154) Human Rights Scapegoat: Turkey

 

Turkey's oft-criticized rights record has been the ostensible reason Europe has continued to deny Turkey admission to the EU. The true reason: Christian Europe's potent prejudice against admitting Muslim Turkey, with millions of farmers. Europe is up in arms against its Muslim emigrant population, and certainly has too many subsidized farmers.

 

"Turkey: Where East reluctantly meets West"
Eric Margolis -- Toronto Sun, June 9, 2002

 

Holdwater once had an inside glimpse into the operation of Amnesty International, through a friend who worked there; it's important to keep in mind that while such an organization does laudable work, there are regular human beings at the helm... with their own agendas and prejudices, like any other. In fact, through my friend, it was surprising to see the pettiness, power plays and office politics involved, when somehow one thinks a "gallant" group would be above such frailties. It must be asked why Turkey is always selected as the perpetual whipping boy of Amnesty International, when there are certainly many nations that can use much improvement in their human rights records.
  
The World According to “Human Rights Brokers�
And The Error Of The Terror-Watchers 

 

Commentary by Professor Mahmut Esat Ozan

 

Terror Here, Terror There, Terror, Terror Everywhere! So goes the reputed refrain of a familiar nursery rhyme, better known as the Old MacDonald’s Farm. Terror today is everywhere. This means that its contemporary proliferation is so great that its numbers surpass the amount of animals counted in the proverbial children’s song. Let us then conduct a non-scientific survey of what’s happening in the world of terrorism, and later on try to enumerate some of the reasons behind the “terror� wielded by the Human Rights Helsinki/Watch organization.

 

Terror Around The World:

 

It would be only appropriate if we began with one of the oldest groups of terrorists whose roots go all the way back to the late forties and the Chinese Communist revolution started by Mao Zedong. The ruthless Shining Path terrorists of Peru are still alive and doing their destructive work, even though their leader was arrested and put away for good. They are still active in Lima, the capital of Peru, or in the jungles as well as other urban centers. If we move a bit up to the north of Peru, we encounter similar groups in Columbia, the ruthess Colombian leftist insurgents which have been instrumental so far in killing thousands of innocent Columbian citizens, and a few years back, a favored Presidential nominee during the speech he was giving to his constituents. These people are also responsible in the kidnapping and murder of several American businessmen working in that country during the last decade.

 

A short jaunt to the west of Columbia brings us across the Zapatistas of Mexico. They have the reputation of being as cruel as the government forces they’ve been struggling against. The result is more death and desolation, and the tragedy continues.

 

Guatemala to the east of Mexico has been the hot bed of terrorism as far as anyone can remember. Last year was its 40th anniversary. The Guatemalan government has been fighting them with increased fervor with every passing decade.

 

In Costa Rica and Panama in Central America, and further down in Chile in South America, terroristic activities have been part of the daily news during the last months of 1994.

 

The United States of America and Canada were the scene of several sinister activities of the ASALA. This political and murderous organization assassinated more than 60 Turkish diplomats around the world. It had all started in the State of California in the seventies. Their senseless carnage was finally stopped a few years ago, when several of their members were apprehended, tried, and sentenced to “long� prison terms.

 

The USA, in a more recent development, has officially added its name among the relentless fighters of domestic and foreign terrorists. The New York City Trade Center bombing and the Oklahoma City debacle demonstrated, once and for all, the necessity of adopting diligent defensive methods and applying effective prosecution measures. On the European continent, Spain has had its share of separatist terrorist movements of seditious revolutionaries. For as long as one remembers, these Basque terrorists have so far killed and maimed thousands of Spaniards, among them many judiciary members of the Spanish Supreme Court and a goodly number of high governmental functionaries.

 

More Examples of Terrorism Throughout the World

 

Northern Ireland, nowadays seems to be basking under the warm sunshine of peace. It was the IRA who unilaterally proposed an armistice, which is enjoyed by everyone. But it was the IRA which was responsible in the last 25 years or so of innumerable political assassinations. The relentless pursuit of their torturous agenda liquidated scores of people in Northern Ireland, and in various large population centers of England. They even came close to blowing up in the middle eighties the then prime minister of England, Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, while she was attending a political party convention in Brighton, in southern England.

