Turkey: The situation and treatment of members, supporters and sympathizers of leftist parties, particularly the People's Democratic Party (HADEP) and Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) (January 2003 - September 2004)
Leftist Political Parties
In a February 2004 memorandum to the Turkish Prime Minister, Amnesty International indicated that "supporters of the political party [Democratic People's Party] DEHAP [and of] leftist parties" were among the groups whose demonstrations were "particularly targeted" by law enforcements (12 Feb. 2004).
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2003 reported that "[l]eftists and Kurdish rights activists were more likely than others to suffer torture" (25 Feb. 2004, Sec. 1.c). The report also noted that leftist activists were among the approximately 8,000 individuals imprisoned for their political views (Country Reports 2003 25 Feb. 2004, Sec. 1.e) and that authorities censored periodicals containing leftist content and/or ordered the confiscation of leftist publications (ibid., Sec. 2.a).
Additional information on the treatment of members, supporters and sympathizers of leftist parties could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
People's Democratic Party (HADEP)
On 30 January 2003, four members of the People's Democratic Party (HADEP) were detained for holding a demonstration during which the participants chanted slogans in favour of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), which is considered to be a terrorist organization by the Turkish authorities (Anatolia 30 Jan. 2003; see also International Herald Tribune 14 Mar. 2003).
HADEP was established in 1994 after its predecessor, the Democracy and Labour Party (DEP) was banned by Turkish authorities (Turkish Daily News 15 Mar. 2003). Since its establishment, HADEP has advocated for Kurdish rights and as at March 2003, was led by party president, Ahmet Turan Demir (BBC 14 Mar. 2003). According to Turkish Daily News, HADEP was "a member of the Socialist Internationale, [and] was accepted abroad as the only party representing [the will of the] Kurdish people...in Turkey" (15 Mar. 2003).
On 13 March 2003, HADEP was banned by the Constitutional Court on charges of "separatism and supporting terrorism" (Country Reports 2003 25 Feb. 2004, Sec. 2.b) for its links to and support of the PKK (BBC 14 Mar. 2003; AFP 13 Mar. 2003; International Herald Tribune 14 Mar. 2003; Turkish Daily News 15 Mar. 2003; Anatolia 13 Mar. 2003; AP 26 Mar. 2003; Akron Beacon Journal 14 Mar. 2003). HADEP however, has denied providing any type of support to the PKK (AP 26 Mar. 2003; Turkish Daily News 14 Mar. 2003). The court also "ordered the immediate confiscation of the party's assets" (Akron Beacon Journal 14 Mar. 2003). In addition to the ban, the court banned 46 HADEP members, including the party's former leader, Murat Bozlak, from participating in political life for a period of five years (ibid.; Anatolia 13 Mar. 2003; International Herald Tribune 14 Mar. 2003; AP 26 Mar. 2003; Country Reports 2003 25 Feb. 2004, Sec. 3).
On 22 July 2004, Ahmet Turan Demir, chairman of HADEP, was acquitted on charges of "'making separatist propaganda'" (Anatolia 22 July 2004).
Additional information on the situation and treatment of members, supporters and sympathizers of HADEP could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
Democratic People's Party (DEHAP)
Established in 1997 (Turkish Daily News 14 Mar. 2003), the Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) is a pro-Kurdish party that advocates for greater Kurdish rights in Turkey (ibid.; AP 26 Mar. 2003). Upon becoming DEHAP's leader in June 2003, Tuncer Bakirhan indicated in an interview that DEHAP will no longer be a party only of the Kurdish people, but of all Turks; it will enter into alliances with other parties and "is in favor of neither a federation [n]or a division" (Turkish Daily News 25 June 2003). As at August 2004, Bakirhan continued to be the party's leader (Hurriyet 20 Aug. 2004).
In anticipation of HADEP's ban, during the year prior to the Constitutional Court's ruling, 35 HADEP mayors joined DEHAP (AP 26 Mar. 2003). However, immediately following the ban of HADEP, the Chief Prosecutor of the Court of Appeals filed a petition to also ban DEHAP for "irregularities in the way the party participated in [the November 2002] parliamentary elections" (International Herald Tribune 14 Mar. 2003; see also Turkish Daily News 14 Mar. 2003; ibid. 15 Mar. 2003; AFP 13 Mar. 2003; AP 26 Mar. 2003). In 2003, former DEHAP chairmen, Mehmet Abbasoglu and Veysi Aydin, and former DEHAP secretaries, Nurettin Sonmez and Ayhan Demir, were sentenced to one year, eleven months and eleven days' imprisonment for having "falsified documents following allegations that the party had not met nationwide organizational requirements" (Turkish Daily News 25 Sept. 2003). On 5 November 2003, DEHAP ousted Abbasoglu, Sonmez and Demir from party membership in accordance with the Supreme Court of Appeals order and Article 11 of the Political Parties Law, which provides that those convicted with "'falsification'" are prohibited from having membership in a political party (Anatolia 5 Nov. 2003).
