11.01.1996

Turkish elections herald attack on political prisoners

THE TURKISH elections did not bring about a majority in the Grand National Assembly, but created an atmosphere of uncertainty. This atmosphere is being used by the most reactionary forces to put a further squeeze on the working class and its aspirations.

The first attack came upon the revolutionary political prisoners who have been held in special prisons. The so-called ‘E-type’ prisons in Istanbul and in many other cities were attacked without any provocation on the pretext that the prisoners refused to give roll call.

In Istanbul three prisoners died during the initial attack. The political prisoners responded to these attacks by rebelling against the inhumane treatment. They occupied the prisons and offices and held some of the wardens and governors in many jails. A wave of action spread into all prisons and hunger strikes were also started. All the political prisoners except the imprisoned Kurdish guerrillas - who at present have been pursuing a self-declared truce - took part in these actions.

The prisoners’ families and a large section of the working class youth were mobilised to organise demonstrations in front of the prisons and in many cities. These demonstrations were also met with brute force and there were many protesters wounded. Many were detained and their whereabouts and conditions remain unknown. There is also a grave danger of torture and summary executions of those classified as “disappeared”, as many previous experiences prove.

In Istanbul the police did not allow the funerals of the three political prisoners to take place according to the wishes of the families. The police buried them. More than one thousand people who were gathered to attend the funerals were detained and kept in a sports arena. The local Alevi meeting hall, the Cemevi, was forcibly closed and the solicitors from the Peoples Law Centrewere arrested.

The protest actions continued in the major European cities, including London. After a demonstration organised in front of the Turkish embassy, a group of forty staged a sit-in at the Turkish-British Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

One demand was for an independent delegation which includes, among others, representatives of Amnesty International and other human rights organisations to inspect the conditions of the political prisoners in Turkey. Another demand was for a team of doctors from the Red Cross and Médecins sans Frontières to be allowed to treat the wounded prisoners, who were denied any medical help.

At this demonstration the British bobbies also showed their solidarity with their Turkish counterparts by attacking the demonstrators and beating them in the back of the vans. More than 50 protesters were detained.

The coming days are set to see a continuous wave of protest actions, and more police brutality is expected. The prisoners’ slogan is “Human dignity will overcome your torture”.

Aziz Demir