1999 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
U.S. Department of State, February 25, 2000

http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/turkey.html

TURKEY

Turkey is a constitutional republic with a multiparty Parliament, the
Turkish Grand National Assembly, which elects the President. In 1993 it
elected Suleyman Demirel President for a 7-year term. After April
parliamentary elections, Bulent Ecevit's Democratic Left Party (DSP), the
Nationalist Action Party (MHP) led by Devlet Bahceli, and former Prime
Minister Mesut Yilmaz's Motherland Party (ANAP) formed a new Government in
June with Ecevit as Prime Minister. The military exercises substantial, but
indirect, influence over government policy and actions--and politics--in
the belief that it is the constitutional protector of the State. The
Government generally respects the Constitution's provisions for an
independent judiciary; however, various officials acknowledge the need for
legislative changes to strengthen its independence.

For over 15 years, the Government has engaged in armed conflict with the
terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), whose goal originally was the
formation of a separate state of Kurdistan in southeastern Turkey. A state
of emergency, declared in 1987, continues in five southeastern provinces
that faced substantial PKK terrorist violence. The Parliament in November
lifted the state of emergency in Siirt province. The level of violence
decreased substantially compared with the previous year. The state of
emergency region's governor has authority over the provincial governors in
the five provinces, and six adjacent ones including Siirt, for security
matters. Under the state of emergency, this regional governor may exercise
certain quasi-martial law powers, including imposing restrictions on the
press, removing from the area persons whose activities are deemed
detrimental to public order, and ordering village evacuations. The state of
emergency decree was renewed in five provinces (Diyarbakir, Hakkari,
Sirnak, Tunceli, and Van) for 4 months in November.

The Turkish National Police (TNP) have primary responsibility for security
in urban areas, while the Jandarma (gendarmerie) carry out this function in
the countryside. The armed forces, in support of the police and
particularly the Jandarma, carry out operations against the PKK in the
state of emergency region, thereby serving an internal security function.
These operations declined in number as the terrorist threat ebbed. Although
civilian and military authorities remain publicly committed to the rule of
law and respect for human rights, members of the security forces, including
police "special teams," other TNP personnel, village guards, and Jandarma
committed serious human rights abuses.

The Government passed a series of long-awaited economic structural and
fiscal reforms. These developments bolstered the Government's launch of a
3-year disinflationary program designed to rectify income disparities. The
export-oriented market economy contracted during the year, due to the
disinflationary program, the aftermath of the Russian financial crisis of
1998, a slump in tourism revenues, and the impact of the August 17
earthquake. A slight recovery was apparent by year's end. Trade in
manufactured goods, predominantly oriented toward the European Union,
remained resilient overall. Textiles, iron, and steel continued to lead
exports, but electronics, autos, and processed foods featured more
prominently. The Government made substantial progress toward international
pipeline agreements to ship Caspian Basin oil and gas to world markets
through the Caucasus and Turkey. Inflation was slightly higher than in
1998, and income disparities between the top and bottom population segments
grew. Corruption in public procurement continued to be a focus of public
attention.

Serious human rights abuses continued; however, the Ecevit Government
adopted measures designed to improve human rights and some officials
participated in a broad public debate on democracy and human rights.
Extrajudicial killings continued, including deaths due to excessive force
and deaths in detention due to torture. There were few reports of mystery
killings and disappearances of political activists; however, the
authorities failed to adequately investigate past disappearances. Torture,
beatings, and other abuses by security forces remained widespread, at times
resulting in deaths. Police and Jandarma often employed torture and abused
detainees during incommunicado detention and interrogation. The lack of
universal and immediate access to an attorney and long detention periods
for those held for political crimes are major factors in the commission of
torture by police and other security forces. With the decrease in
operations and detentions in the southeast, there were fewer reported cases
of abuse; however, the proportion of cases in which abuse occurred remained
at high levels.

The rarity of convictions and the light sentences imposed on police and
other security officials for killings and torture continued to foster a
climate of impunity that remained the single largest obstacle to reducing
torture and prisoner abuse. Investigations and trials of officials
suspected of abuses continued to be protracted and inconclusive. Important
cases dating back several years continued without resolution, including:
Appeals in the cases of police officers charged with the 1996 death of
journalist Metin Goktepe, 10 police officers from Manisa charged with
torturing 16 persons in 1995, and action against police and security
personnel charged with beating to death 10 prisoners during a prison
disturbance in Diyarbakir in 1996.

Prison conditions remained poor. In September armed clashes between
prisoners and prison officials resulted in the killing of 10 prisoners. The
police and Jandarma continued to use arbitrary arrest and detention.
Prolonged pretrial detention and lengthy trials continued to be problems.
Prosecutions brought by the Government in State Security Courts (SSC's)
reflect the legal structure, which protects state interests over individual
rights. The Government infringed on citizens' privacy rights.

Limits on freedom of speech and of the press remained a serious problem.
Authorities banned or confiscated numerous publications and raided
newspaper offices, encouraging self-censorship on reporting on the
southeast. Security forces at times beat journalists. Police and the courts
continued to limit freedom of expression by using restrictions in the 1982
Constitution and several laws, including the 1991 Anti-Terror Law
(disseminating separatist propaganda), Article 159 of the Criminal Code
(concerning insults to Parliament, the army, Republic, or judiciary),
Article 160 (insulting the Turkish Republic), Article 169 (aiding an
illegal organization), Article 312 (incitement to racial, ethnic or
religious enmity), the Law to Protect Ataturk, and Article 16 of the Press
Law. Parliament during the year passed two new laws, on combating criminal
organizations and on prosecuting civil servants, that contain provisions
allowing prosecutions for certain types of speech. Parliament in August
also passed a law suspending for 3 years the sentences of writers and
journalists convicted of crimes involving freedom of expression through the
media. By the end of the year, at least 25 journalists, authors, or
political party officials who had published articles were released, and as
many as hundreds more had their trials halted. However, they are subject to
reimprisonment if they commit a similar crime within a 3-year period. The
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that at least 18
journalists nevertheless remained imprisoned at year's end compared with 25
in 1998. Human rights observers and some released writers criticized the
suspension of sentences law because it did not apply to crimes committed
through speech and because the conditions for the suspension amount to
censorship.

Some members of the country's political elite, bureaucracy, military, and
judiciary claim that the state is threatened by both "reactionaries"
(Islamists) and "separatists" (Kurdish nationalists) and continued to call
for concrete steps--many involving potential curbs on freedom of
expression--to meet these threats. Prosecutors, courts, and the police
continued to take actions against those accused of challenging the secular
nature or unity of the state, generally on the basis of the constitutional
restrictions on freedom of expression. Government pressure on the legal but
pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HADEP) continued. The authorities
detained 47 HADEP members who led a hunger strike after PKK leader Abdullah
Ocalan's November 1998 flight from Syria. Party leaders allege that many
were tortured or beaten; all were released after several months' detention.
HADEP politicians asserted that, especially before the April elections,
they were the object of arbitrary arrests and harassment designed to hurt
their election chances. Following the elections and a drop in PKK terrorist
violence in the summer, government pressure on HADEP eased somewhat,
although some HADEP officials still faced harassment, court cases, and
hostility from some security officials. In December police raided HADEP
party offices in seven provinces.

The National Security Council, a powerful, constitutionally mandated
advisory body to the Government composed of equal numbers of senior
military officers and civilian ministers, continued to urge the Government
to offer no concessions in the fight against the perceived threat of
radical Islam, described the armed forces as the constitutionally mandated
"fist" protecting secularism, and accused Islamist media of extremism and
undermining the State. However, following the killing of a prominent
secular journalist in October, the military and political leadership
resisted calls to crack down on Islamists. Istanbul mayor and prominent
Islamist political leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan was released after serving
41/2 months of a 10-month sentence for a 1998 conviction on charges of
promoting religious enmity and threatening the unity of the state. He is
banned permanently from politics.

Both the HADEP and the Islamist Fazilet parties, whose predecessors had
been closed, were the subjects of closure cases during the year for alleged
anticonstitutional activities. Both cases were pending at year's end, and
elected officials of both parties remained in office in full exercise of
their functions. The moderate pro-Kurdish Democratic Mass Party (DKP) was
closed in February. Amendments passed by Parliament in August make it more
difficult to prove allegations of anticonstitutional activities and close
political parties.

The state of emergency governor, courts, police, and the state broadcasting
oversight body denied the Kurdish population, the largest single ethnic
group in the southeast, use of its language in election campaigning,
education, broadcasting, and in some cultural activities, such as weddings.
Printed material in Kurdish is legal. However, the police continue to
interfere with the distribution of some newspapers, and the governor of the
emergency region banned some Kurdish-language newspapers in that mainly
Kurdish-speaking area. Kurdish music recordings are widely available, but
bans on certain songs and singers persist. Radio and television broadcasts
in Kurdish are illegal and in practice rarely occur, with the exception of
a station that is widely believed to be broadcast from a military base.
Some radio stations, especially in the southeast, play Kurdish music. The
Government's broadcast monitoring agency mostly tolerates this practice but
has closed down some stations for playing politically oriented, banned
Kurdish music.

The police and Jandarma continued to limit freedom of assembly and
association. The police harassed, beat, abused, and detained a large number
of demonstrators. For example the Saturday Mothers, who held weekly vigils
in Istanbul for more than 3 years to protest the disappearances of their
relatives, discontinued their gatherings in March in the face of ongoing
police harassment, abuse, and detention of the group's members.

The Government continued to impose some restrictions on religious
minorities and at times imposed some limits on freedom of movement. The
Government continued to harass, intimidate, indict, and imprison human
rights monitors, journalists, and lawyers for ideas that they expressed in
public forums. The Diyarbakir branch of the leading human rights
nongovernmental organization (NGO), the Human Rights Association (HRA),
remained closed; other NGO branches have been closed, temporarily or
indefinitely, especially in the southeast. Former HRA president Akin Birdal
was jailed in June on charges of inciting hatred and enmity in nonviolent
statements he made about the Kurdish problem and torture, but in late
September was released for 6 months on medical grounds. In December the
Ankara State Security Court sentenced 10 persons, including a former
Jandarma sergeant, and acquitted 6 others in the 1998 attempted murder of
Birdal. There were some signs of a growing tolerance for human rights
monitors, journalists, and lawyers: State Minister Irtemcelik and President
Demirel met with NGO's, and the office of the HRA in Van reopened in
October after being closed for 5 years.

Spousal abuse remains a serious problem, and discrimination against women
persisted. Some abuse of children, discrimination against religious and
ethnic minorities, and child labor remained serious problems. There are
some restrictions on worker rights. Trafficking in women and girls to
Turkey for the purpose of forced prostitution is a problem.

The situation in the southeast remained a serious concern. The Government
has long denied the Kurdish population, located largely in the southeast,
basic political, cultural, and linguistic rights. Past cases of
extrajudicial killings went unsolved, and the police and Jandarma tortured
civilians. The state of emergency authority abridged freedom of expression
and put pressure on HADEP. The number of villagers forcibly evacuated from
their homes since the conflict began is estimated credibly to be
approximately 560,000.

In February the Government captured PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. In June he
was tried in a State Security Court on the charge of treason through trying
to separate part of the country from government control (i.e., sedition)
and sentenced to death. His sentence was upheld in November, and the case
is pending before the European Court of Human Rights. Human rights
observers, including the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR),
raised several due process concerns in the Ocalan case, including his
initial 9 to 10 days of incommunicado detention, the limited access of
Ocalan's lawyers to private consultations with their client and to written
material included in the prosecution's case, and the harassment and threats
directed toward Ocalan's lawyers. After his capture and trial, Ocalan
called for PKK members to leave Turkey and commit themselves to a peaceful
resolution of the Kurdish problem.

The new Ecevit Government adopted a series of initiatives during the year
designed to improve human rights conditions. They included: Removing
military judges from the State Security Courts; increasing maximum,
although not minimum, sentences for torture or for falsifying a medical
record to hide torture; calling for prosecutors to make unscheduled
inspections of detention sites; making it more difficult to close political
parties; suspending for 3 years the sentences or court cases of dozens of
journalists and writers, provided they do not commit a similar offense;
imposing a time limit on supervisors to decide whether civil servants,
including security forces, can be prosecuted; and allowing prosecutors to
begin immediately collecting evidence of alleged abuse by security officials.

Senior judicial figures, the President, other politicians, and private
citizens participated in a wide-ranging public debate on amending the 1982,
postmilitary coup-era Constitution in order to allow greater individual
liberties. Due to major developments in the fight against PKK terrorism,
public discussion of options for dealing with the Kurdish problem became
more vigorous than ever. In October the State Minister for Human Rights
convened a broad roundtable discussion with NGO's, professional
associations, and parliamentary bodies.