In late April 2003, the Chief Prosecutor of the Court of Appeals filed another petition to ban DEHAP, this time for "'having connection[s] with the terrorist organization of PKK/KADEK and, as a result, becoming [a] focal point of actions against inseparable unity of the state with its country and people'" (Anatolia 8 Apr. 2004). Reports indicating that a decision has been made by the judiciary in respect of these two petitions against DEHAP could not be found among sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
In early 2004, DEHAP formed an alliance with five other leftist parties, including the Social Democrat People's Party (SHP), Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP), Work Party (EMEP), Free Society Party (OTP) and Socialist Democracy Party (SDP) (Anatolia 29 Jan. 2004) under the name Social Democratic People's Party (SHP) (Voice of America 26 Mar. 2004; Hurriyet 20 Aug. 2004). The alliance "acted together in the spirit of a democratic union of power" (ibid.) during the 28 March 2004 municipal elections (Voice of America 26 Mar. 2004). The municipal election results revealed that the SHP lost 70 mayoralities, nearly 1,000 municipal assembly members and approximately 150 provincial general assembly members (Hurriyet 20 Aug. 2004). After the elections, Bakirhan called upon former DEHAP members to return to DEHAP, and as at August 2004, 56 mayors had returned (ibid.).
Treatment of DEHAP Members, Supporters and Sympathizers
During the period covered by this Response (January 2003 to September 2004) numerous DEHAP members and supporters were detained or arrested by Turkish authorities for shouting pro-PKK slogans during demonstrations (Anatolia 26 Jan. 2003; ibid. 11 Nov. 2003; ibid. 21 Feb. 2004; ibid. 9 June 2004; Turkish Daily News 12 June 2004), for "propagandizing for the [PKK] terrorist organization" (Anatolia 29 Mar. 2003; Turkish Daily News 31 Mar. 2003; Anatolia 19 Sept. 2003a), for protesting against the prison conditions of the PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan (AFP 19 Sept. 2003; ibid. 12 Nov. 2003), for engaging in an advocacy campaign towards a general amnesty for detained DEHAP members (Anatolia 19 June 2003; ibid. 28 June 2003), for holding illegal demonstrations (Anatolia 6 July 2003; ibid. 5 Jan. 2004; ibid. 21 Feb. 2004) and other related reasons (Anatolia 19 Sept. 2003b; ibid. 24 Oct. 2003; ibid. 17 Apr. 2004; Turkish Daily News 19 Apr. 2004; Country Reports 2003 25 Feb. 2004, Sec. 2.a). The Economist reported that according to Diyarbakir's DEHAP mayor, Feridun Celik, 600 DEHAP members and supporters were arrested between January and August 2003 (2 Aug. 2003). Between September and November 2003, DEHAP alleged that over "1,000 participants in a DEHAP campaign calling for an amnesty for PKK/KADEK members" were detained by the police and although most were released, charges were laid against more than 100 participants (Country Reports 2003 25 Feb. 2004, Sec. 3).
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2003 stated that throughout 2003,
...police raided dozens of DEHAP offices, particularly in the southeast, and detained hundreds of DEHAP officials and members. DEHAP members were regularly harassed by Jandarma and security officials, including verbal threats, arbitrary arrests at rallies, and detention at checkpoints. Security forces also regularly harassed villagers they believed were sympathetic to DEHAP. Although most detainees were released within a short period, many faced trials, usually for "supporting an illegal organization," "inciting separatism," or for violations of the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations (ibid.).
In September 2003, law enforcement officers intervened in a demonstration when participants began handing out literature supporting the "separatist terrorist organization," the PKK (Anatolia 14 Sept. 2003). Police intervention was reported again in October 2003 when a group of female DEHAP members and supporters attempted to make a press statement that criticized the policies of the government (NTV 22 Oct. 2003). The police initially informed the group that they could not make the press statement, but the group began to throw stones and use sticks (ibid.). The police responded by using clubs, but the group dispersed only when the police began preparing to use tear gas (ibid.).
In November 2003, the Turkish Daily News reported that DEHAP's youth wing held a demonstration in which they alleged that the police had mistreated the party's members (4 Nov. 2003). Three members of DEHAP's women's wing alleged that the next day, they were "beaten and insulted by the police when they attempted to hold a press conference about Ocalan in Cizre" (HRW 28 Apr. 2004). On 12 November 2003, police again intervened in a demonstration that protested the prison conditions of Ocalan (AFP 12 Nov. 2003; TRT2 12 Nov. 2003). During the intervention, police fired their weapons into the air and also used tear gas (AFP 12 Nov. 2003). In another incident on 30 November 2003, police intervened in a DEHAP rally after participants began shouting pro-PKK slogans (Anatolia 30 Nov. 2003).
