Coma Civakên Kurdistan

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Flag of Koma Civakên Kurdistan

Koma Civakên Kurdistan or KCK (for example: Union of Kurdistan Communities) is the new organizational form of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which aims to implement the “ democratic confederalism ” declared by Abdullah Öcalan on March 20, 2005 . It should form the nucleus of a non-state society. In June 2007 the name was changed from the original Koma Komalên Kurdistan (Kurdistan Democratic Confederalism) to Koma Civakên Kurdistan .

structure

Special committees deal with areas such as science and education, people's defense, language and education, law, health, ecology, etc. The work in the individual states of the claimed region ( Iraq , Iran , Turkey and Syria ) is the responsibility of so-called People's Councils. The KCK system provides for its own citizenship, its own army and its own jurisdiction, but officially does not want to affect the existing national borders. The symbol of the KCK is a green rectangle with a yellow sun in the middle, in which there is a red, five-pointed star.

guide

The so-called “Agreement of the Union of the Community of Kurdistan”, as it was published in a forum, reads: "The leadership of the community of communes in Kurdistan is incumbent on Abdullah Öcalan. He is the philosophical and strategic theorist of a democracy based on ecology and gender liberation . " The highest decision-making body of the KCK is the Kurdistan People's Congress (Kongra-Gel), a successor organization to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is banned in Germany . The day-to-day affairs of the KCK are managed by an Executive Council, the chairmanship of which is made up of two leaders : Cemil Bayık and Bese Hozat (civil: Hülya Oran).

politics

On August 23, 2006, the KCK set the following conditions for the end of the armed struggle and for the elimination of the Kurdish conflict in Turkey .

  1. The recognition of the Kurdish identity and the constitutional guarantee of all ethnic identities under the overriding identity of belonging to Turkey.
  2. Abolition of all obstacles to the Kurdish language and culture, the recognition of the right to mother tongue education and the recognition of the Kurdish language as a second official language in the Kurdish regions alongside Turkish and the respect for the cultural rights of minorities.
  3. The recognition of free political activity and organization on the basis of freedom of opinion, belief and articulation as well as the abolition of all social inequalities, above all gender discrimination, in the constitution and other laws.
  4. The release of all political prisoners, including the PKK chairman, as well as the granting of full participation in political and social life, with the aim that both societies forgive each other and establish a peaceful and free unity.
  5. The withdrawal of all forces that were relocated to Kurdistan because of the special war, the abolition of the village protection system and the possibility of returning to the villages through the development of social and economic projects.
  6. In parallel with the implementation of the above points, the guerrillas could gradually lay down arms and participate in legal democratic social life, within the framework of a timetable that would be determined jointly by both sides.

In an interview with the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in July 2010, Murat Karayilan said that if Turkey accepted a ceasefire and other terms, they would lay down their arms under the surveillance of the United Nations. This includes an end to the attacks on Kurdish civilians and the arrests of Kurdish politicians. The Kurdish question can be resolved democratically in a dialogue. If that did not happen, they would independently proclaim democratic confederalism.

Arrests and trials of alleged KCK members

Since April 2009 there have been arrests and subsequent proceedings against alleged members of the KCK / TM ( Türkiye Meclisi - Turkey Parliament) in many parts of Turkey . Many of those arrested were active within the now banned Democratic Society Party (DTP) or the successor party Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). Among them were mayors of individual cities in southeastern Turkey. Also arrested were human rights activists, journalists and trade unionists.

At the beginning there were arrests and trials mainly in the south and southeast of Turkey. In addition to Diyarbakır , these were cities such as Şırnak , Iğdır , Gaziantep , Mersin and Batman . The proceedings are pending before courts for serious crimes. Since the end of 2011 there have been arrests and trials of alleged members of the KCK, especially in Istanbul. Two of the police operations were against lawyers and journalists.

The extent of the arrests

In October 2010, the daily Milliyet estimated the number of people arrested in police operations against the Union of Kurdish Communities at 1,800 people. The BDP suspects that 7,748 people were arrested as alleged members of the KCK between April 2009 and October 2011 and arrest warrants were issued against 3,985 people. In response to the European Union's progress report of October 12, 2011, the Interior Ministry of Turkey said on October 14, 2011 that a total of 605 people were in custody under suspicion of belonging to the KCK . The Turkish Democratic Forum (DTF) estimates the number of arrests at 1,800 to 3,000 and the number of arrests at 1,000 to 1,700. Up to November 2011, the DTF was aware of 26 proceedings alleging membership of the KCK.

Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin said in August 2012 that 213 trials had opened involving 2,146 people. 992 of the defendants are in custody. He also said that among the defendants were 274 people with a political mandate (village chiefs, mayors, party officials, members of local or national parliaments).

The 2013 Annual Report of the Foundation for Human Rights in Turkey (TIHV) stated that 2,892 people, 1302 of them in custody, had been charged on charges of belonging to the KCK. 579 people were released from custody during the year. A judgment was issued in 34 of the 112 cases. 278 people were sentenced to more than 2500 years in prison.

The central procedure in Diyarbakır

The central trial against alleged members of the KCK / TM began on October 18, 2010 before the 6th Grand Chamber for Serious Crimes in Diyarbakır. Of the 151 defendants, 103 were in custody. The indictment is 7,578 pages long. On October 19, 2010, the court rejected the application for "Defense in Kurdish". It decided to have the indictment read out in full. Another meeting was held on June 29, 2012 in the proceedings. Of the 152 accused, 99 were still in custody. The hearing was adjourned to September 29, 2012. The trial closed in late March 2017, with 111 people sentenced to long prison terms out of 154 defendants. The remaining 43 defendants were acquitted.

The proceedings in Istanbul

As part of the operations against the KCK, 50 people, including Professor Büşra Ersanlı and publisher Ragıp Zarakolu , were detained in Istanbul on October 28 and 29, 2011 . An arrest warrant was later issued against 43 of them. Afterwards there were numerous national and international protests.

The main trial of Istanbul

The 15th Chamber for Serious Crimes in Istanbul accepted the indictment in the main trial against KCK relatives in Istanbul on April 3, 2012 and set the first day of the trial to July 2, 2012. On April 10, 2012, 15 defendants, including the publisher Ragıp Zarakolu, were released. You were among the 147 of 193 defendants who were in custody. At the beginning of the trial, the number of defendants had increased to 205. 140 of them were in custody.

On the second day of the trial, the reading of a 133-page summary of the 2,400-page indictment began. After the 8th session on July 12, 2012, the 15th Chamber for Serious Crimes in Istanbul took a first major break. At the same time 16 of the 140 underground prisoners were released. Among them was Büşra Ersanlı, who had been in custody since November 1, 2011.

Following a change in the law in March 2014, which abolished the special courts and limited the maximum length of pre-trial detention to 5 years, 37 out of 70 defendants were released from prison in the main trial against the KCK in Istanbul.

The KCK case against lawyers

On June 16, 2012, trial of 50 defendants, 46 of whom were lawyers, 36 of whom were in custody, began before the 16th Serious Crimes Chamber in Istanbul. The indictment in this case is 892 pages long. The accused are accused of having formed a “Committee of Leadership” (tr: Önderlik Komitesi ) within the KCK . As founders and leaders, or as members of this committee, which is considered an armed organization, sentences of between 7.5 and 22.5 years in prison were requested. The 50 accused include lawyers, a journalist, a secretary and two drivers.

Following the amendment to the law in March 2014, all nine defendants still in custody were released from pretrial detention in the proceedings against lawyers.

The KCK trial against journalists

At the end of April 2012, an 800-page indictment was sent to the 15th Serious Crime Chamber in Istanbul. It listed 44 suspects, 36 of whom were in pre-trial detention. The defendants are charged with working for a press committee that set up the KCK. Your task has u. a. consisted of identifying officials who were active in the fight against terrorism. Following the amendment to the law in March 2014, eight defendants were released from custody in the proceedings against journalists. Seven defendants remained in custody.

Other KCK proceedings

More than 30 trade unionists from the Confederation of Public Service Unions, KESK ( Kamu Emekçileri Sendikaları Konfederasyonu ) were brought before the 8th Chamber of Serious Crimes in Izmir . They were arrested in May 2009 but were later released. On November 28, 2011, the 8th Chamber for Serious Crimes in Izmir sentenced 25 of the accused, including the chairman of KESK, Lami Özgen, to 6 years and 3 months in prison each. They had come together within the KCK / TM in a Democratic Confederation of Labor (tr: Demokratik Emek Konfederasyonu , DEK) and thus acted in the interests of the terrorist organization PKK. Six defendants were acquitted for lack of evidence.

