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Voice of America, 99-07-25
CONTENTS
[01] NATO-KOSOVO (L-ONLY) BY TIM BELAY (PRISTINA, KOSOVO)
[02] TURKEY - PRESS FREEDOM BY AMBERIN ZAMAN (DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY)
[01] NATO-KOSOVO (L-ONLY) BY TIM BELAY (PRISTINA, KOSOVO)
DATE=7/25/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-252121
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Civil and military leaders in Kosovo Sunday
talked of success in their six weeks of work there
while the investigation into the bloodiest post-war
incident in the province continues. Tim Belay reports
from Pristina.
TEXT: British experts investigating Friday night's
murders of 14 Kosovar Serb farmers say the
circumstances of the crime scene are very clear, but
finding out who killed them will not be easy.
Bernard Kouchner, head of the United Nations
provisional government in Kosovo, says the massacre
comes as NATO and the United Nations have made great
progress in restoring order here.
On Sunday, top leaders of the two organizations gave a
progress report on the state of the province one-and-
one-half months into the international post-war
effort. Mr. Kouchner says while there are many signs
that daily life is resuming here, the very fact of
increasing stability may have been behind Friday's
massacre.
/// First Kouchner act ///
They were peacefully harvesting hay in their field
just when -- and perhaps because -- we were taking
a significant step toward stability and democratic
self-government in Kosovo.
/// end act ///
Mr. Kouchner says he thinks the murderers are people
who want to stop the movement toward stability in
Kosovo. He says one of the major goals in the
rebuilding effort is to give Kosovars more
responsibility for the province, which includes
holding free elections as soon as possible.
/// Second Kouchner act ///
We must look to the future. They must end the
killing and intolerance now and turn their
considerable energy and talent to build democracy.
/// end act ///
According to General Mike Jackson, the NATO commander
in Kosovo, the 14 farmers killed Friday night were
scheduled to receive NATO protection (on Saturday) so
they could harvest the same hay field where they were
apparently ambushed. General Jackson says the men
chose to work there (Friday) without NATO guards.
Funeral services for the victims are scheduled for
Monday. (signed)
NEB/TB/ALW/WTW
PHONE NO. 389 91 131 064
25-JUL-1999 13:44389 91 131 064 95?/. P.02
25-Jul-1999 11:03 AM LOC (25-Jul-1999 1503 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
[02] TURKEY - PRESS FREEDOM BY AMBERIN ZAMAN (DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY)
DATE=7/25/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43950
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
Intro: Turkey's only pro-Kurdish daily newspaper is
facing a fresh ban, on charges of publishing articles
which allegedly encourage Kurdish separatism. If
banned, Ozgur Bakis -- which means "Free Perspective"
in Turkish -- will become the sixth pro-Kurdish daily
to have been shut down over the past decade. Amberin
Zaman recently traveled to the mainly Kurdish province
of Diyarbakir, where Ozgur Bakis reporters face some
of the toughest obstacles in carrying out their
professional duties, and she filed this report.
Text: Ahmet Sumbul is news editor for Ozgur Bakis,
covering the province of Diyarbakir, which is the
political nerve center of the mainly Kurdish southeast
region of Turkey.
Mr. Sumbul says pressure from the authorities is
nothing unusual. In fact, he says, it is part of his
job.
/// FIRST SUMBUL ACT IN TURKISH, IN AND UNDER ///
Mr.Sumbul says he has been beaten, detained and jailed
numerous times, because of his affiliation with a
newspaper which is widely regarded by the Turkish
authorities as being sympathetic to the Kurdistan
Workers Party, or P-K-K. The Kurdish guerrilla group
has been fighting for Kurdish self-rule for the past
15 years.
That is why five of its predecessors were banned. And
in 1994, former Turkish prime minister Tansu Ciller --
in an official letter leaked to the Turkish press --
ordered her government to take what she termed "all
necessary measures" to silence the pro-Kurdish daily.
During the same week, two bombs exploded almost
simultaneously at the Istanbul and Ankara offices of
the newspaper. One newspaper employee died in the
attack, which was subsequently revealed to have been
carried out under orders of the Turkish interior
ministry.
Today, Ozgur Bakis is facing closure for having
published various statements made by P-K-K leader
Abdullah Ocalan in the wake of his capture by Turkish
special agents in Kenya last February.
A Turkish court last month sentenced Ocalan to death
for his role in founding and directing the P-K-K.
Ozgur Bakis published the full text of the P-K-K
leader's calls for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish
problem. That move was deemed as encouraging Kurdish
separatism.
Ozgur Bakis's managing editor, Hasan Deniz, was jailed
last month. He is awaiting trial for permitting the
article to be published. If convicted, Mr. Deniz
could remain in prison for up to 11 years.
According to a leading Turkish media watchdog group
known as the press council, there are around 55
Turkish journalists currently either convicted of or
facing charges of publishing articles deemed harmful
to the Turkish state. And around 25 journalists have
been killed over the past seven years, making Turkey
one of the most dangerous countries in the world for
reporters.
Varlik Ozmenek is the Ankara representative of Ozgur
Bakis. He says pressure on his newspaper has not
subsided under the new Turkish government, led by a
former journalist, Bulent Ecevit.
/// OZMENEK ACT IN TURKISH, IN AND UNDER ///
Mr. Ozmenek says Ozgur Bakis has been banned from the
southeast provinces. The Kurdish areas are still
under a form of martial law called "emergency rule,"
and are -- unsurprisingly -- where the newspaper is
most widely read. He says distributors of the paper
across the country face constant harassment by the
authorities.
Turkish foreign minister Ismail Cem is himself a
former journalist. He agrees that Turkey's image is
suffering because of current curbs on freedom of
expression.
/// CEM ACT IN TURKISH, IN AND UNDER ///
Mr. Cem insists that a line needs to be drawn between
freedom of expression and defending Turkey's
territorial unity. He says articles and publications
which promote ethnic violence and separatism are
incompatible with democratic values.
Like most of his colleagues, Ozgur Bakis reporter
Ahmet Sumbul denies charges that his newspaper is
encouraging the establishment of an independent
Kurdish state. Its main purpose, he says, is to
highlight what terms the massive human rights abuses
being committed by the Turkish authorities in the
Kurdish regions.
/// SECOND SUMBUL ACT IN TURKISH, IN AND UNDER ///
Mr. Sumbul says violations include the destruction of
Kurdish villages and the torture of countless
civilians. Such events, he argues, go widely
unreported in the mainstream Turkish press.
Turkish dailies focus instead on atrocities
perpetrated by the P-K-K, such as massacres of Kurdish
militia members allied with the Turkish state, and
their families. P-K-K attacks against civilians are
rarely if ever reported by this pro-Kurdish daily.
(signed)
NEB/AZ/ALW/WTW
25-Jul-1999 16:11 PM LOC (25-Jul-1999 2011 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
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