Gulbahar Gunduz, a DEHAP worker, alleged that on 14 June 2003 she was picked up by three non-uniformed males who had identified themselves to be police officers (AI 1 Oct. 2003). Gunduz alleged that she was "blindfolded, taken in a car to a building, threatened for her activities in the women's section of the Istanbul branch of...DEHAP, tortured and orally raped in the course of the day, then released" (ibid.; see also Country Reports 2003 25 Feb. 2003, Sec. 1.c). Amnesty International reported that Gunduz's detention was not recorded and the fact that she had been blindfolded prevented her from identifying her assailants (AI 1 Oct. 2003). In June 2003, 300 women held a protest against Gunduz's treatment by the police, but law enforcement officials used tear gas and physical abuse to disband the demonstration (Country Reports 2003 25 Feb. 2003, Sec. 2.b).
On 2 February 2004, a fire-bomb was thrown into a DEHAP local directorate office in Cigli town, Izmir province, resulting in minor damage (Anatolia 2 Feb. 2004). Information on whether those responsible were apprehended and charged could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
Additional information on the treatment of DEHAP members, supporters and sympathizers by state and non-state agents could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Agence France Presse (AFP). 12 November 2003. "Police Clash with Kurdish Protestors in Turkey." (Dialog)
_____. 19 September 2003. "Kurds Arrested in Turkey for Protesting Jail Conditions of Leader." (Dialog)
_____. 13 March 2003. Sibel Utku. "Ban on Kurdish Party Could Be Fresh Blow to Turkey's EU Prospects." (Dialog)
Akron Beakon Journal [Ohio]. 14 March 2003. "High Court Bans Pro-Kurdish Party." (Dialog)
Amnesty International (AI). 12 February 2004. "From Paper to Practice: Making Change Real." Memorandum to the Turkish Prime Minister on the Occasion of the Visit to Turkey of a Delegation Led by Irene Khan, Amnesty International's Secretary General, February 2004. (EUR 44/001/2004.) <http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGEUR440012004> [Accessed 16 Sept. 2004]
_____. 1 October 2003. "Concerns in Europe and Central Asia: January to June 2003." (EUR 01/016/2003) <http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGEUR010162003> [Accessed 16 Sept. 2004]
Anatolia. 22 July 2004. "Ankara Court Acquits Leader of Now Banned HADEP from Charges of Separatism." (FBIS-WEU-2004-0723 26 July 2004/WNC)
_____. 9 June 2004. "Turkey: 20 Detained in Pro-Ocalan DEHAP Demo." (FBIS-WEU-2004-0610 11 June 2004/WNC)
_____. 17 April 2004. "Turkey: Police Detain Head of DEHAP Diyarbakir Branch." (FBIS-WEU-2004-0417 19 Apr. 2004/WNC)
_____. 8 April 2004. "Turkey's Bakirhan: DEHAP Not Subsidiary of Any Party, Closure Not in Line with EU." (FBIS-WEU-2004-0408 9 Apr. 2004/WNC)
_____. 21 February 2004. "Turkey: Arrests, Detentions Reported During Demonstrations; DHKP-C Member Caught." (FBIS-WEU-2004-0221 23 Feb. 2004/WNC)
_____. 2 February 2004. "Fire Bomb Damages Kurd Party Office in Western Turkey." (BBC/Dialog)
_____. 29 January 2004. "Turkey: Six Leftist Political Parties Join Forces for Local Elections." (FBIS-WEU-2004-0129 2 Feb. 2004/WNC)
_____. 5 January 2004. "Turkey: DEHAP Chairman, IHD Official, Some 100 Protesters Detained in Diyarbakir." (FBIS-WEU-2004-0501 3 May 2004/WNC)
_____. 30 November 2003. "Turkey: 3 Journalists, 1 Policeman Injured, 2 Detained in DEHAP Rally in Mersin." (FBIS-WEU-2003-1130 1 Dec. 2003/WNC)
_____. 11 November 2003. "Turkish Police Detain 25 DEHAP Members for Chanting Slogans in Support of Ocalan." (FBIS-WEU-2003-1111 12 Nov. 2003/WNC)
_____. 5 November 2003. "Turkey: DEHAP Ousts Former Leaders Convicted of Fraud." (FBIS-WEU-2003-1105 6 Nov. 2003/WNC)
_____. 24 October 2003. "Turkey: 11 DEHAP Women Detained for Sit-In Protest, Laying Black Wreath at TBMM." (FBIS-WEU-2003-1024 27 Oct. 2003/WNC)
_____. 19 September 2003a. "Turkey: DEHAP's Gaziantep Leader Arrested for Praising 'Terrorist Organization'." (FBIS-WEU-2003-0919 22 Sept. 2003/WNC)
_____. 