Further KCK proceedings against trade unionists from KESK are pending in Ankara . On July 2, 2012, the 11th Chamber of Serious Crimes in Ankara accepted the indictment against 15 trade unionists and set the first day of the trial for October 4, 2012. The defendants were arrested in Ankara in February 2012. Nine of them were sent to custody. On October 4, 2012, the proceedings before the 11th Chamber for Serious Crimes in Ankara began. At the end of the session, the court ordered the release of six defendants, extended arrest warrants for three defendants, and adjourned until December 13, 2012.

After the arrests in February 2012, KESK was again affected by arrests in June 2012 as part of the KCK investigation. After operations in Ankara, Diyarbakır, İstanbul, Ağrı, Bitlis, Siirt, Adana and Eskişehir, the 12th Serious Crime Chamber in Ankara ordered 28 trade unionists to be detained, while 25 were not arrested, but with a trial for membership in an armed gang have to reckon. The trial of 72 unionists began on April 10, 2013 in the 13th Chamber of Serious Crimes in Ankara. The court overturned the arrest warrants of the 22 defendants in custody and adjourned to July 8, 2013.

Major proceedings are being carried out in front of the Seventh Chamber for Serious Crimes in Adana. 93 people, mostly members of the BDP from Gaziantep Province , are charged with membership in the KCK. At the start of the trial on June 22, 2012, 49 of them were in custody. After the first hearing, 32 defendants were released from custody. On July 13, 2012, negotiations should continue.

First instance judgments

As of November 20, 2011, there were 26 known cases of membership in the KCK, in which 997 people were accused. Of them, 452 people were in custody and 46 people were convicted in the first instance. Since then, further proceedings in the first instance have come to an end. It is mainly a question of smaller proceedings.

Overview of the proceedings ended by a first-instance judgment up to July 2012:

date Group (place) Place of jurisdiction accused Convicts Sentence
March 4, 2011 Iğdır Erzurum 30th 14th 6-13.5 y.
June 14, 2011 Ağrı Erzurum 18th 10 10 m. - 13.5 y.
July 5, 2011 Diyadin Erzurum 5 5 8-14.5 y.
July 13, 2011 Adıyaman Malatya 4th 2 21 years, 9 m
November 28, 2011 KESK Izmir 35 25th 6 years, 3 m
January 18, 2012 Erzincan Erzurum 7th 7th 6 y., 3 m.-10 y.
March 28, 2012 Kars Erzurum 3 3 6 years, 3rd m.
April 18, 2012 Siirt Diyarbakır 7th 7th 9 y.
April 26, 2012 Kars Erzurum 47 23 10 m-19 y.
April 30, 2012 Elazığ Malatya 3 3 7 y., 3 m.-20 y.
May 15, 2012 Ağrı Erzurum 13 13 170 years for life

On September 28, 2012, a trial ended in Adana. 52 people arrested in Gaziantep in early 2012 were charged there. When the verdict was announced, 12 of them were still in custody . Eight defendants were sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment as heads of illegal organizations, and two were sentenced to 7.5 years for the same offense. Twenty-six people were sentenced to 6 years, three months 'imprisonment as members of an illegal organization and two defendants were sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment for unauthorized possession of a weapon. The court acquitted 14 defendants.

On October 12, 2012, the 3rd Chamber for Serious Crimes in Malatya announced the verdict in a trial involving four women from Tunceli . They had been in custody since September 28, 2011. Among them was the chairman of an Alevi association in Tunceli, Aysel Doğan, who followed Abdullah Öcalan's appeal in 1999 and returned to Turkey. She was sentenced to 18 years in prison as a leader in an illegal organization. The other three defendants, who had been active for the BDP in Tunceli, received prison terms of 9 years each.

The 8th Chamber for Serious Crimes in Adana passed another judgment on October 16, 2012. It affected 47 defendants who were arrested in Adana in December 2009. 14 of them were still in custody when the verdict was announced, including a politician from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and two journalists. Of the 47 defendants, 45 were sentenced to between 6 years, 3 months and 26 years, 4 months in prison. Two defendants were acquitted.

