EU Gov’ts Linked to
Massacre of 17 Activists in Turkey
An
international fact-finding mission (FFM) that probed into the recent
massacre of 17 activists in Turkey has raised the possibility that some
European Union governments had tipped off the Turkish authorities that led
to the killings.
By D.
L. Mondelo
Political Correspondent for Europe
Bulatlat
ISTANBUL,
Turkey – An international fact-finding mission (FFM) composed of lawyers,
journalists and relatives who went to this city last week to probe into
the recent massacre of 17 activists in Turkey, has raised the possibility
that some European Union governments had tipped off the Turkish
authorities that led to the killings.
Several of
the 17 massacre victims were German and Dutch citizens of Turkish descent
and had come to Turkey to attend a political meeting.
The killing
took place June 17 in the mountainous district of Mercan, southeast of
Turkey. News reports quoted Turkish authorities as saying that the
activists were armed dissidents and the incident was a legitimate
encounter.
The
fact-finding mission disputed the Turkish authorities’ claims, however.
Members of
the FFM and other human rights groups in Europe are bringing the case to
the European Court of Human Rights if the families of the victims do not
get justice from Turkish courts, it was learned.
In a press
conference held Sept. 7 in this city to cap three days of interviews with
the families of the victims and other human rights organizations as well
as document trail, the FFM released the following initial findings:
1) The
military action against the 17 activists had been planned days in advance.
The mission also learned that those killed had been politically active for
more than three decades. Although they stood for a politics which the
Turkish state is in conflict with, this cannot be a reason to kill the
activists.
2) Several
of those killed had serious physical disabilities and could not have taken
part in an encounter as claimed by Turkish security forces.
3) The
bodies of those killed were severely mutilated indicating they were hit by
guided rockets or bombs.
4) Efforts
of the victims’ relatives and their lawyers to investigate the incident
had been unsuccessful because Turkish authorities denied any information
to the lawyers and had cordoned off the site of the massacre as a
“military security zone.”
“Planned
execution”
A source
from the Platform for Democratic Rights also said the incident was a
“deliberately planned execution” by the Turkish state. The source added
that the forested area where the 17 activists were holding a meeting was
secured by some 2,000 Turkish troops backed by helicopter gunships.
Relatives
of the victims took some time before they could identify the bodies of
their loved ones, the source also said.
Roland
Meister, one of the German lawyers for the victims and a member of the
FFM, saidmany of the victims were political asylum seekers in Germany. He
said he helped several of them in their asylum cases.
Meister and
other members of the FFM said German and Dutch authorities could have
monitored the activities and mobile telephones of the victims who came
from Germany weeks or even months before the killings and could have
passed on information on these to Turkish authorities.
“The German
police are experts in tapping phones,” Rainer Ahues, one of the German
lawyers said.
“This is an
important case and we have started to gather the facts,” Ahued said. “We
are prepared to follow up this case until the European Court of Human
Rights if the families of the victims do not get justice from Turkish
courts.”
Another
mission
Meanwhile,
Turkish human rights organizations and lawyers are preparing another
mission to gather more facts and to interview Turkish officials regarding
the killings.
FFM
members, among them two German lawyers, a lawyer from the Netherlands and
a brother of one of the victims, said the killing of the 17 activists and
other human rights violations committed by the Turkish state must be put
as an agenda if Turkey is to be accepted as a member of the European
Union.
The
European Union is expected to issue another resolution on Turkey’s
acceptance as a member of the 25-member union this coming October.
Bulatlat
BACK TO
TOP ■
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION ■
COMMENT
© 2005 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications
Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided
its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.