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Turkey jails Kurdish editor for 3 years
30.3.2010 |
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March
30, 2010
DIYARBAKIR, Kurdish Southeastern
region of Turkey, — A Turkish court jailed the
former editor of a Kurdish-language newspaper for
three years today for spreading terrorist
propaganda, in a case that may renew concern about
press freedom in the EU candidate country.
Vedat Kursun, who faces a combined sentence of
525 years in prison in 103
cases on similar charges, was convicted in
connection with two stories that appeared in the
daily in August 2007, the state-run Anatolian news
agency said.
Mr Kursun was editor-in-chief at Azadiya Welat
until he was jailed more than a year ago for
disseminating propaganda on behalf of the illegal
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Emin Yildirim, an
editor at the newspaper, said. |
Vedat Kursun, the former in chief of the only
Kurdish-language newspaper in Turkey, Azadiya Welat. DIHA photo |
The paper has replaced
its top editor six times since 2006 because they
have been jailed or fled the country to avoid
imprisonment, Yildirim said, estimating that
prosecutors have opened 200 or more cases against
the five former editors.
The newspaper also faces regular temporary bans,
including a month-long closure ordered this week, he
said.
The European Union has called on prime minister
Tayyip Erdogan to improve press freedom in Turkey to
meet the political criteria for membership of the
bloc.
The government has promised to expand Kurdish
cultural and political rights in a bid to end a
25-year conflict with PKK insurgents.
Since 1984 PKK took up arms for self-rule in the
mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey
(Turkey-Kurdistan) which has claimed around 45,000
lives of Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas. A large Turkey's Kurdish community
openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK rebels.
The PKK is considered a
'terrorist' organization by Ankara, U.S., the PKK
continues to be on the blacklist list in EU despite
court ruling which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its
political wing on the European Union's terror list.
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas,www.ekurd.net
the party also demanded
an end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, ranting them full
political freedoms.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish
politicians say the measures fall short of their
expectations.
Mr Kursun told the penal court in Diyarbakir, the
largest city in the majority Kurdish southeast
[Northern Kurdistan], that the news stories were not
meant as propaganda, Anatolian reported.
The same court sentenced Mr Kursun's successor Ozan
Kilinc to
21 years
in prison on February 11th for printing what it
called Kurdish rebel propaganda.
Azadiya Welat's website today showed pictures of
Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK's jailed leader, and armed
Kurdish guerrillas. It also featured a column
attributed to Cemil Bayik, a top PKK commander.
Mr Yildirim denied the newspaper promoted the PKK's
message. Some of the charges against the editors
stem from advertisements or announcements taken out
by readers and at least two cases were due to faulty
translations, he said.
"Our mission is to inform the Kurdish people about
issues that concern them," Yildirim said. The
conflict with the PKK "affects millions of people in
this country,www.ekurd.netand
it would mean neglecting our duty as journalists to
ignore it."
The US State Department said on March 11th in its
annual report on human rights that Turkish
prosecutors harassed writers and journalists by
opening court cases against them, though judges
dismissed many of the charges.
Copyright, respective
author or news agency, Reuters | Agencies
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