"Freedom for Kurdish Politicians" Online Signature Campaign

An internet signature campaign has been initiated for the release of 47 people taken into detention in Diyarbakır at the end of last month, among them Human Rights Association (İHD) Deputy Chairman and Diyarbakır Branch Chairman Muharrem Erbey.

The internet signature campaign was organized via the internet site gopetition.com and targets the United Nations (UN) General Secretary, the European Union (EU) Presidency and Amnesty International (AI). The signature form urges these organizations to call for the immediate release of the detained politicians and leaders elected for the Turkish Republic and for respecting the willpower of the Kurdish people. Almost 600 signatures were already given by the time bianet prepared this news item.

İHD Diyarbakır asked for support from international community

İHD Diyarbakır furthermore distributed documents and records pertaining to Chairman Muharrem Erbey to the international community. İHD calls for the release of Erbey by forwarding the papers to both human rights organizations and individuals such as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of the Interior Beşir Atalay, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin and Diyarbakır Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu.

Request from the Diyarbakır cultural organizations

Seven cultural organizations in Diyarbakır joined in and demanded the release of the detainees in an announcement made on Tuesday (5 January) in Turkish and Kurdish.

The Kurdish Writers Association, the Diyarbakır Representation of the PEN Centre Turkey, the Diyarbakır Arts Centre (DSM-DER), the Dicle-Fırat ('Euphrat-Tigris') Cultural Centre, the Youth Cultural Centre, the Diyarbakır Kurdish Institute and Kurdi-Der Issued the following written statement:

Kürt Yazarlar Derneği, PEN Türkiye Merkezi Diyarbakır Temsilciliği, DSM-DER, Dicle-Fırat Kültür Merkezi, Gençlik Kültür Merkezi, Diyarbakır Kürt Enstitüsü, Kurdi-Der'in ortak açıklama metni şöyle:

34 persons were taken into custody on 24 December 2009, among them mayors elected by the public. Two days later, 23 Kurdish politicians were detained, seven of them mayors.

It is common knowledge that the detained mayors were elected with 70 percent of the people's votes. The mayors were elected by the Kurdish people as their representatives and hold an important position.

Taking these people into detention and the continuation of the detention lay beyond acceptance in terms of the future of democracy. Practically threatening a broad group of the people and exposing them handcuffed in public is a severe violation of rights.

As intellectuals, writers and artists we protest this violation of rights done by implementing an attitude that brings to mind the times of the coup by suspending the law. This is unacceptable, also considering the detained elected persons.

We demand to end the detention immediately and release the detainees. We demand to secure democratic rights and freedoms by constitution to solve the existing social problems.

47 arrests in the last week of 2009

In the scope of an operation against KCK, the Union of Kurdistan Societies as the umbrella organisation that includes the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), launched on 24 December 23 people were arrested initially, seven of them mayors. Afterwards, another 24 people were taken into custody. Diyarbakır Bar Association President Mehmet Emin Aktar had evaluated this procedure for bianet as a violation of law and human rights all along the line. (TK/VK)