 

Returning again to the European continent, we observe pockets of insurgencies in France, Germany, Italy, and in Norway. In the case of the French Republic, we see the Algerian Muslim fundamentalists and in Germany, a decade or so ago, the infamous and very deadly Baader Meinhof gang. These terrorists were gradually decimated by the German police and the remnants who were in prison serving time, were found, one morning, to have all committed “suicide� in their cells. This dubious, but at the same time, convenient gesture of theirs afforded the German government to forego the expenses and the political headaches which were sure to follow. Nevertheless, the woes of Germany were not soon to disappear. There are close to 600,000 Kurds residing in Germany today. The majority of them is known to support the infamous PKK, the self-avowed Marxist-Leninist terrorists who have been creating pure havoc for the country. Just last week, the German police detained 200 of their followers during an unauthorized, illegal rally, which turned into a small battle field.

 

In Italy, the Red Brigade of a decade ago, who killed hundreds of people in broad daylight, is still fresh in everyone’s memory. They were able to kidnap, torture, and kill the Prime Minister of the day, Aldo Moro, and shortly after that, they succeeded in kidnapping the NATO Commander in Italy, the U.S. Brigadier General James Dosier. But the incarcerated general was able to escape from them.

 

All terrorists are not necessarily of military or political background. To date, Italy must have lost hundreds of its top judiciary personnel at the hands of the Sicilian Mafia, and there is no excuse for the existence of these terrorists either.

 

In Algeria, on the North African scene, terrorists have been operating for years, and the government forces, equally, have been killing or jailing the insurgents by the dozens. The recent elections may have given the new President, Liamine Zeroud, of Algeria some sense of legitimacy in the fight against the Muslim fundamentalist terrorists. They are notorious in killing in Algeria more journalists than any other place on earth.

 

Libya happens to be among nations declared by the US government as being a state sponsored terrorist country. Their operatives are proven to have downed the Pan American plane over Scotland a few years ago. The two Libyans responsible for the Lockerbee incident are still roaming the streets of Tripoli in perfect freedom today.

 

Egypt, to the east of Libya is another story. In this area the Muslim fundamentalist organizations constitute a huge problem for the government of Egypt. Having assassinated Anwar Sadat a decade or so earlier, they now are after President Hosni Mubarak. Hundreds of their disciples have been killed and scores of others have been executed by the Egyptian authorities. Nevertheless, the terrorists also have killed several Egyptian officials and many U.S. and European tourists during various attacks in Cairo and in the hinterland. Syria’s government itself is ranked among the most virulent sponsors of state terrorism. The dictator of Syria, Hafez al-Assad, is reputed to have put to death more than 50,000 of his own fellow Arabs in the city of Hama soon after he took over the country in the early seventies.
Russia... has been waging a cruel war against one of its semi-autonomous republics called Chechnya 

 

Iran remains the world’s most active and most dangerous state sponsor of terrorism through its own state agents and the radical groups it supports. According to the Mujahidine faction of Iran, the Islamic laws enacted when Ayatolla Khomeini was alive are still as deadly as ever. The Islamic Revolution is rumored to have liquidated close to 200,000 dissidents so far, and their deadly work still continues today.

 

Iraq also feels very comfortable in sponsoring world-wide terrorism. It wasn’t too long ago that Saddam Hussein had planned to assassinate former president George Bush, during his visit to Kuwait, and Iraqi agents were responsible for numerous attacks on the international humanitarian, and relief organizations personnel monitoring the U.N. sanctions in Iraq.

 

In the Commonwealth of Independent States, or with its more cornmon name Russia, the government has been waging a cruel war against one of its semi-autonomous republics called Chechnya. This tiny Muslim enclave is, in Moscow’s eyes, a renegade, terrorist group determined to pluck its independence from Russia. The military, so far, has killed thousands of Chechnian men, women, and children. The struggle does not appear to have an ending in the near future.

 

In Afghanistan, the local government has been fighting the Muslim Fundamentalist terrorists ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Both sides are using weaponry sent there by America during the Soviet Afghani war.

 

Pakistan is a country where recently 3 U.S citizens have lost their lives, and a car bomb last week has killed scores of Egyptian Embassy personnel, as well as several innocent bystanders.