The State Minister for Human Rights, who is also the coordinator for the
High Council for Human Rights, and the Minister of Justice led the
Government's effort to implement legislative and administrative reforms.
The armed forces continued to emphasize human rights in training for its
officers and noncommissioned officers. Human rights groups attributed a
general reduction in human rights violations by military personnel to this
effort. Human rights education in primary schools is mandatory; it is an
elective in high schools.

The PKK continued to commit abuses as part of its violent 15-year campaign
against the Government and civilians, mostly Kurds. In the first half of
the year, PKK terrorists committed random killings and attacks throughout
Turkey to protest Ocalan's capture. Terrorist acts attributed to the PKK
included a suicide bomb attack in Adana in July, which injured 17 persons,
and an Istanbul department store bombing in March that killed 13 persons.
Although there was a brief resurgence of PKK terrorist acts following the
June sentencing of PKK leader Ocalan to death, a lower rate of PKK
terrorist acts was recorded during the summer and fall than in the previous
year. In recent years military pressure significantly reduced the PKK's
effectiveness, and some PKK members--though not all--are heeding Ocalan's
call for an end to the armed struggle and PKK withdrawal from Turkey.
Violence declined to the point where the public's freedom to travel at
night is no longer restricted in parts of the southeast.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:

a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

Credible reports of political and extrajudicial killings by government
authorities continued, although accurate figures were unavailable. The
Human Rights Foundation (HRF) Documentation Center reported a number of
deaths of detainees under suspicious circumstances, many as an apparent
result of torture. There were at least 12 deaths in detention during the
year, according to human rights organizations and press reports. In March
trade unionist Suleyman Yeter died while in custody at the Istanbul
security directorate political police center. According to the HRF, the
official autopsy report states that he died "because of pressure on the
neck" and that there were bone fractures and bruises. Yeter was a plaintiff
in an ongoing trial of eight police officers who allegedly had tortured and
raped detainees in 1997. In August two Van police officers allegedly kicked
a 14-year-old street vendor to death; the autopsy revealed swelling around
the child's brain and liver consistent with battery. No court case has been
opened against the officers. Other cases in which security forces
apparently committed extrajudicial killings include the death of an alleged
narcotics trafficker under suspicious circumstances while in detention in
Istanbul in September; the death in March, allegedly from torture, of
villager Salih Karaaslan, near Sirnak; the alleged torture death of
Alpaslan Yelden in Izmir in July, for which a police inspector was
suspended pending investigation (and another inspector who testified in the
case had been under suspension for a previous torture violation); and the
death of a 16-year-old ordinary male prisoner, whose relatives said had
resisted rape by prison guards. More than a dozen civilians were shot to
death either after not heeding a "stop warning" during arrest or commission
of a crime or in accidental shootings by police, Jandarma, and in four
cases by the military. More than 40 persons--mainly children or military
personnel--were killed by mines in the southeast. The courts undertook
investigations of most alleged extrajudicial killings; only a few yielded
concrete results.

Human rights monitors credibly reported that government forces used
excessive force, sometimes resulting in deaths, during some raids on
criminals or alleged terrorist and militant safe houses. A house raid in
August in Izmir left three persons dead. In October the police in Adana
entered the wrong apartment during a raid and shot occupant Murat Bektas to
death in front of his wife and son. The police were unable to substantiate
their charge that the man was armed. In January the Constitutional Court
annulled for a year part of the 1996 Provincial Authority law allowing
security officers to "fire directly and without hesitation" at persons who
ignore a warning to stop. The Court's judgment requires that a new
provision be passed within a year.

In September Jandarma killed 10 prisoners and seriously injured many others
in Ankara's Central Prison during a clash following attempts by prison
administrators to search and transfer some prisoners (see Section 1.c.).

In the 12 deaths in detention reported by human rights organizations and
media reports during the year, 3 cases led to arrests or trials of police
or other law enforcement personnel. The number of arrests and prosecutions
in such cases remained low compared to the incidents of deaths in
detention, and convictions remained rare. Punishments, when handed down,
were generally minimal. Jurisdictional questions, efforts by the police
leadership to protect officers, prosecutors' failure to investigate and
bring charges, and the failure of courts to hand down appropriate sentences
were all obstacles to resolving the problem of apparent security force
impunity for such deaths.

In cases of extrajudicial killings by police, Jandarma or prison guards, at
least 30 trials were begun during the year or continued from previous
years, some relating to events back to 1991.

No investigation has been opened into the 1998 death in custody of
18-year-old HADEP member Hamit Cakar, who allegedly was beaten to death by
Diyarbakir police during a raid on HADEP offices. An initial autopsy noted
bruises on Cakar's body and blood in his lungs, consistent with battery. In
January seven police officers charged in the 1998 death of an accused
burglar in police custody in Gaziantep were released on bail and continue
on active duty.

According to the Turkish National Police (TNP), no one is to be prosecuted
in the case of the death in custody in 1997 of university student Burhanett
Akdogu. According to the TNP, Akdogu committed suicide. Two State Security
Court prosecutors agreed and found in June that there was no need for
prosecution.

In May the Afyon Penal Court convicted six policemen and sentenced them to
71/2 years' imprisonment for "unintentional murder/manslaughter" in the
case of journalist Metin Goktepe, who was killed in 1996. It acquitted five
others. The Goktepe family appealed the verdict and is pursuing a civil
court case. Before the final trial session, families and friends of Goktepe
attempted an unauthorized march to the court. The police blocked the
demonstration, and rocks were thrown at the police, who then used their
batons to drive the crowds back to their buses. Several persons were hurt,
including Goktepe's mother and three police officers. Goktepe, a
correspondent for the left-wing newspaper, Evrensel, died from wounds
inflicted while in detention in Istanbul in 1996. Police initially denied
that he was detained, then later said that he died from a fall. Following
large public demonstrations and parliamentary criticism over the
circumstances of his death, an investigation led to the arrest of 48
officers. In 1997 the courts decided to try separately 11 of the police
officers for premeditated murder; 5 were convicted of manslaughter in 1998,
while the remaining 6 were acquitted. However, the Court of Appeals
subsequently overturned both the convictions and the acquittals and sent
the case back to the Afyon court. The other 37 officers, who were charged
with excessive use of force in controlling the demonstration, were
acquitted due to lack of evidence, because the court could not determine
which police officers may have beaten detainees and which did not. The
detainees have asked for an appeal, but no court date has been set.

The trial of 29 Jandarma soldiers and 36 antiterror police officers charged
with manslaughter in the 1996 beating deaths of 10 prisoners while quelling
a prison disturbance in Diyarbakir continued throughout the year. A
separate case against prison officials exists; for this case, indictments
(for excessive use of force) were based only on identifications by wounded
prisoners of who injured them. Two-thirds of the indictments were
dismissed, since the slain prisoners could not identify their own killers.

The trial continued of 20 police officers who used lethal force during 1995
incidents that led to the deaths of 19 people in Gazi, Istanbul; one police
officer is under arrest in the case. The trial continued in Istanbul of
policeman Abdullah Bozkurt for the 1994 shooting and killing of Vedat Han
Gulsenoglu. A suspect was arrested in 1998 for the 1993 killing of
journalist Ugur Mumcu. The suspect's court case is proceeding. In the 1995
killing of Sinan Demirtas, one police officer was convicted and sentenced
to 14 years' imprisonment and seven others were acquitted in November 1998.
There were no developments in the 1994 killing of Faik Candan and the 1992
killing of Yucel Ozen.

In June six Aydin police officers, including the deputy security director
and the antiterrorism department director, were convicted of torturing
student Baki Erdogan to death in police custody in 1993, given 51/2-year
sentences, and barred from public service for life. The ruling came during
a retrial of the case, after an appellate court in December 1998 had
overturned the original convictions.

In December the Istanbul Penal Court found five antiterror police guilty of
the death of five persons during a 1993 raid on a coffee house. The court
sentenced them to death but then used a variety of provisions of the Penal
Code to reduce the sentence to 3 years, 10 months, and 20 days in prison.

The European Court of Human Rights in May found that Turkey had violated
the right to life of an individual who was killed in a 1990 security force
operation in Siirt province and that the state had failed to undertake an
effective investigation of the case. In July the Court also found that
Turkey had violated an individual's right to life and right to an effective
remedy by failing to conduct an effective investigation into his 1993
murder but did not conclude that the man had been killed by security forces
or with their connivance.

In the southeast, mystery killings, especially politically motivated
killings in which the assailant's identity is unknown, decreased
significantly since 1995 and remained at relatively low levels during 1999;
exact statistics are unavailable. There were no reported mystery killings
of high-profile, pro-Kurdish figures in the southeast, and few reported
killings of pro-Kurdish politicians, journalists, or lawyers. The HRA
reports a nationwide total of 212 unsolved killings, including killings for
apolitical reasons or attributed to terrorism. In August two Sirnak village
guards were found with multiple bullet wounds, cigarette burns, and broken
necks and limbs. The victims' relatives said that the bodies were found in
an area where security forces were operating and alleged that the two were
killed on orders of the local Jandarma. In September a HADEP official in
Adana was shot and killed by two unidentified assailants; while the motive
was unclear, HADEP does not believe that there is a political connection.
In October a prominent secular journalist was killed by a bomb in front of
his home in Ankara, presumably by a terrorist organization.

The PKK continued to commit politically motivated killings, primarily in
rural southeast Anatolia. Victims included soldiers, state officials such
as Jandarma, state-paid paramilitary village guards and family members,
young villagers who refused to be recruited, and PKK
guerrillas-turned-informants. According to the Government, during the year
220 security officials and 118 civilians died in terrorist incidents, and
961 PKK members were killed by security forces (see Section 1.g.). These
figures show a decline from 1998, when 243 soldiers and Jandarma, 10 police
officers, 114 village guards, and 132 civilians were killed.

The PKK has not murdered any teachers since 1996. Bomb attacks attributed
to the PKK in the first half of the year took the lives of dozens of
persons; one such attack occurred in a crowded shopping area in Istanbul in
March and killed 13 civilians. Although there was a brief resurgence of PKK
terrorist acts following the June sentencing of PKK leader Ocalan to death,
a lower rate of PKK terrorist acts was recorded during the summer and fall
than in the previous year.

Turkish Hizbullah, an Islamist terrorist group (not related to Lebanese
Hizballah), continued to target civilians in the southeast and may be
responsible for many mystery killings, including prominent Islamist
feminist Konca Kuris. The Government attributed 17 murders during the year
to Hizbullah. Some human rights monitors in the southeast accused the
Government of arming and supporting the group in the 1980's to target the
PKK and its sympathizers. It now generally is believed that Hizbullah has
operated autonomously since the mid-1990's.

Far-left armed groups, such as Revolutionary Left (Dev Sol/DHKP-C) and the
Turkish Workers and Peasants' Liberation Army (TIKKO), continued to commit
acts of terrorism. In June two DHKP-C militants were killed in a shoot-out
with police while attempting to launch a rocket attack in Istanbul. One of
the militants was identified as being responsible for previous attacks and
several police deaths.

b. Disappearance

Accurate statistics on the disappearance of those previously under
detention, or seen being taken into custody by security forces or law
enforcement officials, are hard to confirm. However, the HRF notes that the
number of such disappearances increased slightly to 36 in 1999, compared
with 29 in 1998 and 66 in 1997. In September Aydin Esmer disappeared as he
was returning to his home in Kulp, Diyarbakir province, from Kizilagac
village in Mus province, according to Amnesty International (AI). AI noted
that a military operation took place in the area the same day. Esmer had
been detained and allegedly tortured at the Kulp Jandarma station several
times since 1993. In November Omer Cinar disappeared after leaving his
workplace in the Gunesli district of Istanbul; the authorities told his
family that he was not in custody, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

There have been no developments in the 1998 disappearances from Izmir of
editors Neslihan Uslu, Hasan Aydogan, Metin Andac, and Mehmet Mandal.
Neither the 1997 disappearances of Ilyas Eren and 73-year-old Fikri Ozgen,
allegedly taken into custody by plainclothes police, nor the 1996 case in
which at least five bodies were found near Baharli, were resolved. However,
according to the HRA, Burhan Aktas, who disappeared in 1997, was determined
to be living in Germany.

The European Court of Human Rights in July ruled against Turkey in the case
of Ahmet Cakici, who disappeared in 1993 after being taken into custody by
security forces and tortured during an unacknowledged detention. The Court
found that Turkey had violated Cakici's right to life, subjected him to
torture, and deprived him of his rights to liberty and to an effective
remedy, the latter by failing to conduct an effective investigation.

