TURKEY: Authorities charge anti-capitalist publisher

Tuerkan Uzun, the editor and owner of a company which publishes an anti-capitalist newspaper and pamphlets in Turkey, faces prosecution in the country's State Security Court for breaching the country's anti-terrorist law.

Uzun has been charged for publishing a pamphlet entitled The European Union, Democracy, Human Rights and Struggle, which has been seized by the police. Authorities claim that two chapters, "European Union and Democracy" and "European Union and the Kurds", breach section eight of the law.

The April issue of Anti-kapitalist has also been seized by the police on orders from the State Security Court prosecutor.

On June 14, prosecutors added a new charge, "Aiding and providing succour for an illegal organisation".

It is particularly ironic that, in a period when Turkey is seeking membership of the European Union, to simply publish a discussion on the relationship between the European Union and human rights can land the publisher in court, facing a jail sentence.

Uzun's predecessor as publisher, Tuelay Korak, spent six weeks in jail on remand on a similar charge in 1999, before the prosecution was suspended.

The Turkish government is trying to show a "civilised" face to the world while engaged in a savage attack on the living standards of ordinary people in Turkey. The economic crisis and the IMF-inspired "stability package" have effectively cut the living standards of those still in work by 40%, while throwing hundreds of thousands out of their jobs.

It is the government's extreme nervousness about any possible fightback against these cuts that is leading to the current tightening of repression. Trade union marches have been dispersed with tear gas and baton charges, with hundreds of arrests.

Human rights advocates are appealing for international assistance to keep Uzun out of jail.

Send resolutions of support adopted by your organisation and write letters of protest and fax them to: Ismail Cem, Foreign Minister, Turkish Republic, Fax: + 90 312 287 8811.

Please send a copy of any protest letters by email to <posta@antikapitalist.net>.

From GLW issue 453