 

Sri Lanka is a small independent island country south of India where Tamil separatists are using terrorist tactics to force the Sri Lankan government to grant them full independence. Scores of Tamil insurgents have lost their lives to this date.

 

In Indonesia, the Timor separatists have been a thorn in the side of the government which has been decimating countless numbers of �Timor terrorists,� which is a number equal to the casualties they cause to the Sri Lankan government most of the time.

 

The Philippines has been fighting the Islamic extremist terrorist groups for years. One such group is headed by Abu Sayyaf. A year ago they kidnapped a U.S. Missionary but was rescued unharmed two weeks later. In the last two decades, the Islamic terrorists have killed scores of Filipinos.

 

Japan has been plagued by numerous acts of violence of internal terrorism from the earliest days of U.S. occupation in 1945. Even today, Japan is continuing to be affected by periodic spurts of violence of one sort or another, which brings us to the latest poison gas attacks on the Tokyo subways by “Aum,� a political terrorist group and their cult leader, Shiko Ashiara, responsible for the “Sarin� gas attack which occurred in Tokyo a few months ago. Initially 6 people lost their lives and the number of casualties was said to be staggering at the time.

 

 The Error Of The Terror- Watchers

 

In all cases mentioned above, foreign governments consider dealing with their own brand of terrorists and other undesirable elements as part of their internal affairs. Every country has, more or less, a similar defense policy. In most countries the terrorists are confronted with raw force, they are either apprehended and jailed, or perish during the armed clashes encountered with the defense forces. The right to protect the territorial integrity is paramount and it constitutes a well underlined section of the United Nations Charter established in 1945. Nonetheless, very few signatories of the U.N. Charter go through the agonizing double standard and the unfair scrutiny that the Turkish Government is subjected to at the hands of these highly biased human rights organizations. It behooves us to go through repetitious words hoping to clarify the misconceptions left by the detractors of the Turks. As ineffective as it may sound, this process has to be hammered out for all the decent, caring people to read and pass on to others. The injustices displayed by these so-called human rights organizations are inexcusable.

 

According to the Center For National Security Studies, a Washington, DC.-based research organization, trends in domestic and international terrorism have started to show a slight decline. Just the same, this is no time to celebrate the small gains observed in the rate of descent of terrorism in the world. The lethality factor is the more alarming one, because it is here that we see a substantial increase. As hard as it is to believe, this very increase in 1993 was caused by a campaign of 150 attacks executed by the PKK. These ruthless attacks against Turkish interests in Western Europe were carried out on two separate occasions. On June 24, and again on November 4, about 75 deadly attacks were perpetrated on each one of those two days.

 

ft is understandable that no statistical decline in the rate of the international strife could constitute any solace for the Turkish citizens whose lives have been, and still are, on the line every day since 1983.

 

Terrorism is a serious problem, and calls for a serious response. But when a government such as the Republic of Turkey decides to take drastic measures to protect the integrity of its territory, and in the process adopts necessary stringent regulations, the Amnesty International or the Human Rights Watch/ Helsinki groups start making outrageous accusations against the Turkish government for allegedly violating the constitutional rights of these terrorists. Their accusations are always followed by demands reminiscent of the days of “capitulations� of a bygone era.

 

It seems that everything here depends on “whose bull Is being gored.� Turkey today, with or without this ‘decline’ in the rate of terrorism, still remains to be the recipient of a “double whammy.� It is getting deadly blows on the one hand from the PKK, a faction of the state-sponsored terrorism of Syria, and on the other hand from the apologists for the PKK, who go as far as addressing letters to Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the bloody organization. Those who wish to have a living proof substantiating the above statement could glance at the news below:

 

Bonn, Germany- The Turkish Foreign Minister Deniz Baykal during his official visit with his German counterpart Klaus Kinkel said that Turkey was very displeased with the meeting between the German deputy Hans Lummer and terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan.