In the face of persistent police harassment and abuse, the "Saturday
Mothers" stopped meeting publicly in March (see Section 2.b.). The group,
primarily women, had gathered for several years to protest the
disappearance of their relatives.

The Government made efforts to investigate and explain some reported cases
of disappearance. The Ministry of Interior operates the Bureau for the
Investigation of Missing Persons, which is open 24 hours a day. During the
year 59 applications were filed seeking information on missing persons. Of
these, seven persons were located, an additional two were determined to be
in prison, and two were found dead. Most families of persons who
disappeared hold the Government and security forces responsible and
consequently avoid contact with the government office. AI criticizes the
Bureau's findings for falling short of the thorough and impartial
investigations required in accordance with international standards. The
Ankara police operate a telephone number through which the public can
obtain information about detainees, gun registration, and other
police-related matters.

The U.N. Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, reporting
on its September 1998 visit, noted that the total number of disappearance
cases was relatively low, and had decreased since 1994. The report
cautioned that its assessment did not exclude the possibility of security
force involvement, and it urged the Government to improve the practices of
its security forces. The report noted that most disappearances followed
arrests in homes and detentions that were denied by authorities and that
some disappearances occurred during raids conducted by Jandarma or village
guards. The report recommended that the Government fully implement measures
to address promptly allegations concerning disappearances, reduce the
number of disappearances, and eliminate impunity. In particular it
recommended amending regulations concerning pretrial and incommunicado
detention in cases referred to the State Security Courts in order to ensure
the right of all detainees to have prompt access to their families and
lawyers.

The PKK has made a practice of kidnaping young men or threatening their
families as part of its recruiting effort. These activities and abductions
by PKK terrorists of local villagers and state officials were becoming less
frequent as the PKK's capabilities in the southeast were reduced by ongoing
government military pressure and calls by its captured leader Ocalan for
the PKK to withdraw from its former operating areas in Turkey.

c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The Constitution prohibits torture; however, the security forces continue
to torture, beat, and otherwise abuse persons regularly. Despite the
Government's cooperation with unscheduled foreign inspection teams, public
pledges by successive governments to end the practice, and new government
initiatives designed to address the problem, torture continues to be
widespread.

Human rights attorneys and physicians who treat victims of torture say that
most persons detained for or suspected of political crimes usually suffer
some torture at the hands of police and Jandarma during periods of
incommunicado detention before they are brought before a court; ordinary
criminal suspects also report frequent torture and mistreatment by police.
The HRF estimates the number of credible applications for torture at its
five national treatment centers to be approximately 700 in 1999, compared
with 673 in 1998. They believe that these numbers underrepresent the actual
number of persons tortured while in detention or prison. Human rights
advocates believe that thousands of detainees were tortured during the year
in the southeast, where the problem is particularly serious, but that only
5 to 20 percent report torture because they fear retaliation or believe
that complaints are futile. Although the percentage of detainees subjected
to torture remained about the same as in 1998, several advocates reported a
reduction in the number of torture victims in the southeast during the
year. They attribute the decrease to fewer detentions; reduced PKK
violence, which has eased treatment by security officials; better-educated
security officers; and increased concern about the problem from many
sources. The reductions do not appear to be uniform throughout the region.
Human rights monitors report no improvement in some provinces, while others
note a decrease around cities but not in more rural areas of the province.
All report that torture remains widespread in the southeast.

Human rights monitors report that because the arresting officer is
responsible for interrogating the suspect, some officers may resort to
torture to obtain a confession that would justify the arrest. They say that
police who resort to such practices generally beat detainees for ordinary
crimes who do not confess and stop if they cannot get a confession.
However, when beatings of suspects detained under the Anti-Terror Law do
not produce information and confessions, interrogators shift to electric
shock, cold water from high-pressure hoses, and other methods. Observers
say that security officials often use the torture of political detainees
simply to express anger and to intimidate the detainees.

Human rights monitors say that security officials increasingly use methods
that do not leave physical traces, such as beating with weighted bags
instead of clubs or fists. Commonly employed methods of torture reported by
the HRF's treatment centers include: Systematic beatings; stripping and
blindfolding; exposure to extreme cold or high-pressure cold water hoses;
electric shocks; beatings on the soles of the feet (falaka) and genitalia;
hanging by the arms; food and sleep deprivation; heavy weights hung on the
body; water dripped onto the head; burns; hanging sandbags on the neck;
near-suffocation by placing bags over the head; vaginal and anal rape with
truncheons and, in some instances, gun barrels; squeezing and twisting of
testicles; and other forms of sexual abuse. In some cases, multiple torture
methods (e.g., hanging and electric shocks) are employed at the same time.
Female detainees often face sexual humiliation and, less frequently, more
severe forms of sexual torture. After being forced to strip in front of
male security officers, female detainees often are touched, insulted, and
threatened with rape. Other methods used are forced prolonged standing,
isolation, loud music, witnessing or hearing torture, being driven to the
countryside for a mock execution, threats to detainees or their family
members, and insults.

The U.N. Special Rapporteur for Torture conducted investigations at the
invitation of the Government in late 1998. He reported that while torture
was practiced systematically and on a widespread scale through the
mid-1990's, there were "notable improvements" since 1997. These
improvements were due in his opinion to shorter periods of incommunicado
detention and less brutal torture methods used in some places, such as less
use of falaka, electric shocks, and rape, possibly connected with shorter
periods of detention in 1997 and 1998. However, he noted that torture and
abuse still are practiced by law enforcement officials--pervasively in
numerous places around the country--but that the Government was committed
to improving its record and bringing its law enforcement and administration
of justice up to international standards. He found that long periods of
incommunicado detention and a climate of impunity among law enforcement
officials--two elements under the Government's control--continued to
contribute to the use of torture.

Allegations of torture throughout the country continued during the year,
but mostly in the southeast. In October Dr. Zeki Uzun, a gynecologist who
volunteers with the HRF Izmir Treatment and Rehabilitation Center, was
taken into custody during a raid on his private clinic by antiterror
police. Uzun allegedly was subjected to beatings, near suffocation, death
threats, and other methods of torture during his 6 days in custody.
Although the Medical Association provided an alternative medical report
establishing that torture was inflicted on Uzun, the official medical
report provided after his detention stated that he was not subjected to
torture. According to the HRF, the official medical report was given to
Uzun without a medical examination. Uzun is accused of supporting and
providing treatment to members of terrorist organizations. In public
statements, the HRF and the Izmir Chamber of Doctors asserted that Uzun's
reports documenting torture were the reason for his arrest and torture.
They also said that the police inspected and took patient records from his
office.

In October nine persons, two under the age of 18, were detained for
"distributing aid material without permission" in the region devastated by
the recent earthquake and allegedly tortured. In June many of approximately
50 villagers detained by Jandarma in Kahraman Maras province said that they
were tortured, severely beaten, forced to eat human excrement, suspended by
their arms tied behind their backs, and sprayed with pressurized water,
according to AI. Charges were filed against 32 of the villagers for
supporting the PKK and 1 was charged with PKK membership; 17 were released.
In Sirnak 27 persons stated that they were tortured in July while detained
after house raids; the doctor who substantiated their claims allegedly was
threatened by Jandarma to give a report of "good health", even though some
of the detainees had broken arms. Cevat Soysal, a high-ranking member of
the PKK, was captured in July in Moldova. He claimed that he was subjected
to electric shock, forced to lie naked on ice, sprayed with cold
pressurized water, and deprived of sleep when brought to Turkey; he is
seeking redress at the European Court of Human Rights. HADEP official
Mazaffer Cinar was interrogated in incommunicado detention for 8 days at
Siirt police headquarters on suspicion of supporting the PKK. According to
HRW, he said that he was beaten, his testicles were pulled, he was
suspended by his arms, he was hosed with cold pressurized water, and his
wife was threatened with rape. Filiz Celik, charged with being a member of
the PKK, reportedly was tortured in detention while pregnant; in July her
baby was born dead in an Istanbul prison. In August 22-year-old Medine
Oncel jumped out of a window rather than be taken into detention again by
the antiterror police; her family claims that she was severely beaten and
sexually abused during her 10-day stay at a detention center in November
1998. Oncel, along with numerous members of HADEP, was detained for
participating in a hunger strike in support of Ocalan.

Government officials admit that torture occurs, but deny that it is
systematic. The Ecevit Government, which took office in June, made
preventing acts of torture a priority. In August Parliament passed
legislation lengthening sentences for those convicted of torture from 5 to
a maximum of 8 years; however, the measure did not increase minimum
sentences. The Government in August adopted a program of seminars by NGO's
and government institutions on human rights. The program targets all civil
servants with law enforcement responsibilities, as well as social workers
and primary and secondary school students. The Government was in regular
dialog with the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture
(CPT) and accepted unannounced visits by the CPT, most recently in February
when it visited PKK leader Ocalan in prison.

Regulations on detention and arrest procedures introduced in October 1998
were supplemented by a June directive from Prime Minister Ecevit against
torture, which reminded security forces of the new code and called for
public prosecutors to make unscheduled inspections of places of detention.
The Prime Minister asked for reports every 3 months on this process; these
reports are not public. According to the Government, prosecutors have made
more than a thousand visits to detention sites, resulting in investigations
against 14 security officers and the opening of court cases against 6 of
them. Provincial prosecutors began unannounced inspections of police
stations in October. Although some provincial authorities said that the
inspections uncovered no deficiencies, others admitted that they led to
improvements in practices in some provinces. Some human rights observers
question prosecutors' ability to influence police practices.

Private attorneys and human rights monitors report uneven implementation of
1997 reforms granting immediate access by attorneys to those arrested for
common crimes and access after 4 days of detention for those detained under
the Anti-Terror Law. No immediate access to an attorney is provided for
under the law for persons whose cases fall under the jurisdiction of the
State Security Courts, such as persons charged with drug trafficking,
smuggling, and crimes under the Anti-Terror law. The lack of early access
to an attorney is a major factor in the occurrence of torture by police and
security forces.

State-employed doctors give all medical exams for detainees. The Government
maintains that medical examinations occur once during detention and a
second time before either arraignment or release. However, the examinations
generally are exceedingly brief and informal, often lasting less than a
minute. In some cases doctors were brought reports to sign, but no
examinees. Former detainees assert that some medical examinations take
place too long after the event to reveal any definitive evidence of
torture. Lawyers contend that medical reports--their only basis for filing
a claim of torture--are not placed regularly in prisoners' files.

Citing security reasons, members of security and police forces often stay
in the examination room when physicians are examining detainees, resulting
in the intimidation of both the detainee and the physician. According to
the Medical Association and other human rights observers, the presence of a
security officer--at times the one allegedly responsible for torture--can
lead physicians to refrain from examining detainees, perform cursory
examinations and not report findings, or report physical findings but not
draw reasonable medical inferences that torture occurred. In one case
during the year the courts accepted alternative medical reports from
private doctors that contradicted official claims that torture did not occur.

New legislation passed in August increased the jail sentences and fines for
medical personnel who falsify reports to hide torture, those who knowingly
use such reports, and those who coerce doctors into making them. The
heaviest penalties are for those who supply false reports for money. In
practice there are few such prosecutions.

In June the Supreme Honor Board of the Medical Doctors Union suspended for
a month the licenses of six doctors from the Tekirdag region near Istanbul
after finding that they had falsified reports to conceal evidence of
torture and allowed police officers to be present during examinations. In
1998 the nongovernmental Medical Association suspended the license of Dr.
Nur Birgen, a government-employed forensic expert, for twice falsifying
medical reports to hide evidence of torture. When another doctor appealed
to Dr. Birgen's state employer to implement the suspension, the prosecutors
opened a case against him for insulting Dr. Birgen. Dr. Cumhur Akpinar was
acquitted in December of charges, filed in January, that he aided an
illegal armed organization by preparing exaggerated forensic reports. In
March Dr. Eda Guven was acquitted of abuse of duty after issuing medical
reports documenting injuries sustained by two detainees interrogated in
1997 by Jandarma in Aydin province; her acquittal was upheld by the Court
of Appeals in May.

The investigation, prosecution, and punishment of members of the security
forces for torture or other mistreatment is rare. According to the U.N.
Special Rapporteur for Torture, very few allegations lead to prosecution,
and few prosecutions lead to conviction. He reported that in Istanbul, for
example, from 1996 to 1998 the chief public prosecutor brought 245 cases of
torture or mistreatment by security forces, which resulted in only 15
convictions, with the longest sentence being 3 years. Nationally, between
1995 and 1997, 313 police officers were prosecuted for torture; as of the
end of 1998 there were no convictions, over half had been released, and the
other cases were pending. Accused officers usually remain on duty pending a
decision, which can take years.

