IX. ARE THE ACTS OF THE STATE DIRECTED DELIBERATELY AGAINST ITS CITIZENS OF KURDISH DESCENT?
The allegations that Kurdish dissident journalists, writers, politicians and prominent figures are assassinated through States plot thus the perpetrators remain unidentified, and like in the case of the bombing of the office of the pro-PKK newspaper, "Özgür Gündem" (Free Agenda) "state terrorism" and "dirty war" are waged are frequently brought to the attention. The fight of Turkey as a state under the rule of law against PKK terrorism is attempted to be depicted as repression and genocide of Kurds. In reality, protection of constitutional order against an organization which adopts armed struggle under Marxist ideology is carried out for each citizen regardless of his/her ethnic origin in every part of Turkey to enjoy his/her rights enshrined in the Constitution at least as much as the people living in Western Turkey. During this legitimate struggle against terrorism occasional human rights violations could happen in Turkey like in any other democratic country. For instance, European Court of Human Rights had held that Britain violated Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights related to the rights to the liberty and security of person by detaining without charge or appropriate procedural safeguards, persons suspected of participating in "terrorist" activities with respect to the operation of the Prevention of Terrorism Act.40 In the aftermath of this decision, Britain invoked Article 15 of the Convention which allows the states to take measures derogating from their obligations under the Convention in time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation. Considering the extent and brutality of the PKK terrorism that targets national and territorial integrity of Turkey, it is likely that unlawful actions and human rights violations in the fight against terrorism could also happen in Turkey. Verdicts on such allegations are rendered by independent courts in Turkey regarding the rule of law. Also, petitions related to human rights violations can be submitted to the European Commission of Human Rights, and in the event of the Commission accepting a petition, a friendly settlement between the petitioner and Turkey can be effected by the Commission under Article 28 of the Convention.
As regards to the statistics of the European Commission and Court of Human Rights concerning individual applications for the year 1996, the order of the countries with highest number of applications which were registered by the Commission is as Italy, France, Turkey, Britain, Poland and Germany with 729, 600, 562, 471, 458 and 334 applications respectively. As for the highest number of individual applications declared admissible, the order of the countries is as follows: Italy, France and Turkey with 370, 75 and 37 applications respectively. The order of the countries with the highest number of cases, which the Court found at least one violation, is Italy, Britain, Greece and France and Turkey with 8, 7, 5 and 4 cases respectively.41
In spite of the all atrocities by the PKK, nonexistence of the hatred and discrimination against Kurds in Turkish society points that PKK cannot attain its objective. Turkish citizens have identified Kurdish identity with PKK terrorism almost in none of the funerals of officers, soldiers and policemen assassinated by the PKK where the most emotional scenes occur. In that atmosphere, the attacks on persons and organizations known for their separatist standings would serve the aims of the PKK. It is, therefore, not reasonable to think that Turkish state has planned those attacks.42 On the other hand, intolerance of its leader against the opposition in the PKK as can be seen in the organizations Marxist-Leninist totalitarian structure results in the killings of the dissidents of the PKK leadership even though they share the same separatist view.43 Also, murders caused by blood feuds, honor or plain personal vendetta are immediately attributed to the State.44
Meanwhile, remote small villages on the mountainous terrain of the region become the ideal targets for terrorist attacks. And to deploy security forces permanently in those locations is not an easy task. Then, villagers who do not want to give in under terrorist threats volunteer to guard their villages. Most of these people called as provisional village guards who become the subject of criticism for their uncontrolled behavior are of Kurdish descent. This fact also invalidates the argument that acts of State are directed to Kurds and it further proves that the backing of Kurdish people to PKK is weak.
40 Council Of Europe, Short Guide..., p. 121.
41 Human Rights News, Press Release of the Secretary to the European Commission of Human Rights, 10 January 1997. Also see "European Commission of Human Rights 1996 Report: Turkey is at the 3rd Place in the Individual Applications to the Commission", Cumhuriyet, 14 January 1997.
42 According to the information from the Ministry of Interior, 80% of the perpetrators of such crimes have been identified. In 1994 perpetrators of 893 murder cases were arrested and handed over to the courts. Also Turkish Grand National Assembly established a commission to handle the issue. See Turkish Democracy Foundation, Human Rights..., p. 17.
43 For example, see 3 September 1995 issue of "Milliyet" which quoted from the PKK publication, "Serxwebun" as saying "militants were sentenced to death with such charges as "taking stand with criticism [against the party]" "being depressed" and "illness". Also see Erciyes University, PKK Reality, p. 59; Gunter, The Kurds..., p. 85. In the words of Eduard Vermander, chief of the Berlin Office for the Protection of Constitution, PKK acts internally very brutally up to killing. See Berliner Morgenpost, 2/3 December 1995.
44 Criss, "The Nature of...", p. 21.