arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

Turkish Court Clears Publisher

Wednesday February 13, 2002 1:40 PM

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - A Turkish court on Wednesday cleared the publisher of a book by American linguist and political dissident Noam Chomsky that criticizes Turkey's human rights record and treatment of its Kurdish minority.

At a hearing attended by Chomsky, prosecutors accepted the defense claim that Fatih Tas, director of Istanbul-based Aram Publishing, had not conducted propaganda against the state. Charged with spreading separatist propaganda, Tas had faced a one-year jail sentence.

``I don't believe that publishing the views of Noam Chomsky constitutes a crime,'' Tas told the court.

Prosecutor Bekif Rayir Aldemir said he ``understood that the book did not seek to divide the Turkish nation'' and accepted defense lawyers' demand for an acquittal.

Writers who criticize Turkey's treatment of its estimated 12 million Kurds are often charged with spreading separatist propaganda.

``The prosecutor clearly made the right decision,'' Chomsky said after the trial. ``I hope that it will be a step toward establishing the freedom of speech in Turkey that we all want to see.''

Tas said he believed that Chomsky's presence had helped him escape a jail sentence.

``If Chomsky hadn't been here...we wouldn't have expected such a verdict,'' he said.

Aram last year published ``American Interventionism,'' a Turkish translation of a collection of essays and lectures by Chomsky, a professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The book includes a translation of a lecture Chomsky gave at the University of Toledo, Ohio, in March, in which he said the Turkish government had ``launched a major war in the southeast against the Kurdish population,'' and described the conflict as ``one of the most severe human rights atrocities of the 1990s.''

No charges were filed against Chomsky himself. Lawyers for the defense had requested that he be included in the case as a co-defendant, but the prosecution declined to charge him.

Chomsky said before the hearing that Americans had a responsibility to monitor and protest human rights abuses in Turkey, a close U.S. ally.

``When the United States provides 80 percent of the arms for Turkey, for the express purpose of carrying out repression ... that's my responsibility'' as an American intellectual and writer, he said.

Turkey fought a 15-year war against Kurdish rebels demanding autonomy in the southeast. The conflict eased after the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, announced a unilateral cease-fire in 1999. But the government rejected the cease-fire and sporadic fighting continues.

About 37,000 people, mostly Kurdish rebels and civilians, have been killed since 1984.

Dozens of Turkish writers and intellectuals have been jailed under strict laws that forbid criticism of the state's conduct of the war.

Earlier this month Turkey's parliament passed reforms to allow wider freedom of expression in an effort to boost the country's bid to join the European Union. EU officials have said the reforms don't go far enough.

The recent reforms probably didn't influence Wednesday's verdict, said Yucel Sayman, head of the Istanbul Bar.

Tas said he faced several other charges over books published by Aram that question Turkey's human rights record.

Wednesday February 13, 2002 1:40 PM

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - A Turkish court on Wednesday cleared the publisher of a book by American linguist and political dissident Noam Chomsky that criticizes Turkey's human rights record and treatment of its Kurdish minority.

At a hearing attended by Chomsky, prosecutors accepted the defense claim that Fatih Tas, director of Istanbul-based Aram Publishing, had not conducted propaganda against the state. Charged with spreading separatist propaganda, Tas had faced a one-year jail sentence.

``I don't believe that publishing the views of Noam Chomsky constitutes a crime,'' Tas told the court.

Prosecutor Bekif Rayir Aldemir said he ``understood that the book did not seek to divide the Turkish nation'' and accepted defense lawyers' demand for an acquittal.

Writers who criticize Turkey's treatment of its estimated 12 million Kurds are often charged with spreading separatist propaganda.

``The prosecutor clearly made the right decision,'' Chomsky said after the trial. ``I hope that it will be a step toward establishing the freedom of speech in Turkey that we all want to see.''

Tas said he believed that Chomsky's presence had helped him escape a jail sentence.

``If Chomsky hadn't been here...we wouldn't have expected such a verdict,'' he said.

Aram last year published ``American Interventionism,'' a Turkish translation of a collection of essays and lectures by Chomsky, a professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The book includes a translation of a lecture Chomsky gave at the University of Toledo, Ohio, in March, in which he said the Turkish government had ``launched a major war in the southeast against the Kurdish population,'' and described the conflict as ``one of the most severe human rights atrocities of the 1990s.''

No charges were filed against Chomsky himself. Lawyers for the defense had requested that he be included in the case as a co-defendant, but the prosecution declined to charge him.

