27 April 1995

Doc. 7300

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 361 by Mrs PAPANDREOU, Greece, SOC *

on human rights in Turkey and persecution of Turkish writer Yaşar Kemal

      Mrs PAPANDREOU,

1.       Noting that one of the most famous writers of modern Turkey, Yaşar Kemal, has been prosecuted for publishing an article recently (in the German weekly Der Spiegel and in a book published in Turkey by 21 Turkish intellectuals, including Yaşar Kemal and Asiz Nesin, under the title "Freedom of thought in Turkey") in which he denounced the "policy of oppression against the Turkish people and the Kurds of Turkey, followed by the Turkish state in the last seventy years";

2.       Noting that "Freedom of thought in Turkey" was confiscated by the Turkish authorities immediately after it was published;

3.       Noting that according to a press release from the Turkish Union of Human Rights there was an increase in incidents of violation of human rights in Turkey in March 1995 (for example, 1227 detentions, 127 arrests, 40 missing persons while in custody, 29 cases of torture, 358 people killed in clashes, 18 confiscations of publications, 166 imprisonments of intellectuals, unionists, editors, journalists, scientists or leading members of non-governmental organisations dealing with human rights);

4.       Taking into account that the Council of Europe is the most competent forum for addressing a sensitive issue of this nature and making effective and urgent decisions accordingly,

* SOC = Socialist Group

5.       To ask the Committee of Ministers,

      What action it is going to take on Turkey's systematic policy and practice of violation of human and minority rights (for example, freedom of expression) and on Yaşar Kemal's case in particular, at a time when the situation of human rights in this country is seriously deteriorating.

Signed:

Papandreou