ANKARA, 19 April 2006 — A pro-Kurdish party said yesterday that Turkish security forces have raided several of its offices and detained dozens of its members over the past few weeks. The reported raids and detentions follow some of the most violent clashes in decades between Turkish security forces and Kurdish protesters, which left 13 civilians dead. Four other people were killed in attacks in Istanbul claimed by a militant Kurdish group.
The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party said several of its offices had been raided and some 50 party members, including five provincial leaders and nine local leaders had been detained. The party said the detentions were the result of accusations leveled by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan against the party.
Erdogan recently called on the party to denounce violence by the autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Leaders of the Democratic Society Party have refused call PKK rebel violence terrorism, leaving the group open to accusations that it sympathizes with the rebels. Most of the mayors in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast are members of the Democratic Society Party.
Osman Baydemir, the mayor of the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, and other officials have been accused of encouraging the rioters. Baydemir is a member of the Democratic Society Party. At the height of the clashes in March, Baydemir reportedly kissed a masked rioter on the cheek and told another group of rioters: “I congratulate you because of your courage.” The Interior Ministry and prosecutors are investigating whether Baydemir violated Turkish law.
Turkish courts in the past have closed several legal Kurdish parties for links to the PKK. Some 37,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984.
Police fired shots in the air yesterday to disperse protesters staging a demonstration outside Parliament to denounce International Monetary Fund-requested reforms to Turkey’s ailing social security system, reports said. Parliament was preparing to debate changes to the system when a group of some 2,000 protesters, mostly members of trade unions, marched toward parliament in protest.
Turkish authorities do not allow demonstrations outside Parliament and police clashed with protesters who refused to leave, CNN-Turk television reported. Police also fired shots in the air to disperse the crowd, the report said. The trade unions oppose reforms that would gradually increase retirement age to 65 by 2036 and increase the minimum amount of days employees are required to have worked before retiring to 9,000 from the current 7,000. Currently employees are able to retire earlier than 65, as long as they have fulfilled the required 7,000 days.
