Trying German Foundations
The accusation in the pretension prepared by the Prosecutorship of the Ankara State Security Court (DGM), is what brings all these people together. These defendants are charged with, "secretly cooperating against the security of the state," and face eight to fifteen years in prison.
It all started with saying "no to cyanide"
It all started when the villagers of Bergama opposed the use of cyanide in the gold mines in the village. Turkey got to know them by the colorful protests they organized. With the support of the mayor they elected, they were trying to get their voices heard by appearing in a different news program each evening. And sometimes they tried to have their voices heard by holding demonstration half-naked on the bridge across the Bosporus in Istanbul.
But the Bergama villagers, who had a rightful desire, were accused of "espionage." In a book about this issue, Necip Hablemitoglu, who was assassinated last week, wrote that some German foundations operating in Turkey, supported the objection of the villagers for the interests of Germany.
The debate, which started with this acclamation, grew to include some non-governmental organizations like Social Democracy Foundation, Turkish Democracy Foundation (TDV), and the Istanbul bar. The Ankara DGM Prosecutorship opened an investigation about the issue.
Ankara DGM opens a case
Nuh Mete Yuksel, the former Ankara DGM prosecutor, brought a case against the German foundations, on his last day as a prosecutor, claiming they were involved in "espionage." In the pretension, it was argued, "If the Turkey activities of these foundations were examined, serious evidences would be found to demonstrate that these were legal espionage activities."
"These foundations are the most effective and reliable tools of the German foreign policy," read the pretension. It read that these foundations operated in places where classic diplomacy did not work, and affected important aspects of politics and the society.
Wulf Schonbohm of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, his assistant Dirk Trondle, Fugen Fatma Ugur of the Heinrich Boll Foundation, Hans Schumaher of the Frederich Ebert Foundation, Wolfgang Sachsenroder of the Frederich Naumann Foundation, Orientalism Institution head Claus Schonig and his assistants Astrid Menz and Borte Sagaster, Petra Aauerland of the Foodfirst Information Action Network (FIAN), FIAN representative Birsel Lemke, former head of the Istanbul bar, Yucel Sayman, Oktay Konyar, representing the Bergama villagers, Sefa Taskin, the former Bergama mayor, lawyer Senih Ozay of the Izmir Bar, and Ozcan Durmaz, who is said to cooperate with Lemke and Konyar, are all accused with "secretely coopeerating against the security of the state," and face up to 15 years in prison. The accusations are based on article 171 of the Turkish penal code.
Lawyer of Bergama Villagers: Justice will answer them
Lawyer Senih Ozay who represents the Bergama villagers, and who is among the defendants, said they were fully prepared for the case. "I don't have the 72-page pretension that accuses me of being a spy. It is not obvious where the pretension is. There is a lack of seriousness. The fact that the Ankara DGM tries the Bergama villagers demonstrates that there is a problem of jurisdiction in this case. We are studying each issue involved, and preparing very well. Law was always on our side, and it will be like that this time again," he said.
Ozay expressed that there is no connection between the Bergama villagers and the German foundations. He said some were trying to damage their efforts. "Those who did this are so powerful that they tried to overpower CIA, Mossad and German secret service BND," he said. "But law will not allow them to do this."
Non-governmental organizations react
The NGOs in Turkey that cooperated with the German foundations accused of "espionage, "criticized the trial. Ercan Karakas, head of the Social Democracy Foundation, and Bulent Akarcali, head of the TDV, commented about the trial:
Former Tourism Minister Akarcali said their cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation as Motherland Party (ANAP), started in 1985. He said they supported the establishing of this, and other German foundations in Turkey.
Akarcali stressed that the Konrad Adenauer Foundation was the partner of TDV. "There is no evidence to prove that these accusations are right," said Akarcali. "These are the acclamations of a few marginal people." And they have no support from the Turkish people, media, or the politicians. There is not a single party in the parliament that supports this trial. I believe that the ones who are disturbed by the speedy democratization process in Turkey are hiding behind chauvinism and doing this.
Ercan Karakas, head of SODEV and a former lawmaker said this trial was very unfortunate. "It is very upsetting to see that there still are such trials in Turkey, a country that strives to join the European Union.
Their main purpose is to limit the activities of foundations and associations in Turkey. I believe this is very unfortunate. The cases in Turkey are not brought after finding evidence. They act with assumptions and waste the time of the judiciary. One needs to have evidence. I don't think they will have a result from this case."
4 thousand 500 lawyers will defend
The trial process has turned into a campaign with the support of the NGOs. 4,500 lawyers are representing the defendants while a large number of foreign lawyers will be present at the hearings. (NH/BB)