THE OCALAN PROBLEM:
THREE QUESTIONS
BY ISMET BERKAN (RADIKAL)
The European Court of Human Rights’
(ECHR) Grand Chamber ruled yesterday that
PKK terrorist group leader Abdullah Ocalan’s
1999 trial had been unfair and called on
Ankara to retry him. Six of the Grand
Chamber’s 11 judges dissented from the
ruling. The Grand Chamber ruled that three
articles of the European Convention on Human
Rights, namely, Article 6 regulating the
right to a fair trial, Article 5 concerning
the right of freedom and security, and
Article 3 about torture, had been violated
by Turkey. The judges stated that his right
of freedom and security had been violated
because he was taken into custody for seven
days without appearing before a judge and
that he had no opportunity to challenge his
arrest by the police. It decided that the
right of fair trial had been violated
because there was a military judge at the
State Security Court (DGM) and that the
prohibition of torture was violated as he
was given a death sentence as a result of
unfair trial. The death sentence was
commuted to life in prison in 2002, after
Turkey abolished capital punishment.
/Milliyet/
After completing his contacts in
Portugal, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer
returned to Ankara last evening. Commenting
on the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
ruling yesterday that terrorist organization
(PKK) head Abdullah Ocalan had not received
a fair trial in Turkey in 1999, Sezer said
that if the court pressures Ankara to retry
Ocalan, in his view, the Turkish court
dealing with the judgment would refuse it.
“Because there is a legal obstacle to doing
that under current law,” said the president,
a former jurist. /Turkiye/
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
yesterday traveled to Hungary to pay a
two-day official visit. Erdogan first met
with his Hungarian counterpart Ferenc
Gyurcsany at Parliament. At a press
conference following their talks, Erdogan
said they had taken up political, economic,
cultural and trade relations, adding that
they had agreed to boost the trade volume
between the two countries. Gyurcsany, for
his part, said that two-thirds of the
Hungarian public favors Turkey’s European
Union membership. “We will continue to lend
support to Ankara on the matter,” said the
premier. Erdogan was then received by
President Ferenc Madl and held talks with
Parliament Speaker Katalin Szili. Meanwhile,
speaking to reporters about the European
Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling on
terrorist head Abdullah Ocalan, Erdogan said
after the process was completed, the matter
would be evaluated by the Turkish judiciary,
which it would make the final decision. In
the evening the Turkish premier accompanied
by his wife attended a banquet hosted by
Gyursany in the couple’s honor. /Turkiye/
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul who is
currently paying a visit to Ukraine,
yesterday met with his Ukrainian counterpart
Boris Tarasyuk. At a joint press conference,
Gul said that he was pleased to be the first
foreign minister to visit the country since
last year’s “Orange Revolution.” Kiev and
Ankara share similar views on issues related
to the European Union, Iraq, and NATO, Gul
said, adding that both countries aimed at
developing relations. Commenting on the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling
yesterday on Abdullah Ocalan, Gul said that
no one should not forget that Ocalan was
head of a terrorist group, the PKK, which
was responsible for the deaths of thousands
of innocent people. Pointing out that the
process was not completed yet as it needed
to be debated in Council of Europe too, Gul
added that Ankara believed in the rule of
law and democracy and respected its courts’
rulings. During their talks, the two top
diplomats also discussed details of a
planned visit by Ukrainian President Victor
Yushchenko next month to Turkey along with
Premier Yulia Tymoshenko, plus Turkish
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc’s plans to
hold talks in Kiev this year. /Turkish Daily
News-Star/
Speaking yesterday on the European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling concerning PKK
terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan, Justice
Minister Cemil Cicek yesterday said, “This
ruling is about discussions of past
procedure. Everybody should trust state
institutions, most importantly the
judiciary. We all have to be cool-headed and
right-minded. Nothing is the end of the
world. This case is essentially a political
one as well. We’ll deal with its political
dimension. As for the legal side of the
issue, Turkey’s judicial branch has always
overcome such hurdles.” /Sabah/
Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader
Deniz Baykal yesterday warned that the
retrial of PKK terrorist organization leader
Abdullah Ocalan could create confusion in
Turkey and open old wounds. Stating that
yesterday’s European Court of Human Rights
(ECHR) ruling had not in fact requested his
retrial and that the Council of Europe’s
Council of Ministers would make the decision
on this issue, Baykal called on the
government to prevent any retrial.
