TURKEY-HUMAN RIGHTS: Government Bars Activists From Pillaged City

ISTANBUL, Nov 10 (IPS) - The Turkish government, under increasing international pressure to improve its human rights record, has barred activists from entering a south-eastern city where thousands of Kurdish residents are reported to have been forcibly evacuated.

The residents are the main victims of an ongoing campaign by the Ankara government to rid the troubled south-eastern region of the guerrilla Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has been waging a ten-year war against a Turkish government that refuses to recognise the Kurdish identity.

The army has claimed the village burnings in the region are the work of the PKK, however many residents have said the military is the culprit as it seeks to not only stamp out the PKK, but any civilian support it may have in the region.

Following several eyewitness reports from village residents, a special human rights commission Tuesday set off for the city of Tunceli, the scene of some 17 village burnings, to investigate the reports themselves.

The team included popular singer Ferhat Tunc, journalist Faik Bulut who is a specialist on Middle East affairs, and representatives from 36 trade unions and voluntary associations.

While on the way to Tunceli -- more than 1,000 kms from Istanbul -- the group learnt that Muslim Kavut, headman of the Bilekli village, who had publicly blamed the army for the pillaging of his village, and Aslan Yildiz a relative, were found dead, shot in their heads from a blank point range.

The activists arrived in Tunceli on Wednesday, but were barred by the military from entering the city. The group spent the night in a nearby hostel in the hope of going into the city Thursday, but were denied entry, and told to return to Ankara.

The official reason for now allowing them in was because it would be "harmful for public order and security", Akin Birdal, chair of Human Rights Association, said he was told.

"In spite of the unfortunate ban by the military, we reached our aim," said Birdal, who told IPS that the very actions of the military confirmed that the army was in fact the guilty party in the pillaging of the villages.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

Where next?

Browse related news topics:

    Read the latest news stories:

    Learn more about the related issues:

      Advertisement