Activist Keskin Sentenced for Saying “Kurdistan”

It seems that courts are confused as to what speeches represent “incitement to hatred and hostility”.

Two different places, two different decrees 

 The Penal Court in Viransehir, province of Sanliurfa in the southeast of Turkey, has convicted human rights activist and lawyer Eren Keskin of this crime for saying,

“If we look at the state statistics on perpetrators of sexual violence in Turkey and Kurdistan, then soldiers are in the majority; the reason there are so many is the war in Kurdistan.”

On the other hand the Public Prosecution in Bulanik, province of Mus in the southeast of Turkey, dropped proceedings against Keskin after she used the word “Kurdistan”, arguing that “although it was unacceptable, it consisted of a statement of opinion”.

"Areas where Kurds are in the majority" 

In Bulanik, Keskin had spoken at an event on 17 September 2006, saying:

“It is impossible to understand the Kurdish question without coming to Kurdistan; here they see that the PKK has become like a state, this is a reality, and accepting that one has to try and find a solution.”

The decision to drop proceedings was justified by saying that Keskin “used the term Kurdistan to refer to the areas where Kurds are in the majority.”

Converted prison sentence in Viransehir 

At a Culture and Arts Festival in Viransehir on 2 October 2004, former Human Rights Association (IHD) president Keskin used the expression “Kurdistan”.

Speaking at a panel entitled “Woman, Society and Family”, Keskin had said: “But could you display this attitude in other places, in Istanbul, in Usak or in Izmir? Then we call the murders there ‘honour’ killings and the murders in Kurdistan ‘custom’ killings.”

In the same talk, she said: “Because in Kurdistan women have really always come on stage with demands” and “they are far from the reality of Kurdistan”. These expressions were used to justify her sentence.

On 16 October, she was sentenced to one year imprisonment under Article 312/2 of the old Penal Code.

Judge Hüseyin Ugurlu decreased the sentence to 10 months due to “the possible effects of the sentence on the defendant” and, based on Article 4 of Law No. 647, converted the sentence to a fine of 3,300 YTL.

The court had decreed that the use of “Kurdistan” “incited hatred and hostility of one social group against another based on regional difference”.

Plans to appeal 

Fatma Karakas, Keskin’s lawyer, reported that they were informed of the decision on 20 November and would file an appeal in the next few days. Karakas said, “It is unacceptable in democracies that statements which do not contain violence and which represent an opinion are punished. In legislation on these issues, Turkey is below international standards.” (EÖ/NZ/AG)