Judgments in 2017

On March 28, 2017, the Second Grand Chamber of Serious Crimes in Diyarbakır pronounced sentences against 154 defendants. Of these 154, 111 people were sentenced to different levels of punishment. 16 people received 21 years for membership in an illegal organization, while the remainder received sentences ranging from 14 months to 18 years. None of the defendants was present in court when the verdict was pronounced. The co-chairman of the Democracy Bölgeler Partisi , Kamuran Yüksek was sentenced to 21 years, Hatip Dicle to 9 years and Ahmet Türk to 15 months.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Quotations translated into German from an indictment by the Diyarbakır public prosecutor's office from May 2009 can be found in a private wiki ; Retrieved October 22, 2010
  2. ^ Source of the Turkish text , accessed on October 22, 2010
  3. ↑ An article published by the independent communications network BIA on August 24, 2006 gives comments on the content; Retrieved October 22, 2010
  4. ↑ BBC article of July 21, 2010; Retrieved October 22, 2010
  5. ↑ a b c d The Democratic Turkey Forum (DTF) has repeatedly published reports in English and German. A special report gives an overview : Proceedings against the Union of the Communities of Kurdistan ; created in November 2011; Retrieved July 17, 2012
  6. ↑ a b In the monthly report of the DTF for July 2012 ; a corresponding message from Radikal from July 1, 2012 is cited; Retrieved July 17, 2012
  7. ↑ a b c d See the DTF report for April 2012 ; Retrieved July 17, 2012
  8. ↑ Milliyet of October 19, 2010 ; Retrieved October 22, 2010
  9. ↑ Bianet, October 6, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2011. The article refers to figures from the Peace and Democracy Party
  10. ↑ complete report. (PDF) ec.europa.eu (English) accessed on October 19, 2011
  11. ↑ Radikal, October 14, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2011
  12. ↑ See the chapter on the KCK procedure on a page on "Restricting freedom of expression in Turkey"; Retrieved November 21, 2011
  13. ↑ See the DTF report for August 2012 , accessed on August 24, 2012. The statement that 3000 students and high school students are among those arrested, 90% of whom are said to be Kurds, relates to students imprisoned in Turkey in general ( Frank Nordhausen: Arrest in the dormitory . In: Berliner Zeitung , August 10, 2012), see also the DTF's August 2012 monthly report.
  14. ↑ DTF report for April 2014. accessed on April 22, 2014
  15. ↑ See the daily reports of the Foundation for Human Rights in Turkey in English for June 30 - July 2, 2012, reproduced on the English pages of the DTF , accessed on July 17, 2012
  16. ↑ a b KCK Ana Davada Karar Açıklandı , message on Bianet (Turkish Bağımsız İletişim Ağı, independent Turkish news and press agency), March 29, 2017.
  17. ↑ Communication from the German-Armenian Society of November 7, 2011, accessed on November 21, 2011
  18. ↑ These include: T urkey: Arrests Expose Flawed Justice System Human Rights Watch , November 1, 2011. Exile PEN calls for release . ( Memento of the original from December 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; KCK arrests deepen freedom of expression concerns . Amnesty International opinion , November 10, 2011; accessed on November 21, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.exilpen.net
  19. ^ Bianet, July 2, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2012
  20. ↑ Radikal , July 3, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2012
  21. ↑ Radikal , July 13, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2012
  22. ↑ a b c See the DTF report for March 2014. accessed on April 22, 2014
  23. ↑ a b That reported u. a. Bianet on July 16, 2012 , accessed July 17, 2012
  24. ^ English special report of the DTF. Retrieved July 17, 2012
  25. ↑ See DTF weekly report 48/2009 ; Retrieved October 22, 2010
  26. ↑ a b Compare the daily reports of the Foundation for Human Rights in Turkey for July 6, 2012, reproduced on the English pages of the DTF (English) accessed on July 17, 2012
  27. ↑ a b c d Report of the Turkish Democratic Forum (DTF) for the month of October 2012. Retrieved on October 15, 2012
  28. ↑ See the daily reports of the Foundation for Human Rights in Turkey in English for 26-28. June 2012, reproduced on the English pages of the DTF. Retrieved July 17, 2012
  29. ↑ a b Report of the Turkish Democratic Forum for April 2013. Retrieved on April 11, 2013
  30. ↑ See the daily reports of the Foundation for Human Rights in Turkey in English for the 23-25. June 2012, reproduced on the English pages of the DTF , accessed on July 17, 2012
  31. ↑ Daily Reports of the HRFT, January 19, 2012; Retrieved July 17, 2012
  32. ↑ Daily Reports of the HRFT of 29 March 2012; Retrieved July 17, 2012
  33. ↑ Daily Reports of the HRFT of 19 April 2012; Retrieved July 17, 2012
  34. ↑ Daily Reports of the HRFT, April 27, 2012; Retrieved July 17, 2012
  35. ↑ Daily Reports of the HRFT from 1. – 2. May 2012; Retrieved July 17, 2012
  36. ↑ Daily Reports of the HRFT, May 16, 2012; Retrieved July 17, 2012