Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1991
TURKEY
Turkey is a constitutional republic with a multiparty parliament
which elects the president. In the October parliamentary
elections the center-right Correct Way Party (DYP) obtained a
plurality of 27 percent of the national vote and its leader,
Suleyman Demirel, formed a coalition government with the Social
Democratic Populist Party (SHP).
The Turkish National Police in the cities and the Jandarma
(Gendarmerie) in the countryside are responsible for
maintaining public order. Reflecting the concern within Turkey
and internationally about the past actions of these security
organs. Prime Minister Demirel announced his Government's
commitment to establishing a state of law based upon human
rights and democratic freedoms. Admitting that allegations
about Turkey's use of torture had hurt its image, he called
torture a crime against humanity and promised to bring an end
to such charges. Within days of its formation, the new
Government appointed a State Minister for Human Rights and
closed a prison where torture allegedly occurred.
A state of emergency declared in 1987, at the time martial law
was rescinded, continued in 10 southeastern provinces where the
Government faced increasing violence in its efforts to combat
Kurdish separatist terrorists. In addition, three adjacent
provinces remained under the authority of the regional governor
for security purposes. The state of emergency allows civilian
governors to exercise certain quasi-martial law powers,
including restrictions on the press and control or prohibition
of labor union activities. Government decrees renewed in
November 1991 retained stringent security measures in the area
under the state of emergency.
Turkey's economy has a strong, free market orientation,
although state-owned enterprises still account for an estimated
42 percent of manufacturing. The industrial sector in
particular has grown considerably, and approximately 80 percent
of Turkey's exports are industrial sector goods. The Persian
Gulf war took a great toll on the economy: energy prices
doubled, tourism plummeted, and Turkey sustained substantial
losses in trade and related services as a result of sanctions
against Iraq. Inflation in Turkey was running at an annual
rate of 71 percent through November 1991.
Although Turkey has signed several international conventions
against torture, it has not succeeded in reducing the incidence
of torture of persons in police custody. Other problems
include political killings and other terrorist acts by an armed
separatist movement and leftwing extremists, the use of
excessive force against noncombatants in the southeast by
security forces trying to suppress terrorism, some restrictions
on freedom of expression, and the absence of the right of
detained persons to have an attorney present during
interrogation. Parliament passed an Anti-Terror Law in April
1991 which quashed previously stipulated capital sentences,
amnestied thousands of prisoners, commuted sentences,
decriminalized the use of the Kurdish language and nullified
Articles 141, 142, and 163 of the Penal Code (the so-called
thought crimes articles).
However, the Anti-Terror Law also introduced a broad and
ambiguous definition of "terrorist" activities that could
invite abuses of power by security authorities. Portions of
the new law have been submitted to the Constitutional Court for
review as to their constitutionality. Parliament has not yet
acted on proposed legislation to improve access to legal
counsel or to shorten the permissible detention period before a
suspect must be brought before a court.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no known political killings attributable to the
Government, but political murder by terrorists occurred with
dismaying frequency, and there were 18 deaths in official
custody in 1991, at least some of which may have been due to
police torture (see Section I.e.).
The murder of Vedat Aydin, a prominent Kurdish politician and
human rights activist, remains unsolved. Aydin was taken from
his Diyarbakir home on July 5 by men who said they were police;
his body was found by a roadside 40 miles away several days
later. The authorities say he was never in their custody. No
one claimed responsibility for the killing. The investigation
into the disappearance and murder has yielded no results.
Some of the victims killed by terrorists in shooting and
bombing incidents during the year included: five retired
generals assasinated by terrorists; an American civilian
employee at Incirlik air base outside Adana;.an American shot
at his Istanbul office; a Jandarma commander; a British
insurance executive; a prominent Turkish archeologist and his
student; a U.S. Air Force staff sergeant killed in a car bomb
blast (a similar explosion the same day cost an Egyptian
diplomat his legs); and an Istanbul deputy police chief and his
driver. In most cases, police have not identified those
responsible, although the terrorist group Dev-Sol
(Devrimci-Sol , the revolutionary left) claimed to have
committed many of the killings, and the Kurdish Workers' Party
(PKK), a separatist and terrorist organization in the
southeast, may have been responsible for others.
b. Disappearance
There were no disappearances known to have been caused by
government forces. However, disappearances did occur in 1991.