19 September 2003b. "Turkey: DEHAP's Tunceli Provincial Leader Detained for Hanging Ocalan Picture." (FBIS-WEU-2003-0919 22 Sept. 2003/WNC)
_____. 14 September 2003. "Turkey: Police Intervene in DEHAP Demonstration in Adana." (FBIS-WEU-2003-0914 15 Sept. 2003/WNC)
_____. 19 June 2003. "Turkish Police Intervenes in DEHAP Women Illegal Demonstration in Diyarbakir." (FBIS-WEU-2003-0619 20 June 2003/WNC)
_____. 28 June 2003. "Turkey: Three Party Members Arrested for Campaigning for General Amnesty." (BBC/Dialog)
_____. 6 July 2003. "Turkey: Security Forces Intervene in Illegal DEHAP Demonstration in Istanbul." (FBIS-WEU-2003-0706 7 July 2003/WNC)
_____. 29 March 2003. "Turkey: DEHAP District Official Arrested on Charges of Propagandizing for PKK." (FBIS-WEU-2003-0329 31 Mar. 2003/WNC)
_____. 13 March 2003. "Turkey: AA Details Constitutional Court's Decision on Closure of HADEP." (FBIS-WEU-2003-0313 14 Mar. 2003/WNC)
_____. 30 January 2003. "Turkey: Police Detain Four Members of Pro-Kurdish Party." (BBC/NEXIS)
_____. 26 January 2003. "Turkey: Antiwar Demonstrations Reported in Various Areas." (Dialog)
Associated Press (AP). 26 March 2003. "Mayors Join New Pro-Kurdish Party in Turkey." (Dialog)
BBC. 14 March 2003. "Turkey's Kurd Party Ban Criticised." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2850601.stm> [Accessed 14 Sept. 2004]
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2003. 25 February 2004. "Turkey." United States Department of State. Washington, DC. <http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27869.htm> [Accessed 16 Sept. 2004]
The Economist. 2 August 2003. Vol. 368, 8335, No. 1. "Hope Versus Fear: Turkey's Kurds." (Dialog)
Human Rights Watch (HRW). 28 April 2004. "Turkey: Continuing Restrictions on Freedom of Assembly." <http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2004/04/27/turkey8498_txt.htm> [Accessed 16 Sept. 2004]
Hurriyet [Istanbul, in Turkish]. 20 August 2004. Yalcin Dogan. "Turkey: DEHAP-SHP Alliance Faulted for Breaking Up, Kurds Said Divided." FBIS-NES-2004-0820 23 Aug. 2004/WNC
International Herald Tribune. 14 March 2003. Frank Bruni. "Turkey Moves to Ban Leading Kurdish Party." (Dialog)
NTV. 22 October 2003. "Pro-Kurdish Women Protest Government, War in Southeaster Turkey." (BBC/Dialog)
TRT2 Television. 12 November 2003. "Turkey: Demonstrators in Illegal Bursa Rally Hurl Stones at Security Directorate." (BBC/Dialog)
Turkish Daily News [Ankara].12 June 2004. "DEHAP Elazig Chief Arrested." <http://www.turkishdailynews.com/old_editions/06_12_04/dom2.htm> [Accessed 16 Sept. 2004]
_____. 19 April 2004. "DEHAP Executive Detained. <http://www.turkishdailynews.com/old_editions/04_19_04/dom.htm> [Accessed 16 Sept. 2004]
_____. 4 November 2003. "State System to be Overhauled." <http://www.turkishdailynews.com/old_editions/11_04_03/dom.htm> [Accessed 16 Sept. 2004]
_____. 25 September 2003. "The DEHAP Closure Syndrome." <http://www.turkishdailynews.com/old_editions/09_25_03/dom.htm> [Accessed 16 Sept. 2004]
_____. 25 June 2003. Mehmet Ali Birand. "Is DEHAP's Young Chairman Any Different?" <http://www.turkishdailynews.com/old_editions/06_25_03/birand.htm> [Accessed 16 Sept. 2004]
_____. 31 March 2003. "DEHAP's Tarsus District Chairman Sent to Prison." <http://www.turkishdailynews.com/old_editions/03_31_03/dom2.htm> [Accessed 16 Sept. 2004]
_____. 15 March 2003. "Wrong Timing." (Dialog)
_____. 14 March 2003. "HADEP Closed, DEHAP in Row." <http://www.turkishdailynews.com/old_editions/03_14_03/dom.htm> [Accessed 16 Sept. 2004]
Voice of America. 26 March 2004. Amberin Zaman. "Radio Scripts - Background Report 5-55089." (Dialog)
Additional Sources Consulted
Internet sites, including: European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI), Freedom in the World 2003, Human Rights Association of Turkey, Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, The Middle East Times, Organization of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed People (MAZLUMDER), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).