Pro-Kurdish DTP also target for armed forces according to letter – SKS
“Another document suggested that a book titled “Dersim 1937,” authored by Barbaros Baykara, be read by all TSK officers. The book mentions the bloody suppression of a rebellion in Tunceli (then known as Dersim) in 1937 and 1938…”
Today’s Zaman
19.11.2009
A military officer’s letter and documents in a CD sent recently to civilian prosecutors showed that the armed forces viewed the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) as a “dangerous” target and wanted to deter people from supporting the party through threats.
“It will be made public at a high-level press conference, press statement or a scientific meeting that the DTP is seen as a terrorist body and not an interlocutor for the armed forces due to its discourse and the behavior it displays on various public occasions,” read a document.
According to the document, the DTP would not make political gains as long as they provide support to a terrorist (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) group and that its supporters would be warned that they would continue to face problems as long as they lent support to the terrorist organization. “The public in the [southeastern] region will be ‘disturbed’ to break the support flowing to the north of Iraq, [where PKK terrorists find a safe haven to launch their terrorist attacks against Turkish soldiers and civilians],” underlined the document.
Another document suggested that a book titled “Dersim 1937,” authored by Barbaros Baykara, be read by all TSK officers. The book mentions the bloody suppression of a rebellion in Tunceli (then known as Dersim) in 1937 and 1938. However, according to the armed forces, the book is a successful display of an idea to break the feudal policies in the region and to establish a new order based under state-public relations. “The state will save the poor and ignorant public from remaining as slaves of the aghas. The final punishment of separatists who rebel against the Republic of Turkey is capital punishment,” read the document.
The documents also clearly revealed that the TSK monitored the activities of a number of university academics, including Nafiz Can Paker, Nebahat Akkoç, Osöan Kavala, Ömer Marda, Nadire Mater, Salim Uslu, ?ahin Alpay, Cengiz Aktar and Mehmet Altan.
The military officer also stressed in his letter that the armed forces used some journalists to support its psychological warfare against civilian groups it termed “dangerous.” Among those journalists were Ümit Z., Ali A., Hasan D., ?smail K., Süleyman Sefer C., Ömer E., ?smail B., U?ur Y., Sevgi E., Levon Panos D., Pa?a Ümit E., Abdurrahman D., Bilge B., Erol K., R?fat S., ?enol B., Ahmet B., Burhan P., Hasan Y., Cemal T., Mehmet Ali Ç., Sava?an T., Yavuz S., Azki ?., Cihan Ç., Mehmet ?zzet A. and Selda P.
When describing Ümit Z. the document said: “He exerts his utmost for the benefit of the country and provides healthy and sound information. He has ambitions in his profession. He has close contacts with all officials of the Atatürkist Though Association [ADD]. He is close to former Constitutional Court Chairman Yekta Güngör Özden. He is a member of the Workers’ Party [?P] and is talented at establishing friendly dialogue with the public.”