/Cumhuriyet/
Concerning yesterday’s European Court of
Human Rights (ECHR) ruling on the case of
terrorist Abdullah Ocalan, Nationalist
Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli
yesterday said that the ruling was
tantamount to playing with Turkey’s honor
and dignity and was furthermore a clear
provocation. /Sabah/
Cankiri Deputy Ismail Ericekli, who
resigned from the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) earlier this week,
has decided to return to the party fold,
said a statement yesterday made by the AKP.
Ericekli had been rumored to want to join
opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
After Ericekli’s rejoining the AKP, the
distribution of seats in Parliament is as
follows: AKP: 356, CHP: 162, Motherland
Party (ANAP): 10, independents: 7, True Path
Party (DYP): 7, Social Democrat People’s
Party (SHP): 5, and People’s Ascent Party
(HYP): 1. /Turkiye/
European Union Commissioner for
Enlargement Olli Rehn, who is currently
visiting Cyprus, said yesterday that a
permanent settlement should have a priority
in the steps taken on the island. Rehn
yesterday first met with Greek Cypriot
leader Tassos Papadopulos, and then held
talks with Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus (TRNC) President Mehmet Ali Talat.
After their meeting, Talat said that he had
conveyed the Turkish Cypriots concerns’ to
Rehn. /Milliyet/
Stating that the letter of intent (LOI)
signed by the International Monetary Fund as
part of a new three-year standby agreement
includes a $10 billion loan, State Economy
Minister Ali Babacan said yesterday that
repayment of $3.8 million for next year had
been postponed to 2007, which can be
considered an additional source of
financing. Babacan added that the annual
repayment of debt to the IMF is distributed
more appropriately under the new repayment
plan. /Aksam/
Emphasizing Turkey’s success in its
previous economic program, International
Monetary Fund Managing Director Rodrigo de
Rato said yesterday, “Turkey deserves the
international community’s support in the new
program due to its success in the last
program. The most important thing is to
continue the previous success and implement
the new program fully to construct new
achievements to previous ones.” Rato stated
that the most important aims of the new
standby agreement were to continue economic
growth, bring down unemployment, move
Turkey’s economy towards that of European
Union members, and ensure regular
improvement with IMF support. /Aksam/
Columnist Ismet Berkan comments on the
Ocalan issue. A summary of his column is as
follows:
“The European Court of Human Rights
(ECHR) ruled yesterday that the trial of
Abdullah Ocalan was unfair, and urged a
retrial. The ECHR argued that Turkish
authorities had violated international
treaties by denying Ocalan a fair and
independent trial. Let the jurists discuss
the details and complexities of this ruling.
I have three simple questions in mind, and
I’d like to share them with you.
The first is this: Ocalan is the most
important criminal and the most notorious
murderer inTurkish history. What does
Turkey’s failure to try him in line with
international standards mean?
Thousands of terrorists were tried by the
State Security Courts (DGM) [an institution
since abolished] in this country. Most of
them were PKK militants. Nearly all of the
convicted applied to the ECHR, and they won
their cases because one of the judges in the
cases was always from the military. In
addition, the ECHR usually ruled that 15
days, the time given the defense to prepare
for trial, was insufficient and that the
Turkish courts had violated these
defendants’ right to a fair trial.
We were all familiar with the case law of
the ECHR, but we didn’t care. However, as
soon as Ocalan was caught, the Constitution
was immediately amended and the military
judge was replaced by a civilian one.
However, the trial procedures did not change
at all and the defense had no additional
time to prepare.
Despite the constitutional amendment, a
military judge sat through most of the
Ocalan trials because it took longer than
expected to put the amendment into force. In
the meantime, Turkey failed to give a fair
trial to Ocalan, the biggest outlaw in
Turkish history.
Let me ask the question one more time:
What does it mean that we denied even Ocalan
a fair and independent trial?
Here’s my second question: What does it
mean to deprive 90 people, whose only fault
was to be tried at the same as the terrorist
leader, of the right to retrial?
Let me give you the answer: This is
nothing but discrimination which will cost
Turkey further losses at the ECHR.
My last question is: Is it really correct
for our rules to shy away from the case on
such a critical and multidimensional issue
by arguing that it has nothing to do with
the problem and leaving it in the hands of
the courts?
Of course it’s not. Today we will learn
the true meanings of statesmanship and good
governance. Of course it’s the prime
minister and the government’s duty to lead
the country in such a complex situation.
I believe that putting such a heavy
burden on the shoulders of an ‘independent’
high criminal court which would not have to
directly face the political consequences of
its ruling is obviously incorrect.
The government should at least remove all
legal obstacles to Ocalan’s retrial. And
then it might refer the issue to the
independent judiciary.”
