In an April 1996 speech entitled "Politics and Religion in Post-Election Turkey" and delivered to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Dr. Sencer Ayata, an expert on political Islam, stated that the Ataturku Dusunce Denergi (ADD), or Association of Ataturkist Thought, is a secular political group that was founded in the mid-1990s in reaction to the grassroots success of the pro-Islamist Refah Party, which came first in the December 1995 elections with 21.5 per cent of the vote (Washington Institute 9 May 1996). According to Dr. Ayata, the ADD

has become Turkey's most powerful secular civil society organization, branching out into several provincial towns and cities. ...It now has 204 branches and 50,000 members. To increase its popularity, it has engaged in charitable activities, following the pattern of its Islamic counterparts. The Association is growing rapidly and is likely to become an important political force in Turkey (ibid.).

A 26 October 1999 Turkish Daily News article states that, to ADD members, the army is the guardian of the principles of Kemal Ataturk and that semi-democracy is acceptable as long as the state remains in the hands of those who share those Kemalist views. For further information on Kemalism, please refer to the attached document entitled "Ataturk's Reforms," from the United States Library of Congress study on Turkey.

The article suggests however that the ADD already existed in 1990 in stating that two Kemalist intellectuals, namely professor Muammer Aksoy and Associate Professor Bahriye Ucok, both members of the ADD, were murdered that year (ibid.). Another Kemalist intellectual, Ugur Mumcu, who was also involved in the ADD, was killed in a car explosion in 1993 (ibid.).

In July 1998, the ADD organized a meeting in Istanbul to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Lausanne Peace Treaty (24 July 1923) under which the borders of modern Turkey were drawn (Turkish Daily News 25 July 1998).

In August 2003, the ADD and various political and labour organizations held a demonstration in Istanbul to protest the dispatch of Turkish troops to Iraq in support of United States involvement in that country (Hurriyet 31 Aug. 2003).

No information on an ADD group affiliated with the Alevi could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

No further information on the ADD could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Hurriyet [Istanbul, in Turkish]. 31 August 2003. Mustafa Ozdabak. "Turkey: Right, Left Wing Youth Protest Dispatch Troops into Iraq." (FBIS-NES-2003-0901 8 Sept. 2003/Dialog)

Turkish Daily News [Ankara]. 26 October 1999. Fehmi Koru. "Fewer Tears, More Resolve." (Dialog)

_____. 25 July 1998. "Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Lausanne Peace Treaty." (Dialog)

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. 9 May 1996. Policy Watch. No. 198. Sencer Ayata. "Politics and Religion in Post-Election Turkey." http:www.washingtoninstitute.org/watch/Policywatch1996/198.htm [Accessed 8 Oct. 2003]

Attachment

United States. January 1995. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division. "Ataturk's Reforms." Turkey: A Country Study. Edited by Helen Chapin Metz. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html [Accessed 8 Oct. 2003]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB databases

Internet Sources, including:

European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI.net)

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)