According to the Government, judicial action taken during the year against
police charged with torture or mistreatment resulted in 34 convictions, 164
acquittals, and 48 ongoing prosecutions. Administrative decisions
determined that no trial was needed in 146 other cases and that no cases
needed to be opened against 55 other officers accused of abuse. During the
year 708 police also were given administrative punishments, such as
suspensions, for torture or mistreatment. In addition 11 Jandarma were
prosecuted during the year, resulting in 3 convictions, 6 acquittals, and 2
ongoing trials. During the past 5 years, two military personnel have been
prosecuted for torture; one was acquitted, and the trial of the other
individual continued.

The failure to enforce domestic and international bans on torture fosters a
climate of official impunity that encourages the systematic abuse of
detainees. Detainees state that prosecutors ignore their claims of abuse
during interrogation; prosecutors often belittle such claims or contend
that detainees injure themselves to accuse falsely the security forces.

Legal, administrative, and bureaucratic barriers impede prosecutions and
contribute to the low number of convictions for torture. The Government in
December replaced an Ottoman-era civil servant prosecution law, which was
widely viewed as an extrajudicial obstacle to prosecuting security
officials for the abuse of power because it required prosecutors to obtain
permission from special provincial administrative boards before initiating
prosecutions against any public employee for actions while carrying out
official duties. The boards were slow, dispersed accountability, and were
perceived as not sufficiently transparent. The new law now authorizes
prosecutors to begin collecting evidence immediately to substantiate claims
of torture by security officials. It also establishes a 30-day deadline,
with a possible 15-day extension, for a civil servant's supervisor to
decide whether that employee can be prosecuted (or whether the employee is
to be disciplined otherwise). However, the new law still protects civil
servants, including police or prison guards, from direct prosecution unless
their superiors grant permission to investigate them. This provision has
been widely criticized. Many jurists, including the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of Appeals, and human rights observers said that the new law
still falls short of the needed reform. The new law also allows prosecutors
to open investigations against persons suspected of falsely accusing a
civil servant based on "enmity, hatred or slandering." This provision was
used in December against a defense lawyer who stated that a medical record
confirmed that security officials tortured his client (see Section 4).

Under the Criminal Procedures Law, prosecutors may initiate investigations
of police or Jandarma officers suspected of torturing or mistreating
suspects. In cases where township security directors or Jandarma commanders
are accused of torture, the prosecutor must obtain permission to initiate
an investigation from the Ministry of Justice, because these officials are
deemed to have a status equal to that of judges. Finally, in the state of
emergency regions, any lawsuit directed at government authorities must be
approved by the state of emergency governor. Approval is rare.

In December the Iskenderun, Hatay, chief public prosecutor, citing lack of
evidence, dropped charges against two Iskenderun antiterror police accused
of sexually harassing, raping with a truncheon, and torturing two female
high school students while they were in police custody in March. There were
several medical reports issued in the highly publicized case, but only an
informal medical assessment by two doctors indicated torture. The girls'
attorneys said that they would appeal the decision.

In Elazig the public prosecutor decided against indicting 30 soldiers and
warders for allegedly torturing a prisoner in 1998.

The appeal by police officers of their 1-year suspended sentences for
torturing Songul Yildiz in 1997 continues in Istanbul. However, her
conviction on charges of PKK membership was overturned by the Court of
Appeals; the Istanbul SSC is retrying her case. In the case of Hatun
Temizalp, who alleged in a State Security Court that she was tortured in
detention in 1997, the TNP antiterror department said that administrative
investigations of the police found no cause for bringing charges.

The Government provided additional information on the case of then
21/2-year-old Azat Tokmak, who the Istanbul Chamber of Doctors certified in
April 1998 was tortured in 1996. The Fatih prosecutor's office, citing a
medical report that found no indication of mistreatment when Azat was
brought to an Istanbul nursery, decided in July 1998 that there was not
sufficient evidence to pursue the case.

A case began in April against 12 policemen accused of torturing "peace
train" detainees in 1997 (see Section 4).

The following torture cases remained unresolved. In June the Court of
Appeals General Council overturned the second acquittal verdict of 10
policemen, including one police chief, charged with torturing 14 teenagers
in Manisa in 1995; they based this decision on another Court of Appeals
decision. The appellate court again found that the students had exhibited
evidence of physical and psychological torture while under detention. In
November the Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor turned down the police
officers' application for a review of that judgment, and the Supreme Court
sent the case back for retrial. The Manisa court in December held a
preliminary hearing in the retrial, but postponed the main hearing until
February 2000 in order to record the testimonies of the police officers,
who remain on active duty. Responding to a written question from
Parliament, the Interior Minister in the summer defended the police
officers accused in the case and said that the investigation at the time
showed that they were "flawless." At the same time, the students' own case
continues in Izmir, after the Court of Appeals overturned the January 1997
convictions of 10 of the students on charges of belonging to an illegal
leftist organization; 4 other students originally were acquitted. The
Medical Doctor's Union Central Council Supreme Honorary Board suspended 10
doctors from practicing for from 3 to 6 months, on the grounds that they
had provided false medical reports on the Manisa victims.

In February the Court of Appeals overturned the conviction and life
sentence of Gulderen Baran who, along with four other individuals, was
arrested in 1995 in Istanbul on charges of membership in a terrorist
organization. Baran sustained serious physical damage to her arms while in
police custody, and four police officers subsequently were charged for
mistreatment. Two police officers were sentenced in 1997 to 10 months in
prison and a 2-month ban from public service. There were no known
developments in the cases of the police officers.

There were no developments in the cases of Kelekcier, Altinbas, Uzuner, and
Kartal.

Police regularly harass, beat, and abuse demonstrators (see Section 2.b.).
Police also harass, beat, and abuse journalists (see Section 2.a.).

Prison conditions remain poor. With some exceptions (i.e., for high-profile
political prisoners, or those with gang connections) prisons remain plagued
by overcrowding, underfunding, and very poor administration. Despite the
existence of separate juvenile facilities, juveniles and adults sometimes
are incarcerated together, and most prisons lack adequate medical care for
routine treatment or even medical emergencies. Families often must
supplement the poor quality food. Prisons are run on the ward system. In
some cases, prisoners with similar ideological views are incarcerated
together and indoctrinate and punish their own, resulting in gang and
terrorist group domination of entire wards. Past efforts to introduce a
restrictive cell system were criticized by prisoners, attorneys, and human
rights groups alike, who view the ward system as a more humane form of
incarceration.

In September Jandarma killed 10 prisoners and seriously injured many others
in Ankara's Central Prison during a clash following attempts by the
administration to search and transfer some prisoners from a ward run by
Dev-Sol and TIKKO adherents. Prisoners throughout the country briefly
protested, holding hostages and refusing to be counted. Human rights
lawyers alleged that forensic reports show that prisoners were shot at
close range. In December inmates and security forces violently clashed in
Metris Prison in Istanbul, after Jandarma tried to search and transfer some
members of the Islamic Great East Raiders Front to another prison.
Throughout the year, many small-scale hunger strikes broke out to protest
prison conditions and poor treatment by guards at many institutions.

Human rights observers estimate that at any given time, at least
one-quarter of those in prison are awaiting trial or the outcome of their
trial. The Parliament's Human Rights Commission completed a thorough review
in 1998 of prison conditions throughout the country; however, before the
report could be published the Commission's composition changed after the
April elections. The Commission is reviewing its report, providing updated,
comparative data, and plans to present it to Parliament.

The Government permits prison visits by international organizations, such
as the European Committee to Prevent Torture and the U.N. Special
Rapporteur on Torture, but only rarely allows such visits by members of
local NGO's, except in their capacity as lawyers. It denied permission to
some officials of foreign governments to visit prisons during the year.

d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

Arbitrary arrest and detention continued to be problems. To take a person
into custody, a prosecutor must issue a detention order, except when
suspects are caught committing a crime. The maximum detention period for
those charged with individual common crimes is 24 hours, which may be
extended by a judge to a maximum of 7 days; this period is longer for
groups. In the state of emergency area, the use of a prosecutor's detention
order is in practice extremely rare.

Under the Criminal Code, those detained for individual common crimes are
entitled to immediate access to an attorney and may meet and confer with an
attorney at any time. In practice legal experts assert that the authorities
do not always respect these provisions, and that most citizens do not
exercise this right, either because they are unaware of it, or because they
fear possibly antagonizing the authorities. The court consistently provides
attorneys only to minors or deaf-mutes who cannot represent themselves. By
law a detainee's next of kin must be notified as soon as possible after
arrest. In criminal and civil cases this requirement is observed.

In state security cases, the pretrial detention period without charge is
longer, and the law provides for no immediate access by an attorney. The
lack of early access by an attorney is a major factor in the continued use
of torture by security forces. Persons detained for individual crimes under
the Anti-Terror Law must be brought before a judge within 48 hours. Those
charged with crimes of a collective, political, or conspiratorial nature
may be detained for an initial period of 48 hours, extended for up to 4
days at a prosecutor's discretion and, with a judge's nearly automatic
permission, for up to 7 days in most of the country and up to 10 days in
the southeastern provinces under the state of emergency. Attorneys are
allowed access only after the first 4 days.

Private attorneys and human rights monitors reported uneven implementation
of these regulations, especially attorney access. AI asserts that lawyers
rarely are permitted adequate access to their clients, even after the
fourth day, although they may be allowed to exchange a few words during a
brief interview in the presence of security officers. According to the
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, the secretive nature of arrests and
detentions often leaves the detainee's lawyer and family members with no
information about the detention, and police often refuse to disclose the
place of detention or even the fact that the detainee is being held. The
October 1998 regulations on detention and arrest procedures exempt the
authorities from the obligation to inform relatives in the case of state
security detentions. In addition legal limits on detention periods at times
are circumvented by subjecting a detainee to successive charges or
falsifying detention records. The police maintain 24-hour detention
monitoring bureaus that are required to record detentions on computers, but
AI reports an increase in unregistered detentions since 1997. According to
the HRA, in the state of emergency region the police detain, beat, and then
release groups after the maximum period of detention in order to intimidate
them.

Once formally charged by the prosecutor, a detainee is arraigned by a judge
and allowed to retain a lawyer. After arraignment the judge may release the
accused upon receipt of an appropriate assurance, such as bail, or order
him detained if the court determines that he is likely to flee the
jurisdiction or destroy evidence. The decision concerning early access to
counsel in such cases is left to the public prosecutor, who often denies
access on the grounds that it would prejudice an ongoing investigation.
Although the Constitution specifies the right of detainees to request
speedy arraignment and trial, judges have ordered that some suspects be
detained indefinitely, sometimes for years. Many such cases involve persons
accused of violent crimes, but there are cases of those accused of
nonviolent political crimes being kept in custody until the conclusion of
their trials.

On several occasions, the police beat and detained peaceful demonstrators
(see Sections 1.c. and 2.b.). The police also beat and detained journalists
(see Sections 1.c. and 2.a.) and members of political parties (see Section
3). During a September protest over prison conditions, officers beat the
chair of Istanbul's HRA branch (see Section 4). Authorities detained 47
HADEP members who led a hunger strike after Ocalan's November 1998 flight
from Syria. Twenty men were detained in October when they joined women in a
peaceful protest over the rule banning head coverings at universities (see
Section 2.c.). During the November summit of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Istanbul, police detained for several
hours at least five young children and held them in police headquarters in
contravention of the law, which requires that all detained children be
transferred immediately to the prosecutor's office.

The Government does not use forced external exile. It retains the authority
to authorize internal exile (see Section 2.d.).

e. Denial of Fair Public Trial

The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary, and in practice the
general law courts generally act independently of the executive and
legislative branches; however, various officials acknowledge the need for
legislative changes to strengthen the judiciary's independence. The
Constitution prohibits state authorities from issuing orders or
recommendations concerning the exercise of judicial power; however, in
practice the Government and National Security Council periodically issue
announcements or directives about threats to the State, which could be
interpreted as instructions to the judiciary. The High Council of Judges
and Prosecutors, which is appointed by the President and includes the
Minister of Justice, selects judges and prosecutors for the higher courts
and is responsible for oversight of those in the lower courts. Some
observers assert that the composition of the High Council undermines the
independence of the judiciary, despite the Constitutional provision for
security of tenure, because the High Council effectively controls the
career paths of judges through appointments, transfers, promotions, and
other matters, and its decisions are not subject to review. Various
government and judicial officials during the year discussed the need to
adopt legislative changes to strengthen the independence of the judiciary.

The judicial system is composed of general law courts, military courts, the
State Security Courts (SSC's), and a Constitutional Court, the nation's
highest court. The High Court of Appeals hears appeals for criminal cases,
including SSC's, while the Council of State hears appeals of administrative
cases or those between government entities. Most cases are prosecuted in
the general law courts, which include civil, administrative, and criminal
courts. Public servants can be tried only after administrative approval
from the governor or subgovernor, which are centrally appointed positions.

