaluated as a whole in order not to cause a rupture on subjects such as clashes, armed attacks, bombings, and assassinations. Additionally, murders by unknown assailants have been placed under a separate section.

service employee Mahir Kaynak, and Deputy President of HADEP Osman Özçelik, demanded that there should be a response to the cease-fire declared by PKK, that a general amnesty should be declared, and that the Kurdish identity should be recognised. The following are some of the demands included in the final declaration of the meeting:

• The Kurdish problem relates to the existence and lives of the Kurdish people with their

own identity. The laws which prevents the discussion of this problem, and the freedom of thought and organisation should be amended, and any non-violent thought and organisation should be free.

• Each and every opinion should be represented at the National Assembly in Turkey. The laws concerning political parties and elections should be re-arranged and made more democratic.

• Turkey should abide by human rights, which are a compulsory element of contem-

porary democracy, and comply with international conventions to which it is a signa- tory; the Kurdish national identity should be recognised and secured constitutionally.

• The state of emergency and village guard system should be abolished, and the village

guards should be commissioned for the reconstruction of destroyed villages.

• The immunity of MPs and others in torture, summary executions, and violation of human rights should be abolished.

• The perpetrators of the murders by ‘unknown assailants’ should be apprehended; those

who have committed murders, tortures, or summary executions should be brought to light and put on trial.

• The Kurdish side should be allowed to articulate their peaceful and democratic de-

mands like the right-wing, left-wing, pro-Islamic, social democratic and other groups.

• For the maintenance of permanent peace, an environment of mutual confidence bet-

ween the side needs to be established; the concept of citizenship ignoring the differ- ences of the various cultural entities and peoples needs to be redefined; and the state needs to be restructured with a democratic content with all its institutions and organs.

• Policies of assimilation need to be abandoned; pressures on the Kurdish language and

culture need to be abolished, and allowances need to be made for their development. Another initiative, highly symbolic of to demands for peace, but which caused waves, was the “Peace Train” organised by the İHD. The Peace Train set out on the night of 21 April in İstanbul, travelled through Adapazarı, Ankara, Kayseri, Sıvas and Malatya, and arrived in Diyarbakır on 23 April. In Diyarbakır, people who wanted to meet the train were prevented from doing so by the police. Of 20,000 people who gathered to meet the train, approximately 5,000 people were not allowed into Station Square. The police controlled the entry into Station Square and prevented people trying to enter the square from doing so by opening fire into the air and beating them with truncheons; 16 people were detained. The detainees were released on 24 April. Among them, Şükran Aydın, the wife of Vedat Aydın, the murdered Diyarbakır Provin-cial President of the People’s Labour Party (HEP), stated that they had been subjected to torture. In the ceremony organised for the arrival of the train, Ercan Kanar, İHD İstanbul Branch Presi-dent said “Many people from Adapazarı, Ankara, İzmit, Kayseri, Sıvas, and Malatya sent us to you with embraces burning with desire for peace. During the trip, soldiers, waved to us too. They want peace too. We will accelerate our struggle for peace, not wasting a second, to put an end to the war which has caused to the death of 25,000 people. As peace advocates, we demand that the unilateral cease-fire should be made bilateral, that war institutions like the State of Emergency, Special Teams, and the Village Guard system be abolished, and that a non-discriminatory general amnesty be declared. We are determined to established peace in these lands.”

At an international seminar entitled “the Kurdish Problem and Turkey: Which Political Solution?” organised on the initiative of the Swiss Social Democrat Party in Bern on 29 and 30 June, proposals for a solution to the Kurdish problem were discussed. Representatives from Spain, Switzerland, England, Sweden, Italy, Germany, Belgium, and Austria took part in the seminar. The seminar emphasised that despite the cease-fire declared by PKK on 15 December 1995, operations continued in the region, and it was decided that international initiatives should be taken. The final 13-point declaration, adopted unanimously at the meeting, resolved that an international co-ordination office be established within the Swiss Parliament to participate in the Kurdish peace process in Europe, that steps should be taken for organisation of an international Kurdish conference in Switzerland, that the unilateral cease-fire declared by PKK should be taken into consideration, that contact with Turkey should be established requesting that the Red Cross be allowed to visit the prisons, and that weapons blockade should be imposed on Turkey.

Another meeting was held in Bonn, Germany between 5 and 7 July. Attempts by Volkan Vural, the Turkish Ambassador for Germany, at preventing this meeting failed. In his speech, İHD President Akın Birdal stated that the lack of solution to the Kurdish problem led to the insolubility of economic, political, social and cultural problems. Birdal accused the United Nations of not reacting to the numerous human rights violations. Since there was no-one to address, Birdal went on to suggest that “the opposing powers in Turkey should form a counter- force against the ruling power” and all civilian community organisations, opposition parties and institutions should be included in this force.

Initiatives for peace were not limited to meetings and similar activities. For instance, Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the PKK, spoke by telephone on a programme on the Kurdish TV station MED TV on 17 March, and explained that he had sent a letter to the Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz, saying “The other side needs to be more open and we need to see the extent to which he truly desires peace. He should specify clearly what he expects from peace and what he opposes. He should respond within the framework of the letter I sent. He should say ‘I will do these things.’ Let us open a way for dialogue on the basis of the integrity of Turkey. We do not want to divide Turkey and are not desirous of impoverishing it. Rather, we want to make it rich. No achievement can be made though the pompous words ‘We have completely finished [the PKK]’. They may kill us as individuals, but they cannot finish us off completely. If we are regarded as a side, there are the representatives of the Kurdish people. This senseless war should be brought to an end. We will not give up on our democratic rights. But everybody is playing deaf. I will not be responsible for any possible unhappy consequences.”

How the letter had been conveyed to the Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz was a point of discussion. Öcalan stated that the letter was given by Heinrich Lummer, the German CDU MP, to Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz in a meeting in Damascus in November 1995. Lummer said “Öcalan sent the letter to me via his couriers so that I could give it to Mesut Yılmaz. And I sent it by post to Yılmaz.” Öcalan, who replied to questions of the BBC in a live broadcast on 3 April, stating that he had learnt that the letter had been conveyed to Mesut Yılmaz and that “We heard that the letter had been received by Mesut Yılmaz; it is in his hands. We have sent the letter via another channel as well. For the moment Mesut Yılmaz thinks it not suitable to reply, but at the same time he has not rejected it.”

Secret Letter by Apo (7 August 1996-Hürriyet/Ertuğrul Özkök)

Abdullah Öcalan has stated that he sent a letter to Mesut Yılmaz during his term as Prime Minister. However, whether it was received by Yılmaz has never been clear. Yılmaz always replied to questions saying “I have not heard of it.” During our conversation yesterday, for the first time, the Motherland Party leader declared that he had received the letter.

Öcalan wrote the letter on 13 March 1996. The letter was sent to Yılmaz by post by a German MP named Heinrich Lummer on 15 March. Naturally here a question arises. If it was to be sent via mail, why was a German MP a mediator? Yılmaz says “Perhaps they want to imply that they were being supported by a major power.” It is a 3-page “confidential”letter. I myself did not see the letter. Yılmaz told me about it. He had sent copies of it to President Süleyman Demirel and to the National Intelligence Establishment (MİT). What about the reply?

He says “I did not reply to it.”

What was written by Öcalan? Yılmaz said a part of it to me. Öcalan wrote that “They did