Chomsky said before the hearing that Americans had a responsibility to monitor and protest human rights abuses in Turkey, a close U.S. ally.

``When the United States provides 80 percent of the arms for Turkey, for the express purpose of carrying out repression ... that's my responsibility'' as an American intellectual and writer, he said.

Turkey fought a 15-year war against Kurdish rebels demanding autonomy in the southeast. The conflict eased after the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, announced a unilateral cease-fire in 1999. But the government rejected the cease-fire and sporadic fighting continues.

About 37,000 people, mostly Kurdish rebels and civilians, have been killed since 1984.

Dozens of Turkish writers and intellectuals have been jailed under strict laws that forbid criticism of the state's conduct of the war.

Earlier this month Turkey's parliament passed reforms to allow wider freedom of expression in an effort to boost the country's bid to join the European Union. EU officials have said the reforms don't go far enough.

The recent reforms probably didn't influence Wednesday's verdict, said Yucel Sayman, head of the Istanbul Bar.

Tas said he faced several other charges over books published by Aram that question Turkey's human rights record.

Report: Bush Decides to Oust Saddam Hussein

February 13, 2002 07:01 AM ET


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Reuters Photo
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - President Bush has decided to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, and has ordered the CIA, the Pentagon and other U.S. agencies to devise plans to remove him, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wednesday.

The newspaper said no military strike was imminent. But it quoted unnamed U.S. officials as saying Bush had decided that Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs pose too great a threat to U.S. national security for Saddam to remain.

"This is not an argument about whether to get rid of Saddam Hussein. That debate is over. This is how you do it," the Inquirer quoted a senior Bush administration official as saying.

The newspaper said the White House was determined to act even if U.S. allies do not help, and is now waiting for government agencies to come up with a combination of military, diplomatic and covert plans aimed at achieving Saddam's ouster.

Escalating U.S. rhetoric on Iraq has alarmed Russia and America's European allies in recent weeks, while causing concern among experts about the political and human costs of a lengthy U.S. military campaign in the Middle East.

But the Inquirer said the CIA recently presented Bush with a plan to destabilize Saddam's well-entrenched regime in Baghdad, through a massive covert action campaign, sabotage, information warfare and significantly more aggressive bombing of the so-called no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq.

The president was reportedly enthusiastic, and although it could not be determined whether he gave final approval for the plan, the CIA has begun assigning officers to the task, the newspaper reported.

Vice President Dick Cheney is also expected to tell Middle East leaders about U.S. intentions to get rid of Saddam during a tour of 11 Middle Eastern nations next month, the Inquirer said.

"He's not going to beg for support," a senior official was quoted as saying. "He's going to inform them that the president's decision has been made and will be carried out, and if they want some input into how and when it's carried out, now's the time for them to speak up."

February 13, 2002 07:01 AM ET


Email this article Printer friendly version




Reuters Photo
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - President Bush has decided to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, and has ordered the CIA, the Pentagon and other U.S. agencies to devise plans to remove him, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wednesday.

The newspaper said no military strike was imminent. But it quoted unnamed U.S. officials as saying Bush had decided that Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs pose too great a threat to U.S. national security for Saddam to remain.

"This is not an argument about whether to get rid of Saddam Hussein. That debate is over. This is how you do it," the Inquirer quoted a senior Bush administration official as saying.

The newspaper said the White House was determined to act even if U.S. allies do not help, and is now waiting for government agencies to come up with a combination of military, diplomatic and covert plans aimed at achieving Saddam's ouster.

Escalating U.S. rhetoric on Iraq has alarmed Russia and America's European allies in recent weeks, while causing concern among experts about the political and human costs of a lengthy U.S. military campaign in the Middle East.

But the Inquirer said the CIA recently presented Bush with a plan to destabilize Saddam's well-entrenched regime in Baghdad, through a massive covert action campaign, sabotage, information warfare and significantly more aggressive bombing of the so-called no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq.

The president was reportedly enthusiastic, and although it could not be determined whether he gave final approval for the plan, the CIA has begun assigning officers to the task, the newspaper reported.

Vice President Dick Cheney is also expected to tell Middle East leaders about U.S. intentions to get rid of Saddam during a tour of 11 Middle Eastern nations next month, the Inquirer said.

"He's not going to beg for support," a senior official was quoted as saying. "He's going to inform them that the president's decision has been made and will be carried out, and if they want some input into how and when it's carried out, now's the time for them to speak up."