The Constitutional Court examines the constitutionality of laws, decrees,
and parliamentary procedural rules and hears cases involving the banning of
political parties. If impeached, ministers and prime ministers would be
tried in the Constitutional Court as well. However, the Court may not
consider "decrees with the force of law" issued under a state of emergency,
martial law, or in time of war.

Military courts, with their own appeals system, hear cases involving
military law, members of the armed forces, and civilians who are accused of
impugning the honor of the armed forces or undermining compliance with the
draft. The editor in chief of the radical Islamist newspaper Akit, Murat
Balibey, who was sentenced in July 1998 by a military court to 14 months'
imprisonment for "insulting the military" in a newspaper article, was
released in September under the law allowing the suspension of sentences
for journalists.

SSC's sit in eight cities and try defendants accused of crimes such as
terrorism, gang-related crimes, drug smuggling, membership in illegal
organizations, and espousing or disseminating ideas prohibited by law, such
as those "damaging the indivisible unity of the state." These courts may
hold closed hearings and may admit testimony obtained during police
interrogation in the absence of counsel. During the year, the SSC's dealt
mainly with cases under the Anti-Terror Law and section 312 of the Criminal
Code. Human rights observers cite prosecutions of leaders of the political
Islamic movement, nonviolent political leaders associated with the Kurdish
issue, and persons who criticize the Government's practices as evidence
that the SSC's often serve a primarily political purpose.

Until mid-1999, the SSC's were composed of panels of five members: Two
civilian judges, one military judge, and two prosecutors. A 1998 ruling by
the European Court of Human Rights found that the presence of a military
justice on the SSC's was inconsistent with relevant European conventions.
In June the Government amended the Constitution and passed legislation to
replace the military judge with a civilian judge. These courts may hold
closed hearings and may admit testimony obtained during police
interrogation in the absence of counsel. SSC verdicts may be appealed only
to a specialized department of the High Court of Appeals dealing with
crimes against state security.

In February the Government brought PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to Turkey to
stand trial for treason, as the creator of a separatist terrorist
organization responsible for over 30,000 deaths. He stood trial in a
special sitting of the Ankara State Security Court on the secure prison
island of Imrali. Ocalan was held in incommunicado detention for 9 to 10
days before the trial. His lawyers were not allowed adequate access to
private consultations with their client or to pertinent documents. They
also complained that they were harassed and that police abused at least six
of them after one court session, an allegation the police denied. The trial
was the subject of unprecedented public attention, and foreign observers,
including diplomats and some members of NGO's, were allowed to attend.
Families of those killed by the PKK and their attorneys also attended.
Ocalan was allowed to read uninterrupted and lengthy statements in his
defense. In June Ocalan was sentenced to death. His sentence was upheld in
November by the Court of Appeals, and the Court of Appeals chief prosecutor
in December refused to reconsider it. Carrying out the death sentence still
requires action and approval by the Justice Ministry, the Council of
Ministers, Parliament, and the President. After the appellate court ruling
in November, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) asked the Government
to take all necessary steps to ensure that the death penalty is not carried
out before the Court is able to complete its judicial processes; Ocalan's
case is pending before the ECHR.

The trial of 25 Diyarbakir lawyers charged in 1993 and 1994 for aiding and
abetting the PKK, and in a few cases with membership in a terrorist
organization, continued at the Diyarbakir SSC. The defendants, 16 of whom
complained of torture and mistreatment while held in incommunicado
detention after their arrests, are free pending trial. Human rights
monitors believe that their prosecution is intended to punish them for
representing clients unpopular with the Government and for calling
attention to human rights violations in the southeast.

The law gives prosecutors far-reaching authority to supervise the police
during an investigation. Prosecutors complain that they have few resources
to do so, and many have begun to call for "judicial police" who could help
investigate and gather evidence. Human rights observers and Ministry of
Justice officials note that problems can arise from the fact that the
police report to the Interior Ministry, not to the courts.

Defense lawyers do not have equal status with prosecutors. In State
Security Courts and for other charges, such as insulting the President or
"defaming Turkish citizenship," defense attorneys may be denied access to
files that the state asserts deal with national intelligence or security
matters. Attorneys defending controversial cases have been subject to
spurious legal charges, such as accusations that they are couriers for
clients who are alleged terrorists. Hasan Dogan, a respected Malatya
attorney who frequently defends suspects in SSC cases, was acquitted in
March of all 1997 charges by an informer that he was a member of the PKK or
assisted the organization; however, the appeals court reversed his
acquittal in December, and he awaits sentencing.

Prosecutors are charged with determining which law has been broken and
objectively presenting the facts to the court. There is no jury system; a
judge or a panel of judges decides all cases. Trials for political crimes
or torture frequently last for months or years, with one or two hearings
scheduled each month. Proceedings against security officials often are
delayed because officers do not submit promptly statements or attend
trials. Illegally gathered evidence may be excluded by law. However, this
rarely occurs and then only after a separate case determining the legality
of the evidence is resolved. In practice a trial based on a confession
allegedly coerced under torture may proceed and even conclude, before the
court has established the merits of the torture allegations.

By law the Bar Association must provide free counsel to indigents who make
a request to the court, except for crimes falling under the scope of the
SSC's. An Izmir Bar Association study showed that in practice, only a tiny
percentage of defendants have lawyers. Bar associations in large cities,
such as Istanbul, have attorneys on call 24 hours a day. Costs are borne by
the Association. Defense lawyers generally have access to the public
prosecutor's files only after arraignment.

In law and in practice, the legal system does not discriminate against
minorities. Legal proceedings are conducted solely in Turkish with some
interpreting available; however, some defendants whose native language is
not Turkish may be disadvantaged seriously.

Turkey recognizes the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights.
In 1999 Turkey lost all 18 cases in which it was a party, most of which
pertained to free expression crimes that occurred in the early 1990's, and
was fined nearly $3 million (1.69 trillion lira).

There is no reliable estimate of the number of political prisoners. The
Government claims that alleged political prisoners are in fact security
detainees, who were convicted of being members of, or assisting, the PKK or
other terrorist organizations.

f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence

The Constitution provides for the inviolability of a person's domicile and
the privacy of correspondence and communication; however, at times the
Government infringed on these rights. With some exceptions, government
officials may enter a private residence or intercept or monitor private
correspondence only after the issuance of a judicial warrant. These
provisions generally are respected in practice outside the state of
emergency region. If delay may cause harm to the case, prosecutors may
authorize a search. Searches of private premises may not be carried out at
night, unless the delay would be damaging to the case or the search is
expected to result in the capture of a prisoner at large. Other exceptions
include persons under special observation by the security directorate
general, places anyone can enter at night, places where criminals gather,
places where materials obtained through the commission of crimes are kept,
gambling establishments, and brothels. A new law against gangs includes a
provision allowing for wider legal wiretapping. The law states that a court
order is needed to carry out a wiretap. However, in an emergency situation,
a prosecutor can grant permission. The wiretap can last only 3 months, with
two possible extensions of 3 months each.

In the provinces under emergency rule, the regional state of emergency
governor empowers security authorities to search without a warrant
residences or the premises of political parties, businesses, associations,
or other organizations. The Bar Association maintains that it is not
constitutional for security authorities in these provinces to search, hold,
or seize without warrant persons or documents. Six provinces remain under
"adjacent province" status, which authorizes the Jandarma to retain
security responsibility for municipalities as well as rural areas and
grants the provincial governor several extraordinary powers. Due to the
improved security situation, the use of roadblocks in the southeast
decreased.

With the diminution of PKK terrorism, the formerly widespread practice of
evacuating villages to prevent their giving aid to the PKK decreased
substantially, although some village evacuations continued (see Section
1.g.).

Some elements of society complain that a ban on the wearing of religious
head coverings in government offices, other state-run facilities, and
universities interfered with citizens' religious observance (see Sections
2.b. and 2.c.).

g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in Internal
Conflicts

Since 1984 the PKK has waged a violent terrorist insurgency in southeast
Turkey, directed against both security forces and civilians, mainly Kurds
whom the PKK accuses of cooperating with the state. The police, the
Jandarma, village guards, and the armed forces in turn have waged an
intense campaign to suppress PKK terrorism, targeting active PKK units as
well as persons they believe support or sympathize with the PKK. In the
process, both government forces and PKK terrorists committed human rights
abuses against each other and against noncombatants. According to President
Demirel's year-end address, since 1984, 25,139 PKK members, 5,882 security
force members, and 5,424 civilians lost their lives in the fighting.

In an effort to deny the PKK logistical support, the Jandarma during the
year occasionally rationed food and other essentials in some rural areas in
the emergency region. Security forces returned to evacuated villages and
burned homes, to deny them to the PKK, and have shot livestock, burned
forests and orchards, or denied villagers permission to harvest fields.

With the waning of PKK activity in the southeast, security forces evacuated
fewer villages than in previous years. The Government's stated purposes for
the evacuations were to protect civilians or prevent PKK guerrillas from
obtaining logistical support from the inhabitants. Villagers and other
observers alleged that the security forces evacuated them for refusing to
participate in the paramilitary village guard program.

The exact number of persons forcibly displaced from villages in the
southeast since 1984 is unknown. Human rights NGO's tend to attribute most
rural-urban migration to evacuations, whereas some persons move to escape
the violence or conflict-caused economic depression, or to pursue
opportunities in western cities. Government statistics tend to minimize the
number of persons who left against their will. Observers agree that 3,000
to 4,000 villages and hamlets have been depopulated. The Government
reported that through 1999 the total number of those evacuated was 362,915
persons, from 3,236 villages and hamlets, of whom 26,481 have been
resettled with government assistance in 176 villages and hamlets. Another
61,987 have applied to return. A figure given by a former Member of
Parliament from the region--560,000--appears to be the most credible
estimate of those forcibly evacuated. However, observers in the region
estimate that the total number of displaced persons is approximately
800,000, and a few NGO's put the number as high as 2 million. A
parliamentary committee investigated the situation in the southeast and
concluded in 1998 that, among other things, the State was partly
responsible for the displacements and that it had failed to adequately
compensate villagers who had lost their homes and lands in the region. The
European Court of Human Rights often ruled in favor of villagers who sued
over forcible evacuations, and the Government continued to pay assessed
damages. The major urban center of Diyarbakir has nearly tripled in size
over 10 years, adding nearly 600,000 new residents. Regional officials
report that flows of migrants nearly stopped during the year due to waning
PKK activity in the countryside.

Government programs to deal with and compensate the forcibly evacuated
villagers remain inadequate, as is assistance to those who have resettled
in urban areas. Many migrants continue to live in overcrowded, unhealthful
conditions with little opportunity for employment. Local and provincial
officials made some efforts to address the basic needs of migrants. In
several provinces, officials provided looms for use by unemployed women.
The Government then purchased the women's rugs for resale on the open
market. The Government provides literacy, childcare, basic family health
care, and vocational training classes for some displaced women.

The Government noted that some displaced persons chose to resettle in urban
areas and are receiving assistance there. There is a government-funded
"emergency support program" to expedite resettlement in the southeast. The
funds are used for rebuilding houses and roads, as well as for animal
husbandry and beekeeping programs.

Credible allegations were made that serious abuses by security forces
during the course of operations against the PKK continued. The Government
organizes, arms, and pays a civil defense force in the region known as the
village guards. In principle local villagers' participation in this
paramilitary militia is voluntary, but in practice they often have been
caught between the two sides. If the villagers agree to serve, the PKK may
target them and their villages. If the villagers refuse to participate,
government security forces may forcibly evacuate their villages on security
grounds or not allow them to return to their villages after evacuations.
Village guards have a reputation for being the least trained and
disciplined of the Government's security forces and have been accused
repeatedly of drug trafficking, rape, corruption, theft, and human rights
abuses. Inadequate oversight and compensation have contributed to this
problem. There were credible allegations of Jandarma protecting village
guards from prosecution for various crimes. In addition to the village
guards, Jandarma and police "special teams" are viewed as those most
responsible for abuses.

The Government's state of emergency, renewed in Diyarbakir, Hakkari,
Sirnak, Tunceli, and Van provinces for 4 months in November, imposes
stringent security measures in those five southeastern provinces. The
regional governor for the state of emergency may censor news, ban strikes
or lockouts, and impose internal exile. The decree provides for doubling
the sentences of those convicted of "cooperating with separatists."
Informants and convicted persons who cooperate with the State may receive
rewards and reduced sentences. Only limited judicial review of the state of
emergency governor's administrative decisions is permitted.