Huseyin Toraman, reportedly a member of Dev Sol, vanished
October 27 while buying bread in Istanbul; press reports said
eyewitnesses saw him forced into a car by three gunmen "who
said they were from the police." Istanbul police denied that
Toraman was ever in their custody. The disappearance of
People's Workers' Party (HEP) member Muharrem Bozan, missing
since July 25 when he was seen leaving the party headquarters
in Diyarbakir, has not been explained. So far as is known,
Bozan 's case has never been officially investigated, nor has
any further information come to light. Other cases of
disappearance in which the police were said to be involved
include those of Yusuf Eristi, whom an unnamed witness claimed
to have seen in detention (while police deny having detained
him) and Haydar Altun, whom the Human Rights Foundation says
was either a PKK training cam.p commander or a PKK unit
commander.
PKK terrorists continued to abduct local villagers, teachers,
and security officials in the southeast. The PKK also targeted
foreigners in 1991, kidnaping 19 of them. In September PKK
spokesmen warned foreigners not to travel in eastern Turkey
without first obtaining a "visa" from the PKK.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The Constitution outlaws torture, and Turkey is a signatory to,
inter alia, the European Convention Against Torture. As Turkey
has recognized the compulsory jurisdiction of the European
Court of Human Rights, Turks are free to file applications with
the European Commission on Human Rights, and several have done
so. Early in 1991, the Grand National Assembly established a
multiparty Human Rights Commission and empowered it to
investigate allegations of human rights abuses that are
submitted to it. In September the Justice and Interior
Ministries announced that each of them was setting up a human
rights section. The Parliament sponsored an October symposium
on "International Protection of Human Rights." The police
academy announced in October that human rights is being taught
as the first course in its fall semester. Nevertheless,
despite these public commitments, pervasive and credible
reports of torture persisted throughout Turkey. The European
Parliament's human rights report approved on September 13 cited
Turkey as a country with cases of "death caused by torture."
Prime Minister Demirel appointed Mehmet Kahraman as the first
ever Minister of State for Human Rights. On November 22,
Kahraman and Justice Minister Seyfi Oktay, accompanied—at
their request—by Nevzat Helvaci, president of the Turkish
Human Rights Association (HRA), went to Eskisehir maximum
security prison to investigate allegations of torture. Earlier
in November, the escape of two suspected Dev-Sol assassins from
Ankara central prison during a holiday visitation by families
had prompted authorities to transfer about 200 political
offenders to Eskisehir from prisons elsewhere in Turkey.
Physicians certified that many of the inmates, after their
arrival at Eskisehir, bore signs of torture. Whether the
torture was inflicted while the prisoners were en route to
Eskisehir or after their arrival remains uncertain. Eskisehir
province's chief prosecutor immediately began an
investigation. After visiting Eskisehir, the Ministers
obtained a full cabinet decision to close down the prison, and
this was accomplished within a matter of a few days.
Knowledgeable observers contended that most persons charged
with—or merely suspected of—political crimes are tortured,
while significant numbers of those detained for ordinary crimes
are subjected to police brutality. This mistreatment continues
to occur in police stations, largely during periods of
incommunicado detention before a suspect is brought before a
court.
Figures compiled by the HRA show that, in the year to December,
18 persons had died while in police custody. Several deaths
resulted when youthful suspects committed "suicide" by
plummeting from third- and fourth-story windows of police
stations, two of them in Gaziantep. In Istanbul, Ali Reza
Agdogan died after jumping or being pushed from the fourth
story of the Beyoglu police station. Doctors reportedly found
evidence of trauma to the soles of Agdogan ' s feet, although he
died from a head-first fall. Birtan Altinbas, who was detained
for 15 days at the political section of Ankara police
headquarters, died January 16 at Gulhane Military Hospital,
allegedly as a result of torture. Haydar Arman died after
detention at the Ankara Security Directorate, and the head of
the Diyarbakir HRA attributed the death of Remzi II to brain
hemorrhage as a result of torture by Diyarbakir police. A
police raid seeking Dev-Sol recruiters at Istanbul's Mimar
Sinan University culminated in the death of Seher Sahin, a
third-year student who either fell or was pushed from a
window. Senar Turgut, producer of the movie "Siyabed U Xeco"
based on a Kurdish legend, was detained in Van, and the Human
Rights Foundation reported that Turgut ' s attorney, Senay Gun,
stated her client was tortured while in custody.
