TURKEY: PRO-KURDISH DTP DEFENDS ITSELF BEFORE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001676 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL OSCE TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: PRO-KURDISH DTP DEFENDS ITSELF BEFORE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT REF: ANAKRA 1651 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: In a two-hour verbal defense presented to the Constitutional Court September 16, Pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) Co-Chairman Ahmet Turk urged the Court not to close DTP and ban 220 of its members from politics. Turk claimed DTP has been working diligently to find a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue and that closing the party would "make millions who voted for DTP lose hope in the democratic system." He denied any organizational link between DTP and the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and argued that PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan had focused on finding a peaceful solution since his imprisonment in 1999. Turk encouraged the Court to review the party closure standards set by the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe's Venice Commission, which he said militate against closure. Turkish media, focused on the Deniz Feneri (Lighthouse) corruption case and realizing most of the public is apathetic to the plight of pro-Kurdish parties, has given the case little attention, in contrast to its prominent coverage of the AKP closure case. Upon completion of a Court rapporteur's recommended ruling, the Court's President will determine a schedule for the judges to convene and issue a ruling. Closure requires the vote of seven of eleven Court members. End summary. -------------- Ahmet Turk Presents DTP's Oral Defense -------------- ¶2. (U) DTP Co-Chairman Ahmet Turk delivered the September 16 verbal defense in the Constitutional Court case filed by Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor Yalcinkaya's indictment to close DTP and ban 220 of its members from politics. Arguing that Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor Abdurrahman's Yalcinkaya's November 2007 indictment was "political, not legal," Turk presented numerous political reasons for why the Court should allow DTP to remain open. Turk opened by emphasizing that DTP has been "working to find a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish issue." Closing the party would quash this effort and make millions who voted for and trusted DTP lose hope in the democratic system. ¶3. (U) Turk said the current Turkish Constitution fails to accept the ethnic identity of Kurds. While the 1921 Constitution gave autonomy to provinces, the 1924 Constitution introduced a form of nationalism that rejected the presence of Kurds. The 1960 and 1982 Constitutions continued this unfair practice. DTP, per Turk, believes Turkish should remain the official language of the country but there should be government initiatives to allow Kurds to speak Kurdish and freely express their culture. ¶4. (U) Turk denied an organizational link between DTP and the PKK. Turk argued that the PKK developed as a reaction to the Turkish state's policy of assimilation and blossomed under the oppressive atmosphere that followed the 1980 military coup. Turk criticized the Chief Prosecutor for failing to mention the "state violence" in the 1990's, including the evacuating and burning of over 3000 villages. The PKK was a result, not a cause, of the Kurdish issue. A solution requires dialogue and cooperation. Military operations would never work. Turk complained about the insistence by many state and government officials that DTP declare the PKK a terrorist organization. Though DTP opposes violence, Turk explained, labeling the PKK a terrorist organization would ignore the need for dialogue and promote a military solution. ¶5. (U) Turk argued that the statements of imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan should not be a reason to close the party. Since he was imprisoned in 1999, Ocalan had focused on finding a peaceful political solution. Most recently he had espoused a policy of granting more regional autonomy to the heavily Kurdish provinces of southeastern Turkey. DTP's adoption of this approach "does not contradict universal legal norms and democracy, and should be considered normal." ¶6. (U) Turk urged the Court to review the European Court of Human Rights' rulings on party closures. The ECHR rulings made clear neither Ocalan's remarks nor the statements of DTP ANKARA 00001676 002 OF 002 politicians necessitated the closure of DTP. Turk praised the Constitutional Court's recent rulings to not close the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and pro-Kurdish Rights and Freedoms Party (HAKPAR). Turk also said the Court should heed the Council of Europe's Venice Commission's standards for party closure, which state that a political party should only be disbanded if it advocates violence. -------------- Media Coverage Scant -------------- ¶7. (U) Turkish press gave little mention to DTP's oral defense. In one of the few columns covering the issue, "Turkish Daily News" columnist Yusuf Kanli struggled with the issue of whether DTP should be closed. Kanli found the DTP's actions of "praising the PKK in public" and "blaming terrorism-related violence on security forces" to be in violation of Turkey's laws and "totally unacceptable." However, closing the party would "mean punishing the electors who voted for DTP deputies and expelling their will from Parliament." Kanli asserted that the best solution would be to amend existing laws to make party closure an exceptional penalty that could be ordered only under very limited conditions, "such as concrete evidence that a party is involved in violence, engaged in treachery, or received financial contribution from foreign individuals, corporate bodies or foreign states." -------------- Next Steps -------------- ¶8. (U) Constitutional Court President Hasim Kilic will now assign a Court rapporteur to review the case file and prepare a recommended ruling. When the rapporteur completes his recommendation, Kilic will distribute it to the judges and establish a date for the judges to convene and rule on the case. There is no legal time requirement for the judges to decide. Closure requires the affirmative vote of seven of the Court's eleven members. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey WILSON