In August Parliament passed legislation allowing members of terrorist
organizations (and criminal gangs) to apply over a 6-month period for
amnesty or reductions in sentences, as long as they provide useful
information that helps lead to the dissolution of the organization. The
number of persons who applied for the amnesty is estimated to be at least
500, most of whom already were in prison, although exact figures are not
available. According to press reports, many of the applicants have obtained
reductions in their sentences or release.

Although schools remained open in most urban centers in the southeast,
rapid migration led to severe overcrowding of city schools and chronic
teacher shortages. In contrast to the national average of 45 children per
classroom, there are typically 60 to 90 children per classroom in eastern
and southeastern provinces, and as many as 80 to 100 in Diyarbakir. In the
state of emergency region, 450 schools have been closed, although none were
closed during the year. Past PKK policies, such as murdering village
teachers, exacerbated the situation (see Section 1.a.). Although the
Government continues to build boarding schools in the region's larger
towns, these new schools have not filled the gap. Despite a longstanding
tradition of boarding schools in the rural areas of the country, some
ethnic Kurdish leaders expressed concern that the Government constructed
boarding schools, rather than rebuild local schools, in order to accelerate
the process of Kurdish assimilation.

Turkish ground forces with air support conducted several operations during
the year in northern Iraq against the PKK. The Turkish Government
maintained that it targeted only PKK fighters in northern Iraq and that it
respected the right of civilians in these operations. The Kurdistan
Democratic Party cooperated with the Turkish Government in shutting down
PKK facilities in northern Iraq. Local observers in northern Iraq,
including NGO and other foreign humanitarian workers, reported no incidents
of collateral damage or civilian casualties from these operations.

The PKK suffered severe setbacks during the year, especially following the
arrest, forced return to Turkey, and trial of its leader Abdullah Ocalan,
and his subsequent death sentence. After his arrest and incarceration in
February, the PKK carried out repeated suicide bomb attacks throughout the
country; these included a suicide bomb attack in Adana in July, which
injured 17 persons, and an Istanbul department store bombing that killed 13
persons. PKK attacks against civilians, military, and law enforcement
personnel in the southeast continued but declined in number. There was a
lower rate of PKK terrorist acts during the summer and fall than in the
previous year. The PKK claimed that it was withdrawing from the conflict
and would take a nonviolent path to political change. The evidence was not
conclusive that a PKK withdrawal from Turkey had occurred; reports
indicated that while some PKK members heeded Ocalan's call for an end to
the armed struggle and PKK withdrawal from Turkey, others did not. The
authorities disputed that a meaningful withdrawal was underway.

Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

a. Freedom of Speech and Press

The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press; however,
the Government continued to limit these freedoms. The Constitution leaves
open the possibility of restrictions to these freedoms on the basis of
national security-related considerations, and the Criminal Code provides
penalties for those who "insult the President, the Parliament, and the
Army." Numerous other provisions in various laws restrict freedom of
expression to one degree or another: Those most frequently employed include
Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law (disseminating separatist propaganda) and
Article 312 of the Criminal Code (incitement to racial or ethnic enmity).
In addition prosecutors rely on Article 159 of the Criminal Code
(concerning insults to Parliament, the army, Republic, or judiciary),
Article 60 (insulting the Turkish Republic), Article 169 (aiding an illegal
terrorist organization), the law to protect Ataturk (no. 5816), and Article
16 of the Press Law to limit freedom of expression. The new law enacted to
counter criminal organizations includes an article that permits the
prosecution of journalists for "promoting" the activities of criminal
organizations, and the new civil servant prosecution law includes an
article allowing prosecutions against those who falsely accuse public
employees based on "enmity, hatred or slandering." While prosecutors bring
dozens of such cases to court each year, judges dismiss many charges
brought under these laws.

Domestic and foreign periodicals that provide a broad spectrum of views and
opinions, including intense criticism of the Government, are widely
available. While overall readership of the local press is not large for a
country of 65 million inhabitants, the newspaper business is extremely
competitive.

Electronic media reach nearly every adult, and their influence,
particularly that of television, is correspondingly great. According to the
Government's Directorate General of Press and Information, in addition to
the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, there are 230
local, 15 regional, and 20 national private television stations, and 1,044
local, 108 regional, and 36 national radio stations. Other television and
radio stations broadcast without an official license. The increasing
availability of satellite dishes and cable television allows access to
foreign broadcasts, including several Turkish-language private channels.
Internet use is growing and faces no government restrictions; in fact, some
banned newspapers can be accessed freely on the Internet. Government
censorship of foreign periodicals is very rare.

In September the Government passed legislation suspending for 3 years the
sentences of those convicted of freedom of expression crimes in the media,
such as journalists, writers, and party officials who published articles.
The Islamist opposition party Fazilet challenged the constitutionality of
the law, because it did not apply to those who committed similar crimes
through speech. Esber Yagmurdereli, for example, remained imprisoned
because his conviction in 1998 was for a speech he gave at a 1991 HRA
meeting. The law led to the release of over 25 persons, and the suspension
of hundreds of trials. Charges are dropped if the journalist or writer does
not commit the same crime again during the 3-year period; if a second
offense is committed during this time, the suspension is revoked. Human
rights advocates are concerned that the conditions for the suspension
amount to censorship. Although the suspension of ongoing trials prevents
new convictions, some journalists and writers objected to the fact that it
also prevents possible acquittals, so they have no opportunity to clear
their name or to fight bans imposed on their written work.

The law makes it illegal for broadcasters to threaten the country's unity
or national security and limits the private broadcast of television
programs in languages other than Turkish. The High Board of Radio and
Television (RTUK), created in 1994 to regulate private television and radio
frequencies, monitors broadcasters and sanctions them if they are not in
compliance with relevant laws. Parliament elects the RTUK members (divided
between ruling and opposition parties) and provides its budget. Although
nominally independent, the RTUK is subject to some political pressures.

The RTUK penalizes private radio and television stations for the use of
offensive language, libel, obscenity, instigating separatist propaganda, or
broadcasting programs in Kurdish. Throughout the year, the RTUK penalized
at least a dozen different television stations, usually by suspending their
broadcasts for a day, for noncompliance with broadcast regulations. Channel
6, which criticized the Government's response to the devastating August 17
earthquake, was given a week's suspension on the grounds that its reports
hurt confidence in, and fueled anger against, the State. This decision is
under appeal, and the suspension had not yet occurred by year's end. RTUK
decisions may be appealed to the provincial Administrative Court and then
to the Council of State. The RTUK suspended a comparable number of radio
broadcasters, for periods ranging from 1 day to 1 year, usually for
violating laws prohibiting the broadcast of "terrorist organization
declarations." The radio station FOREKS was banned from broadcasting for 30
days for relaying a May British Broadcasting Corporation program on Kurdish
issues. Reporters Sans Frontieres reported that 2,378 days of suspension
were imposed on broadcasters during the year.

Despite the Government's restrictions, the media criticize government
leaders and policies daily. Lively debates on human rights and government
policies were stimulated by several events, including Constitutional Court
President Sezer's call in March for lifting restrictions on freedom of
expression, including on language rights; Appeal Court President Selcuk's
observation in September that the Constitution enjoyed "almost zero"
legitimacy and should be replaced; the implications of the February capture
of Ocalan for resolving the Kurdish issue; the Government's response to the
August earthquake; and the European Union's designation of Turkey as a
candidate member in December. Nevertheless, persons who write or speak out
on highly sensitive topics, such as the role of religion in politics and
society, the role of the military, some Kurdish issues, or the PKK, risk
prosecution.

Government Decree 430 gives the Interior Ministry, upon the request of the
state of emergency regional governor, the authority to ban distribution of
any news viewed as misrepresenting events in the region. In the event that
a government warning is not obeyed, the decree provides for a 10-day
suspension of operations for a first offense and 30 days for subsequent
offenses. This and other pressures, such as RTUK suspensions, led to the
self-censorship of news reporting on some issues. Some journalists say that
there was less self-censorship by reporters and editors on sensitive issues
than in the previous year, and the nature of debate on such issues as the
Kurdish question and changing the Constitution appeared to support this
assessment.

SSC prosecutors ordered the confiscation of numerous issues of leftist,
Kurdish nationalist, and pro-PKK periodicals and banned several books on a
range of topics. For example Nadire Mater's well-received book based on
interviews of soldiers who fought in the southeast was banned in June. In
September the Government began a trial against Mater and her publisher on
charges that they insulted the military with their book. Prosecutors closed
numerous journals or suspended their operations during the year. For
example the Istanbul SSC stopped the printing of Ozgur Gelecek for a month
in June and confiscated an edition of the Islamist paper Akit for
"provoking enmity and hatred against the state" in September. The police
frequently raid offices of small leftist publications. The leftwing
newspaper Evrensel was banned in January, and the pro-Kurdish Ozgur Bakis
was banned in April, within the state of emergency region, although it was
available elsewhere in the country and via the Internet. Distributors of
Evrensel and Ozgur Bakis outside the state of emergency region claim
regular harassment and the confiscation of their newspapers by the police.
In April the governor of Siirt province closed the local weekly Guney for
printing material offensive to the dignity of the State.

In a highly publicized ruling in May, the Istanbul State Security Court
sentenced Cumhuriyet columnist Oral Calislar to 13 months in jail for
disseminating separatist propaganda in a book he wrote based on previously
published interviews of Ocalan and Kemal Burkey, head of the Socialist
Party of Kurdistan. Calislar planned to appeal. His sentence was suspended
under the September law suspending sentences.

Andrew Finkel, a contributor to several Western media outlets and a former
columnist for Sabah, was charged in June with "insulting the military" for
a 1998 article he wrote for Sabah. The charge stemmed from one line that
contrasted the army with an "army of occupation." Finkel's trial was
suspended under the September law; Finkel publicly objected to being
deprived of the opportunity to clear his name.

An appellate court in December upheld the sentences against 9 persons,
including some students, who in 1996 unfurled banners in Parliament saying,
"No to Tuition." They were convicted of membership in an illegal
organization and given sentences ranging from 10 months to 8 years.

Journalists, including those from mainstream and Western media, were
harassed periodically and subjected to police abuse while covering stories,
particularly in the southeast. In February in Diyarbakir eight motorcycle
police officers beat a cameraman for the mainstream NTV television station
until he was unconscious. The police beat the cameraman and one other
journalist with gun butts and ran over them with motorcycles. Earlier in
the month a correspondent for Reuters was expelled from Diyarbakir. In
April police in Istanbul beat with rifle butts three reporters from the
daily Star, who were covering street skirmishes. In June police in Mardin
province briefly detained a Turkish correspondent for several western media
outlets. In September several police officers hit a photojournalist with
the daily Radikal who was covering a banned demonstration in Istanbul.
During the November review conference of the OSCE in Istanbul, several
journalists working at leftist or pro-Kurdish publications were detained
either from the premises of their publications or as they left the
conference. Some of them alleged mistreatment at the hands of police.

In December Hasan Guzel, head of the small Rebirth Party and an outspoken
former Education Minister, began serving a 1-year sentence for inciting
religious and ethnic enmity based on a controversial 1997 speech.

The Government continued to restrict the free expression of ideas by
individuals sympathetic to some Islamist, leftist, and Kurdish nationalist
or cultural viewpoints. HADEP political candidates were not allowed to
enter certain areas of the state of emergency region during the election
campaign, nor allowed to use Kurdish music.

Abdurrahman Dilipak, a veteran columnist with the Islamist daily, Akit,
faced multiple new charges during the year for articles criticizing the
Government's policy, especially on religious head coverings and the alleged
activities of a military group that reportedly monitors political Islam in
Turkey.

Former Chairman of the HRA Akin Birdal, jailed in June for free expression
crimes, was released in September from prison for 6 months on medical
grounds but faces other charges related to previous speeches (see Section
4). Erol Yarar, former chairman of the Islamist Businessmen's Association
of Independent Industrialists and Businessmen (MUSIAD), was convicted in
April of promoting racial, ethnic, and religious enmity (Article 312 of the
Penal Code) for a speech he made in October 1997. His 1-year sentence and
fine were suspended for 5 years.

Imprisoned since 1993, author Ismail Besikci was released in September
under the law suspending the sentences of journalists. His 79-year sentence
on over 50 charges was based on his articles on Kurdish issues. He faced at
least 50 more similar charges, some of which may be subject to suspension.

Poet Yilmaz Odabasi, released from prison in September under the law
suspending sentences, was sent back to prison in December for "insulting
the court." During the hearing that led to his earlier imprisonment, he
told the court "I am ashamed to be in the same era and country as you."
Since that statement was not made in the media, he cannot benefit from the
suspension of sentences law again.