Credible reports indicate that high-pressure cold water hoses,
electric shocks, beating of the genitalia, and hanging by the
arms are methods commonly employed. Systematic beatings,
including beatings on the soles of the feet, also occur;
however, a person claiming to have been tortured at Ankara
police headquarters in 1991 said that beating has fallen from
favor because it leaves marks. Psychological abuse in the form
of verbal intimidation and threats is said to be common, as is
the practice of keeping the detainee blindfolded.
The United Nations Human Rights Commission's Special Rapporteur
on Torture reports that detainees, including children, were
often forced to listen to the torture of family members.
Dr. Cemal Kahraman, president of Nusaybin's HRA, told observers
at his June trial in Diyarbakir that he had been suspended by
his arms with his wrists tied behind his back for up to an hour
at a time, beaten on the soles of his feet, subjected to a mock
execution, and forced to undergo psychological torture,
including threats to rape his wife. Yeni Ulke journalist Mecit
Akgun, also a member of the Nusaybin HRA, alleged he was
tortured in March and April during incommunicado detention at
Jandarma regimental headquarters in Mardin. Tempo magazine
published a graphic story in September on beatings suffered by
Istanbul transvestites rounded up by police. The head of
Istanbul's chapter of the HRA alleged that after the
transvestites publicized their mistreatment they were again
taken into custody and beaten in reprisal.
Other former detainees give similar descriptions of methods
employed by police. Although the Government asserted that
medical examinations occur once during detention and a second
time before either arraignment or release, former detainees
assert that some government-ordered medical examinations take
place too long after the event to allow any definitive
findings, some examinations are cursory in nature, and some are
done in the intimidating presence of police officials.
According to government-provided figures, 1,417 allegations of
torture were investigated between January 1 and September 30,
1991. Officials in 183 cases were acquitted, 549 cases
continue in judicial proceedings (some predating 1991), and 883
cases have been dismissed by the courts. No government
official was convicted of torture or inhuman and degrading
treatment under Article 243 of the Turkish Penal Code during
the January-September 1991 period; 17 were convicted for
maltreatment under Article 245.
Prosecution of alleged perpetrators of torture has been
sporadic. The Government has reopened approximately 250 cases
of alleged torture by authorities and is continuing court
proceedings against another 550 security officials charged with
mistreatment or torture of persons in custody. Credible
sources continued to estimate that judicial authorities
investigate only about half of the formal complaints involving
torture and prosecuted only a small fraction of those. Justice
Ministry figures for January 1-September 30, 1991, show that of
the 1,417 incidents of torture or maltreatment brought to the
attention of judicial authorities, 463 resulted in lawsuits
against government officials. Those found guilty have
historically received light sentences. In one important case
(cited in the 1989 and 1990 reports) an appeals court
invalidated a light sentence given to a Jandarma major
convicted of beating southeastern Yesilyurt villagers and
forcing them to eat excrement and ordered a retrial. The
retrial, however, resulted in another light sentence—a 3-month
suspension from duty and a $500 fine—which was ultimately
suspended. The incident is currently being examined by the
Human Rights Commission of the Council of Europe.
Five policemen charged with torturing a correspondent of
Mucadele (Struggle) magazine, Figen Baran, went on trial in
Ankara on October 8. The prosecutor asked that each policeman
be sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment. The court transferred
the file to the Ankara Provincial Special Administrative Board,
which handles disciplinary punishments for all civil servants.
The Board had not announced any decision by year's end. The
family of a university student who died after being tortured in
1980 successfully brought a case this year against the
responsible police officer, Sinan Yalcin, who was sentenced to
4 years and 5 months of imprisonment on October 15.
Article 15 of the Anti-Terror Law changed the way in which
officials accused of torture or other mistreatment are
treated. Formerly, a prosecutor could demand suspension of the
suspected offender from his duties while the case was being
investigated. Now the suspect may stay on the job until after
being convicted. In addition, the legal fees of the suspects
are paid by their agencies, with no limit placed on the amount
of such fees.
Limited government reforms that could contribute to a reduction
of abuse have not been effectively implemented. According to
government figures and estimates, the number of cases of
torture prosecuted or in the hands of judicial authorities for
prosecution fell from 812 in 1990 to 463 in the first 9 months
of 1991. The percentage of convictions declined in the same
period—from 3 to zero convictions for torture; from 185 to 17
convictions for maltreatment.
The HRA's Human Rights Foundation operates torture
rehabilitation centers in Ankara, Izmir, and Istanbul. It is
raising money to establish another torture rehabilitation
center in Diyarbakir. Foundation head Yavuz Ozen said the
three existing centers were treating more than 120 persons as
of November 30.