 

Mr. Mehmet Gücük, a representative of the Turkish Embassy in Washington, states in a recent Press Release that the Human Rights Watch/Helsinki’s recognition of the PKK and its willing engagement in official correspondence with the members of terrorist organizations should be deemed very controversial and regrettable. The statement continues: “the views of these organizations are seriously impaired and prejudicial.�
This type of unacceptable behavior of these organizations creates grave implications regarding their status as fair arbiters or unbiased observers 

 

 

We understand that when these biased human rights organizations decide to chastise the PKK they use only inoffensive, limp and flaccid condemnations. Recently the Human Rights Watch/Helsinki folks had the audacity to employ such a droopy, and wimpish accusation against a group of cutthroats known as the PKK. The following is a good illustration for this:

 

“The Human Rights Watch /Helsinki Accuses PKK Of Violating The Geneva Conventions�

 

This type of unacceptable behavior of these organizations creates grave implications regarding their status as fair arbiters or unbiased observers, and their ‘soft slap’ on the wrist of one of the most cruel killing machines in the world, could only be described as being “derelict and irresponsible.�

 

Democratic countries around the world, including first and foremost, the United States, as well as France and Germany, and others, recognize the PKK for the ruthless terrorist organization that it is. Furthermore, it does not represent Turkish citizens of Kurdish descent and has never enjoyed the legitimacy of being a populist organization.

 

The problem lies not only with the terror itself, but also with the terror-watchers. What we’re talking about here is not an inadvertent type happening. When all is said and done and when all analyses are evaluated, a clear case of premeditation becomes the obvious answer. In each and every infuriating, erroneous statement of theirs one senses a deliberate prejudice against Turkey.

 

For many of us the most unfathomable mystery is the unanswered and perhaps the unanswerable question of why there is a deliberate attempt to destroy Turkey by methodically weakening her. Who should replace Turkey once she is toppled under their sinister plan?

 

The Turkish Prime Minister, Tansu Çiller, said the following during a state visit to England just last week. “We are proud to have built the only secular democratic nation among the world’s 52 Muslim states.� Earlier following the Oklahoma City bombing where 87 innocent souls had lost their lives, she had also said that the Turkish people had been enduring similar tragedies for almost 15 years.

 

The insensitive human rights brokers, playing dangerous games with the lives of 65 million Turks, come from affluent societies. They represent rich nations. But something appears to have gone wrong with their morals. They no longer possess the concept of fair-play and nobility their ancestors were ascribed to in the past.
Famous American novelist John Updike not so very long ago put it this way: “The fact that ... we still live well cannot ease the pain of feeling that we no longer live nobly.� And as the French say: “Noblesse Oblige.�

 

 

Mahmut Esat Ozan

(End)

 

Holdwater ponders: According to Steven Mufson of The Washington Post (Oct. 9, 2000), The Armenian Assembly of America, founded in 1972 and with 7,000 individual and organizational members (and a budget of $2.5 million), has “made allies with Greek Americans and human rights groups, longtime critics of Turkey.�

 

 It takes little stretch of the imagination to visualize Greeks and Armenians French-kissing each other in an orgiastic love-lock over their common enemy… but why in the world would supposedly objective human rights organizations wish to make “alliesâ€� of Armenians ?

 

TWO RELATED VIEWPOINTS

 

The following letters were written by two Turks, expounding on the "Terror Watchers"

 

Selective Human Rights and Turkey

 

Altemur Kiliç
Ayyildiz Express
March 1995

 

It seems that Turkey has been chosen by the United States and the West as the scapegoat for concerted “Human Rights� procedures. The recent “Human Rights� report of the U.S. government is a new evidence of this.

 

The first question which comes to mind is the double standard in selecting Turkey as the prime suspect or the prime culprit while other blatant violators are glossed over or neglected. Furthermore, it is rather sad that these one sided accusations emanate from a super power which neglects or is ineffectual concerning the gross, wholesale human rights violations by the Serbs in Bosnia and by the Russians in Chechnya and the Caucasus. The credibility of the accusers is suspect.

 

If there are any human rights violations in Turkey—and which country can claim full innocence—we are already striving to end such violations and are punishing the violators in courts of law. It should be understood that we do this because of self respect and not to please others. As a proud nation we cannot tolerate “human right inspectors� with doubtful credentials and certain prejudices.

 

Most of the so-called violations might be due to the implementation of existing laws. Some of them are unavoidable results of the conditions due to the struggle against murderous terrorist groups. But it is also certain that most of the cases are hearsay, taken from the pages of the organ of the PKK and compiled by those who are prejudiced or those who have made up their minds that Turkey is a country where human rights are routinely violated.