Haluk Gerger served 10 months in prison in 1998 for an article published in
the pro-Kurdish Ozgur Gundem and is now out of the country but faces
imprisonment for two other convictions for similar articles. Can Yucel,
sentenced to over 1 year's imprisonment for "insulting the President," died
in September. Editorial cartoonist Dogan Guzel was sentenced to 16 months'
imprisonment in 1998 for insulting the state and armed forces but was
released in September under the law suspending sentences.

The 10-month sentences of Sanar Yurdatapan, a well-known musician and
spokesman for freedom of expression, and two other members of a "peace
working group," for insulting the military, were reversed by the Court of
Appeals. Two other trials, based on articles Yurdatapan wrote about the
military were suspended.

Istanbul Mayor Recep Tayyip Erdogan was released from prison in July after
serving his 41/2-month sentence for a speech he made in 1997 that was
deemed to have "incited ethnic, racial, and religious enmity," based on
Article 312 of the Penal Code. His sentence, which was reduced from 10
months, includes a lifetime ban from politics.

Some HADEP members, including three religion experts, convicted of writing
articles in a 1997 edition of the HADEP bulletin that incited "racial,
ethnic, and religious enmity," were released under the law suspending
sentences of journalists. Others remain in jail. Imprisoned former
Democratic Party (DEP) Member of Parliament Leyla Zana's conviction on this
charge was suspended under the same law, but she continues to serve a
15-year term for another conviction. Dozens of similar cases against former
DEP Chairman Hatip Dicle (a fellow prisoner with Zana) for writing articles
were suspended; however, he remains in prison serving terms for other
convictions.

Former political science professor Yalcin Kucuk, arrested in 1998 when he
returned from self-imposed exile, remains in jail on charges of belonging
to an illegal organization; several cases against him continue. Many other
convictions for crimes committed through publication were suspended under
the September law, including the sentences of novelist Yasar Kemal,
convicted in 1995, and 1,080 writers who supported him.

Dogu Perincek, chairman of the Workers' Party, served 11 months in prison
on a sentence for illegal possession of classified state documents,
assisting a terrorist organization, and possession of unlicensed firearms.
By law he had to resign his political position as chair of the Labor Party
but was reelected during the year. He now faces two other convictions, a
1-year imprisonment for a 1994 speech delivered at the HRA general
convention and a fine for slandering former Prime Minister Tansu Ciller. In
December a prosecutor dropped charges against Perincek for "assisting a
terrorist organization."

Playwright Mehmet Vahi Yazar, who was sentenced in 1998 to 24 years in
prison for "insulting the military," was retried and his sentence was
reduced to 11 years; the sentences of the four actors who performed his
play were changed to 5 years, but they all were released in consideration
of time served. The suspended sentence and fine imposed on a publisher and
translator for Pencere Publishing who published a Turkish translation of a
controversial German book were upheld. Journalist Ragip Duran was released
in January after serving a sentence related to an article he wrote.

A total of 114 intellectuals and human rights activists were sentenced in
April to a year in prison each, on charges of "separatist propaganda," for
signing a 1993 declaration calling for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish
conflict, according to the Anatolian and Reuters news agencies.

Kurdish-language cassettes and publications are available commercially,
although the periodic banning of particular cassettes or singers continued.
Human rights monitors reported isolated cases of police detention of
singers and others at weddings where Kurdish music was played. The
Economist magazine reported that police detained Ali Aktas, a popular
Kurdish folk singer, in September after he sang Kurdish songs at a concert
to benefit earthquake victims. He was interrogated for 10 hours at
Diyarbakir police headquarters and accused of singing political songs,
which he denied. The Kurdish-language weekly Azadiya Welate still is banned
in the state of emergency region, and some 10 other publications were
available only on an infrequent basis. Potential customers are afraid to
purchase Kurdish-language materials because the possession of such items
may be interpreted as evidence of PKK sympathies. Kurdish-language
broadcasts of news, commentary, or discussion are illegal throughout the
country. Kurdish music is played on radio and television programs with
certain restrictions. Which Kurdish songs can be played in the emergency
zone and adjacent areas is regulated closely. The state of emergency
regional governor frequently bans Kurdish recordings that may be played
legally elsewhere in the country. Stations that play Kurdish songs not on
the limited play list risk temporary bans or closure. Radio stations that
mix small amounts of Kurdish songs into their predominantly Turkish
broadcasting appear to face fewer problems. Kurdish music was banned from
use in campaigning during the election period.

Pro-PKK MED-TV was banned in the United Kingdom after pro-Ocalan terrorist
incidents in Europe. Its successor, MEDYA-TV, broadcasts in Kurdish from
Europe and can be received via satellite dish in the southeast. Another
station, Kurdistan-TV, is based in northern Iraq and also can be received
via satellite in the southeast.

In July the European Court of Human Rights ruled on 13 cases dealing with
freedom of expression cases in which the plaintiffs were jailed or fined
for books, articles, or statements that they wrote or published on mainly
Kurdish issues. The plaintiffs were convicted in those cases either for
"inciting ethnic hatred" or "disseminating propaganda against the
indivisibility of the state" or, in one case, for "revealing the identity
of officials responsible for combating terrorism." The Court found that the
Government violated the applicants' right to freedom of expression in 11 of
these 13 cases; denied applicants in 9 cases the right to have their cases
heard by an independent and impartial tribunal because of the presence of
military judges on the State Security Courts; and in 1 case violated the
prohibition against no punishment without law. In a separate ruling in
September, the ECHR found that the government violated a publisher's
freedom of expression in 1989 when it convicted him of "inciting ethnic
hatred" by publishing the second edition of a book entitled, "A Testimony
to Life--Diary of a Death Under Torture."

A group of Turkish and Kurdish academics, politicians, and intellectuals
(TOSAV) continued to hold discussions on the situation of the Kurds and
possible solutions to Turkey's problems. Despite minor police attention,
TOSAV explored explicitly nonviolent solutions within a democratic context.
The authorities completed an inconclusive investigation of TOSAV for
potential "separatist" connections and in March confiscated TOSAV's
publication entitled "Document of Mutual Understanding."

The Mesopotamian Cultural Center, a corporation established to promote
Kurdish language and culture, continued limited operations despite a lack
of official permission. Officials alleged that the organization is linked
to the PKK. The group's centers in the southeast (Diyarbakir, Urfa, and
Van) were shut down, while its centers elsewhere remained open but with
very reduced activities.

Although the Kurdish Culture and Research Foundation (Kurt-Kav) remained
open, it was not allowed to resume Kurdish-language classes and remained
under close police attention. Its current projects include scholarships for
students to study Kurdish in Sweden and return to teach Kurdish in Turkey.

Academic freedom otherwise generally is respected; however, there is
believed to be some self-censorship on sensitive topics.

b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly; however, the Government
often restricted this right in practice. The authorities may deny
permission if they believe that a gathering is likely to disrupt public
order. Significant prior notification of gatherings is required, and the
authorities may restrict meetings to designated sites.

In March the Saturday Mothers group decided to discontinue its weekly
public gatherings in Istanbul due to police harassment and abuse. Since May
1995, the group, primarily women, held weekly vigils in which they read
press announcements about relatives who inexplicably disappeared. Starting
in August 1998 the police responded aggressively to each week's gathering
by detaining and, on multiple occasions, beating participants. The group
stated that such treatment continued through March. The police stated that
the group demonstrated illegally for 3 years and that members of illegal
organizations had infiltrated the gatherings (see Section 1.b.).

Demonstrations over the right to wear Islamic-style head coverings while
studying at state universities turned violent in May at Malatya's Inonu
University; over 50 persons, including several police officers, were
injured. Charges of attempting to change the constitutional order by force
were brought against 51 persons; the maximum penalty is death. Their trial
and those of 24 others in connection with the incident began in June (also
see Section 2.c.).

In March 2,474 participants in celebrations of the Kurdish holiday of
Nevruz were detained in 11 provinces; the authorities announced ahead of
time that most Nevruz celebrations would not be allowed. The HRA reported
that approximately 200 persons were injured, including several police
officers. In contrast to previous years, events on "World Peace Day"
(September 1) were low-key and largely peaceful, with minimal police
interference.

A week after the September killings of prisoners in Ankara prison, the
police detained and beat a group trying to read a press statement in a
public place in Istanbul. Among the detainees were the president of the HRF
Istanbul branch and relatives of the dead prisoners. The next day, several
dozen persons attempting to send telegrams to the President, Prime
Minister, and Minister of Justice to protest the prison deaths were beaten
and then detained briefly. Dr. Alp Ayan, a psychiatrist with the HRF Izmir
Treatment and Rehabilitation Center, and Gunseli Kaya, who also works at
the center, were among 68 persons being tried for "holding an unauthorized
demonstration" for participating in the funeral procession of one of the
prisoners killed in September. Ayan, Kaya, and 12 others were being held in
detention pending their trials. Dr. Veli Lok, another representative of the
Izmir HRF, made a statement in October that the purpose of the prosecutions
of his colleagues might be to punish them for documenting torture and
treating torture victims. He is being prosecuted under the Press Law for
"disclosing opinions about the decisions of remand by the courts."

In October "Mothers for Peace" delegations coming from Diyarbakir,
Istanbul, Izmir, and Antalya were stopped by the police outside Ankara and
turned back, according to the HRF.

During the November OSCE summit in Istanbul, antiriot police beat, with
truncheons and fists, and kicked 10 university students who attempted to
read a press statement critical of the summit. One student told HRW that
the beating grew worse on a minibus used to transport the detainees to the
antiterror branch of the Besiktas police headquarters. The students are
being prosecuted for holding an illegal demonstration. In a separate event
during the summit, police forcibly dispersed a crowd that gathered to
present a joint press statement prepared by human rights organizations and
labor unions. Of 115 persons detained during the gathering and later
released, 112 were charged with organizing and participating in an illegal
demonstration.

Six school children, between the ages of 12 and 14, went on trial in
December in Istanbul for holding an "unauthorized demonstration" in 1998.
The children held a sign that said "We Want Teachers" during a rally after
no teachers came to school that day and previous days. In December police
using truncheons forcibly dispersed a demonstration organized in Diyarbakir
to mark the 51st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Two days later police in Istanbul, Konya, Kocaeli, Urfa, Erzurum,
Kirikkale, Samsun, and Bursa disrupted a "human chain" demonstration and
detained as many as 300 participants.

The Security Administration in November issued a directive calling on
police to keep the use of force in dispersing demonstrations to a minimum.

The Constitution provides for freedom of association, but associations and
foundations must submit their charters for government approval, a lengthy
and cumbersome process. The European Court of Human Rights in December
found that the Government violated the right to freedom of association of
the former members of the Freedom and Democracy Party (OZDEP), which was
dissolved in 1993 (see Section 3).

c. Freedom of Religion

The Constitution establishes Turkey as a secular state and provides for
freedom of belief, freedom of worship, and the private dissemination of
religious ideas, and the Government generally observed these provisions in
practice; however, it imposed some restrictions on religious minorities and
on religious expression in government offices and state-run institutions,
including universities.

The Government oversees religious facilities and education through its
Directorate of Religious Affairs ("Diyanet"). Religious officials,
including imams, are civil servants, and the operation of the country's
more than 70,000 mosques is regulated by the Directorate of Religious
Affairs. Religious minorities, established under the Lausanne Treaty in
1923, and their affiliated churches, monasteries, and religious schools are
regulated by a separate government agency, the Office of Foundations
(Vakiflar Genel Mudurlugu). The "Vakiflar," an institution dating back to
the Ottoman Empire, approves the operation of churches, monasteries,
synagogues, schools, and charitable religious foundations, such as
hospitals and orphanages.

The population is about 99 percent Muslim, primarily Sunni. In addition to
the country's Sunni majority, an estimated 12 million Alawis (an offshoot
of Shi'a Islam) freely practice their faith and build "Cem Houses" (Alawi
places of worship). Some Alawis allege discrimination in the form of
failure to include any Alawi doctrines or beliefs in religious instruction
classes. Alawis also charge that there is a Sunni bias in the Religious
Affairs Directorate and claim that the Directorate tends to view the Alawis
as a cultural rather than a religious group. However, some Sunni Islamic
political activists charge that the secular state favors and is under the
influence of the Alawis. The Government periodically allocates funds to the
Alawi community as well as funding Sunni activities. However, there are no
government-salaried Alawi religious leaders, in contrast to Sunni religious
leaders.

The military and judiciary, with support from the country's secular elite,
continued to wage a private and public campaign against Islamic
fundamentalism, which they view as a threat to the secular republic (see
Section 3).

