Pro-Kurdish Party Harassed

Lastly, DTP chair Ahmet Türk has been condemned to six months imprisonment on allegations of "praising a crime or a criminal" in a speech.

"In the current situation where we try hard to silence the weapons, increasing isolation of Mr. Öcalan further deepens social concerns" said Türk, addressing a local crowd in Diyarbakır. Referring the late Kurdish guerilla group PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan as "Mister" constituted the above-defined crime, according to the court.

The decision disclosed was given "considering the repeating referrals of Türk to Öcalan with a respectable appellation and his potential as a party leader to influence public".

The speech in question was made on January 18, 2006 as a press conference at the end of a meeting of all local mayors adhering to DTP.

Legal investigations

On another account, three district administrators of the party have been arrested by court order following Batman Public Prosecutor's complaint. They face allegations of "making the propaganda of the terrorist organization".

DTP Batman district vice chair Mehmet Şirin Tekik, central district chair Cemalettin Padir and party administrator Dicle Manap had declared their support to Diyarbakır district chair Hilmi aydoğdu, who was recently arrested for saying "The Kurds in Turkey would consider an military attack by the Turkish army to Kerkuk as an attack to Diyarbakır".

During the recent controversy surrounding oil-rich northern Iraqi city of Kerkuk, a military intervention has been mentioned to avoid Iraqi Kurds controlling the city.

Kurds living in Tukey sympathize with Iraqi Kurds, so they would be uneasy about such an intervention, Aydoğdu explained.

The court also ordered a warrant of arrest for DTP Batman district chair Ayhan Karabulut.

Prosecution's investigation about a poster of imprisoned PKK leader Öcalan also continues. In relation to the investigation, the police raided party offices and confiscated written material.

More than 50 DTP members of the pro-Kurdish DTP have been arrested and at least seven senior officials charged in less than a fortnight.

Party officials argue they are victims of a sustained campaign of harassment, saying the authorities are trying to close the party down before a general election later this year. (EÖ/EÜ)