 

Of course, our own liberals who do the same thing from their magazines, newspapers do not help to clear the honor of their country—but do the exact opposite with gusto. Some of the accusations are based on their columns.

 

Take the example of the Kurdish MPs who were ousted from the Turkish Parliament according to the due processes of the law because it was established that they were linked to the PKK terrorist organization. No democratic country would allow members who have violated their oath of allegiance and have been found guilty of sedition and treason to remain in the Parliament, with impunity. Subsequent activities such as joint meetings with the representatives of the PKK have proven that they were indeed guilty. Democracy and human rights does not, should not prevent any country to defend itself against treason and sedition.

 

In battle conditions nobody should expect Turkish Armed Forces and the Turkish Security Forces—or for that matter any soldiers or police of any other country—to respond to terrorist brutality by offering flowers!

 

Human Rights in Turkey is primarily a problem for Turks and it is imperative for our self respect that we are not talked down to or punished by foreigners how ever well-meaning they might be. Furthermore who is minding the human rights of innocent Turkish citizens, teachers soldiers and government workers who are being brutally murdered by the PKK.
Turkey is safe 

 

February 18, 1997
The Albrightian

 

Dear Editor,

 

In response to the article “Amnesty International reaches out to voice concerns for Human Rights� by Maggie Ward in the December 10, 1996 issue of The Albrightian, I need to offer some comments about the misguiding nature of the article’s contents, which have been written based upon the literature of Amnesty International.

 

Ward states that in Turkey, “Everyday innocent civilians (men, women, and children) are subjected to unthinkable torture for minor offenses that many are not even guilty of committing.�

 

There are several problems with this statement.

 

First, one of the main themes of Amnesty International’s campaign in Turkey has been advertised, based upon this organization’s literature, as alleviating the alleged mistreatment of detained prisoners without due legal processes. However, it should be clarified that Amnesty International conveys Turkish prisoners as innocent civilians, when in actuality the detainees’ spectrum ranges from conscientious nonviolent writers to ultra-violent political terrorists who kill men, women, and children at will.

 

If one of the issues of concern is the torture of prisoners, and if the cases presented by Amnesty International
are thoroughly investigated, then of course the Turkish state is completely responsible for fighting for the protection of all of their human rights. However, generalizing to implicate in this statement that the lives of all innocent, ordinary citizens are at risk every minute of the day is especially disturbing!

 

Making such a comment leads the average person who doesn’t know anything about Turkey to think that it is a place where people can’t leave their homes without fear of being detained, and such a situation certainly does not exist!

 

I have been to Turkey many times and am going this year with my family to visit our relatives there. We have a wonderful time, and our safety has never crossed our minds.

 

Furthermore, if the lives of all people in Turkey, both citizens and noncitizens, are randomly at stake, then why do approximately eleven million tourists visit Turkey each year, including John F. Kennedy, Jr., who chose this country of all those in the world for his honeymoon?

 

I would also like to comment on the signs on which the Turkish campaign is being advertised. One sign included a quote by a Turkish lawyer, who allegedly stated that it is cause for rejoicing if people come out of Turkish prisons alive.

 

The name of the Turkish lawyer was not included, and the quote was not dated or documented in any way. Is it legitimate to submit a research paper for class without citing and documenting the sources of its contents?

 

If the answer is no, then information displayed in this way can not be regarded as valid, either.

 

In considering the issues of torture, military aid, and the PKK that Amnesty International claims to be addressing, one needs to thoroughly study the history, economy, and sociopolitical situations in Turkey to understand these issues, instead of relying on a few pages supplied by this international organization which can make misleading statements.

 

Where the genuine interest in human rights stop and the political anti-Turkish campaign starts has not been well delineated.

 

The literature of Amnesty International provides information contradictory to credible literature by American and European sources, about topics including but not limited to the nature of the PKK, military aid, and the most recent sociopolitics of the region. These sources have been shared with Ward.

 

As far as the safety and security issues for an ordinary person on the streets are concerned, I am looking forward to having a beautiful, exciting vacation in my parents’ native land, which we visit almost every year. You don’t have to take my word for it. Just join me!

 

Sincerely,
Eda Ulus

 

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