Tarikats (Sufi religious orders) and other mystical Sunni Islamic,
quasi-religious, and social orders were banned in the 1920's but largely
were tolerated until the 1997 call by the National Security Council for
strict enforcement of the ban against Tarikats as part of its campaign
against Islamic fundamentalism. In January five members of the Aczimendi
Brotherhood were convicted and imprisoned for criticizing the secular state
and advocating the imposition of Shari'a law. However, despite the
expressions of concern by official bodies such as the National Security
Council, prominent political and social leaders remain associated with
Tarikats.

Although the country is secular, religious and moral instruction in state
primary and secondary schools is compulsory for Muslims. Upon written
verification of their non-Muslim background, minorities considered by the
Government to be covered by the 1923 Lausanne Treaty (Greek, Armenian, and
Jewish) are exempted by law from Muslim religious instruction; they may
hold their own classes. Syriac and other Christians whom the Government
does not consider to be an official Lausanne Treaty minority are not
exempted. Non-Muslim students who wish to attend such courses may do so
with parental consent.

In accordance with a 1997 law, which made 8 years of secular education
compulsory, new enrollments in the first 8 years of the Islamic imam-Hatip
schools (in existence since 1950) were stopped, although children already
in those classes were allowed to finish their grades. The imam-Hatip
schools were very popular among conservative and Islamist Turks as an
alternative to secular public education. Under the law, students may pursue
study at imam-Hatip high schools upon completion of 8 years in the secular
public schools. Students who complete primary school may study the Koran in
government-sponsored schools. The Government does not permit private Koran
classes.

By law religious services may take place only in designated places of
worship. Non-Muslim religious services often take place in nondesignated
places of worship. The Roman Catholic Church in Ankara, for example, is
confined to diplomatic property but has not sought property to construct a
church recently.

Minority religions considered by the Government not to be recognized under
the Lausanne Treaty may not acquire additional property for churches
(beyond those predating the establishment of modern Turkey). Religions
recognized by the Government under the Lausanne Treaty (Greek Orthodox,
Armenian Christian, and Jewish) can regain lost property if there is a
community need, but if they cannot maintain existing property, it may
revert to the Vakiflar. Government authorities do not interfere in matters
of doctrine pertaining to minority religions, nor do they restrict the
publication or use of religious literature. While the Government does not
recognize the ecumenical nature of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, it
acknowledges him as head of the Turkish Greek Orthodox community and does
not interfere with his travels or other ecumenical activities.

Bureaucratic procedures and considerations relating to historic
preservation at times have impeded repairs to religious facilities.
Restoration or construction may be carried out in buildings and monuments
considered to be "ancient" only with authorization of the Regional Board on
the Protection of Cultural and National Wealth.

In February 1998, the Syriac Christian community and government officials
reached an understanding that the Syriacs could resume renovation of the
Dayrul Umur monastery in Midyat in compliance with government standards for
preservation of historical sites. Authorities had halted the renovation in
1997. In April the Syriac Christians received written government approval
of their technical plans for the renovation, which was well under way at
year's end.

Under the law, religious buildings that become "extinct" (because of
prolonged absence of clergy or lay persons to staff local religious
councils or for lack of adherents) revert to government possession. Some
non-Muslim minorities, particularly the Greek Orthodox community and, to a
lesser extent, the Jewish community, the Armenian Orthodox community, and
the shrinking Syriac Christian community have lost the use of houses of
worship and other facilities. During the year an Armenian Church in Hatay
province was deemed by authorities to be no longer in community use and is
to revert to the Vakiflar. If such minorities can demonstrate a renewed
community need, they may apply legally to recover such properties. The
authorities monitor the activities of Eastern Orthodox Churches and their
affiliated operations. The Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul consistently
expressed interest in reopening the seminary on the Island on Halki in the
Sea of Marmara. The seminary has been closed since 1971 when the state
nationalized most private institutions of higher learning. Under current
restrictions, including a citizenship requirement, religious communities
remain unable to train new clergy. However, coreligionists from outside the
country have been permitted to assume leadership positions.

There are no known estimates of the number and religious affiliation of
foreign missionaries in the country. Many prosecutors regard proselytizing
and religious activism on the part of evangelical Christians, and
particularly Islamists, with suspicion, especially when such activities are
deemed to have political overtones. No law explicitly prohibits
proselytizing or religious conversions; however, religious groups that
proselytize occasionally are subject to government restrictions or
harassment. The police sometimes arrest proselytizers for disturbing the
peace; courts usually dismiss such charges. If the proselytizers are
foreigners, they may be deported, but generally they are able to reenter
the country easily. In September members of a group of Protestant
worshipers in Izmir were detained and released without charges for leading
an unlicensed church service in a private apartment; a similar incident
occurred in Istanbul in October.

Some Turkish Christians state that they encounter harassment from
authorities and society because they have converted to Christianity.

Several human rights monitors and members of the Islamist Virtue Party
(Fazilet) complained that the Government increasingly enforced a
50-year-old ban on the wearing of religious head garments in government
offices and other state-run facilities. Hundreds of women who wear head
coverings have lost their jobs in the public sector as nurses and teachers.
During the year 312 teachers, including 180 student teachers, lost their
jobs for wearing head coverings. Women who wear head coverings also have
been prohibited from registering for university courses since 1998, and 47
professors and university administrators were dismissed for wearing or
supporting the wearing of head garments. The armed forces regularly dismiss
individuals whose official files reflect participation in Islamist
fundamentalist activities. Cases related to such dismissals are pending at
the European Court of Human Rights.

Hundreds of persons were detained or arrested for organizing protests at
the beginning of the school year against the prohibition against wearing
head coverings. For example a May demonstration protesting Inonu
University's ban on headscarves drew thousands of protesters and turned
violent, resulting in more than 200 arrests; several police officers were
injured. In June 75 defendants went on trial in the Malatya SSC for
protesting Inonu University's ban on headscarves: 51 defendants, including
4 women, faced the death penalty on charges of attempting to change the
constitutional order by force; 54 of the 75 defendants, including some who
face the death penalty, are free pending the outcome of the trial. The
charges stem from the May riots (see Section 2.b.).

The case of Merve Kavakci, a newly elected Member of Parliament from the
Fazilet Party who sought unsuccessfully to be sworn in to Parliament on May
2 wearing an Islamist-style headscarf, highlighted the continuing dispute
over the ban on religious-style clothing in official settings. Prime
Minister Bulent Ecevit, President Demirel, and the National Security
Council criticized her actions as a challenge to the secular State. The
mainstream press was also critical, but the Islamist-oriented media
defended her actions. The personal controversy over Kavakci's right to wear
a headscarf in Parliament became largely moot after Kavakci was stripped of
Turkish citizenship for failing to notify authorities that she had acquired
a foreign nationality. She subsequently lost her parliamentary privileges,
although not her elective office since Parliament did not vote to remove
her. At year's end the case remained open to legal review, and the general
issue of headscarves in Parliament remains unresolved.

In May the Government filed an indictment seeking the closure of the
Islamist Fazilet Party (see Section 3).

Although religious affiliation is listed on national identity cards, there
is no official discrimination.

d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and
Repatriation

Citizens generally enjoy freedom of movement domestically and the freedom
to travel abroad; however, at times the Government limited some of these
rights. The Constitution provides that a citizen's freedom to leave may be
restricted only in the case of a national emergency, civic obligations
(military service, for example), or criminal investigation or prosecution.
As the security situation continues to improve in the southeast, security
officials decreased use of roadblocks and vehicle and passenger searches.

In October the Government did not allow a group of demonstrators to enter
Ankara (see Section 2.b.).

Although there has been no legal internal exile for 12 years, since 1990
the state of emergency region's governor in the southeast has had the
authority to "remove from the region," for a period not to exceed the
duration of the state of emergency (in place for 14 years), citizens under
his administration whose activities "give an impression that they are prone
to disturb general security and public order." During the year, the
governor transferred civil servants who were seen as a threat to security,
civil servants engaged in union activities, and doctors reporting torture.
In October, for example, 37 members of the teachers' union Egitim-Sen in
Batman province reportedly were deported from the province on orders of the
governor. The union's members in southeastern provinces frequently are
alleged to be involved in subversive activities. The national chairman of
HADEP was prevented from entering the emergency region during the party's
preelection campaign season, and some other HADEP officials were prevented
from entering certain villages.

Turkey hosts an estimated 16 persons from Russia and 5 from the former
Yugoslavia who are given residence permits on grounds of temporary refuge,
with no resettlement provided by the Government. An additional estimated
1,671 persons from Bosnia-Herzegovina and 384 from Kosovo are granted a
special temporary "guest" status. Because there are no visa requirements,
thousands of Iranians remain in Turkey for extended periods.

When Turkey ratified the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, which has the force of domestic law, it
exercised the option of accepting the Convention's obligations only with
respect to refugees from Europe. Although it has not lifted subsequently
the geographic limit of its treaty obligation, since 1994 the Government
grants temporary asylum to all those recognized as refugees. The government
screens applicants for asylum and refers cases it considers bona fide to
the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. If the UNHCR believes that a
non-European asylum-seeker meets refugee criteria, the case is submitted to
other countries for resettlement. European refugees are given temporary
residence permits, renewable until they achieve a permanent status.

Furthermore, the UNHCR intervenes with government officials if it disagrees
with their negative decisions about individual asylum claims. An appeal may
be lodged within 15 days of a negative decision by the authorities. After
the appeal procedure, rejected applicants are issued a deportation order
that may be implemented after 15 days. There were 6,605 asylum seekers
during the year; the authorities rejected the asylum applications of some
809 persons.

A regulation obliges asylum seekers to apply within 10 days (changed from 5
in early 1999) of arrival and submit proof of identity in order to be
eligible. The time limit for registration in the Government's asylum
program is implemented strictly and remains an obstacle to the full access
of asylum seekers to refugee status determination procedures. During the
year, no refugees were returned to a country where they feared persecution,
compared with 15 in 1998 and continuing a steady decline since 1995; the
number of asylum seekers returned decreased from 49 in 1998 to 46,
according to the UNHCR. The obstacles inherent in the Government's asylum
procedures lead to many refugees being considered as "illegals." In 1998
the UNHCR considered that there were 83 refugees not registered with the
Government; as of the end of 1999 there were approximately 80. The UNHCR
and government authorities continue to work to resolve this problem and to
find ways to allow such cases to qualify for the Government's asylum program.

If they comply with the asylum regulation's requirements, asylum seekers
are registered by the government and processed for eligibility
determination. Since 1997 administrative courts have ruled that failure to
submit an asylum claim within a fixed time limit could not be a reason not
to address the application or grant asylum. The UNHCR has no information on
discrimination by the Government on the basis of nationality. The UNHCR
maintains a branch office in Ankara and field offices in Istanbul, Silopi,
Van, and Agri.

The mass influx of nearly 18,000 Kosovars during the year was deemed to
come under the 1994 asylum regulation. The Government allowed Kosovars to
enter the country freely and de facto has allowed them "first asylum"--to
stay until they repatriate or resettle voluntarily. It established and
operated a temporary refugee camp for about half of those who came. Almost
all Kosovars left by the end of the year. The Government worked to prevent
similar mass influxes from Iraq but allows some individuals and families to
settle in or transit Turkey en route to permanent resettlement in Europe.

The UNHCR held inconclusive talks with the Government aimed at improving
reception for refugees at the Iraqi border, to ensure that those who cross
the border have access to the asylum process. Beginning in September 1998,
approximately 50 to 60 officials received UNHCR-sponsored training in
Antalya, Ankara, and Van, and some participants went on study trips to
Canada and Spain. The UNHCR works with local partners such as the Turkish
Red Crescent Society; the Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers
and Migrants; and the Anatolian Development Foundation to integrate
refugees into society.

Turkey continues to be a transit and departure point for illegal migrants
and asylum seekers of various nationalities en route to Europe, who travel
in small groups utilizing land routes, boats and ships.

Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change
their Government

The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their
government peacefully, and citizens exercise this right in practice. Turkey
has a multiparty parliamentary system, in which national elections are held
at least every 5 years, with mandatory universal suffrage for all citizens
18 years of age and over. More than 30 political parties are active (most
of them minuscule), 5 of which are represented in Parliament. Parliament
elects the President as head of state every 7 years or when the incumbent
becomes incapacitated or dies.

In addition to these bodies, in accordance with the Constitution, the
National Security Council (NSC), which includes both military and civilian
government leaders, plays a significant role in shaping government policy.

The Government neither coerces nor forbids membership in any political
organization; however, the Chief Public Prosecutor may bring cases seeking
the closure of political parties before the Constitutional Court, which may
close them down for unconstitutional activities. The Chief Public
Prosecutor opened cases to close two significant parties, Fazilet and
HADEP, alleging that they were centers of illegal

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