A BRITISH trade union delegation and two Kurdish journalists were detained after witnessing the Turkish state's scorched earth policy in Kurdistan.
When we arrived in the village of Birik, the houses were in flames', said Mary Brodbin of the NUJ. 'A Kurdish woman screamed Run away or the soldiers will shoot you too?
Surrounded by hooded soldiers waving loaded machine guns, they were marched out of the village into a field and held at rifle point for two hours. They were interrogated for 26 hours.
Torture
Necmiye Arslanoglu (20) and Nalan Alici (26), journalists for Ozgur Gundem (Free Agenda) newspaper in Diyarbakir, were separated from the delegation. Both were subject to psychological torture and accused of being members of the Kurdish guerrilla group, the PKK.
One of them was badly beaten. The Turkish security forces tried to force them to sign documents confessing their membership of the PKK. They resisted despite tremendous pressure.
After being denied sleep the delegation were sent to Diyarbakir Gendarmerie headquarters, where they were held for three hours in a minibus in freezing conditions before facing further interrogation. They were denied access to the British consul.
Humberside Councillor Sarah Dally (UNISON) said, 'Our treatment was nothing compared to the routine torture, beatings and murder meted out by the Turkish state to the Kurdish population every day.' After their release a uniformed policeman fired at Mary Brodbin's feet at Diyarbakir airport. Although I feared for my life, if I'd been a Kurd, the bullet would have been aimed at my head".
The delegation refused to leave Turkey until the journalists were released.
During their five day stay in Diyarbakir, 13 people were killed by government sponsored death squads in broad daylight.
The delegation are convinced the Turkish state is waging a war of genocide against its 20 million strong Kurdish population.
Guy Cheverton (MSF) said, 'No British person for the sake of their own safety or conscience should holiday in Turkey. Tourist revenue directly funds Turkey's ethnic cleansing.' Killed Ozgur Gundem is the only newspaper in Turkey which reports the war in Kurdistan. Fif*teen of its journalists have been killed in less than two years.
Any further attacks on these journalists will be added proof that the Turkish authorities massively abuse human rights in Kurdistan and silence opposition with death.
Further information from the Kurdistan Information Centre, 071 250 1315 and from the Ozgur Gundem Support Group 071 586 5892. Gendarmerie at Diyarbakir, where the union delegation was held.