Prison conditions, although far from ideal, generally do not
threaten the lives and health of prisoners.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Except in limited circumstances, such as when a person is
caught in the act of comir.itting a cri.-ne, a prosecutor must
issue a detention order. The detention period for those
charged with common or individvial crimes is generally 24 hours,
but persons detained because of crimes falling under the
provisions of the Anti-Terror Law "are to be presented to a
judge within 48 hours." Those charged with any crime of a
collective or conspiratorial nature may still be detained up to
15 days. In the 10 southeastern provinces under a state of
emergency, incommunicado detention for collective crimes may
last up to 30 days. Access to counsel is not permitted during
these periods of detention.
Turkish law does not give detainees the right to have an
attorney present during questioning, although a proposal to
give detainees this right is pending in Parliament. Under
existing law, a detainee's next of kin must normally be
notified "in the shortest time" after arrest. Once formally
charged by the prosecutor, a detainee is arraigned before a
judge and allowed to retain a lawyer. Once arraigned, the
judge may release the accused on presentation of an appropriate
guarantee, such as bail, or order him held in detention if the
court determines that he is likely to flee or destroy evidence.
Prime Ministry circulars issued in 1989 and 1990 on the issue
of access to lawyers have not improved such access for most
detainees, particularly those charged with collective or
political crimes. According to the circulars, suspects
detained for individual or collective crimes are to be allowed
access to an attorney. Because the final decision is left to
the independent prosecutors, however, such access is routinely
denied, usually with an explanation that access would prejudice
an ongoing investigation. In some cases, police are reported
to make access impossible through time-consuming bureaucratic
requirements. The Constitution specifies the right of
detainees to request "speedy conclusion of arraignment and
trial." Nevertheless, judges have ordered a significant number
of persons detained while their cases progress, sometimes for
years. While many cases involve persons accused of violent
crimes, it is not uncommon for those accused of membership in
illegal organizations or the dissemination of ideas proscribed
by the Anti-Terror Law to be remanded in custody until the
conclusion of their trials. Large-scale detentions in the
southeast followed upon Vedat Aydin's funeral, when as many as
500 persons reportedly were taken into custody in Diyarbakir.
Most were released within 24 hours.
Detentions sometimes appear arbitrary. For example, the
16-year old student known as "N. A.," detained in October 1990
for having hung a "No to War" placard on her classroom wall,
was held in prison until the end of February 1991. In October
1991, police detained an Istanbul youth for having asked
President Ozal why "you always talk about the good things,
(but) don't mention the bad things you have done?" He was
charged and convicted of "insulting the President" and sent to
prison. The length of the sentence was not reported; the
maximum sentence for insulting the President is 6 years. The
num.ber of persons detained during the year for attempting to
exercise free speech or other human rights cannot be
established with any accuracy.
There is no formal external exile. The Government has
sometimes refused to renew the passports of Turks working
abroad who refused to return home to face court charges or
perform military service. These persons may apply to the
Interior Ministry for permission to return to Turkey. Since
the Anti-Terror law abolished elements of the old Penal Code,
some persons who had refused to return to face charges have
applied successfully for permission to return. Turkey's
internal exile law was lifted in 1987. In 1990 the Government
gave authority to the southeast regional governor to "remove
from the region," for a period not to exceed the duration of
the state of emergency, citizens under his administration whose
activities (whether voluntary or forced) "give an impression
that they are prone to disturb general security and public
order." There are no known instances of this authority having
been used in 1991.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The court system and judicial procedures are modeled on Western
European criminal and civil law codes. The judicial system is
composed of general law courts, state security courts, and
military courts. Three martial law courts remain in Ankara,
Istanbul, and Diyarbakir, clearing their dockets of cases
involving offenses committed during the period following the
1980 military takeover of the government and before 1985. The
majority of cases are prosecuted in the general law courts,
which include the civil courts, administrative courts, and
criminal courts. Appeals are heard in either the High Court of
Appeals or the Council of State. There is also a
Constitutional Court and a Court of Cassation.
The Constitution declares that judges shall be independent in
the discharge of their duties and provides for the security of
their tenure. It also prohibits authorities from giving orders
or recommendations concerning the exercise of judicial power.
In many instances, charges brought by prosecutors are dismissed
by courts. The High Council of Judges and Prosecutors,
appointed by the President and including the Minister of
Justice, selects judges and prosecutors for the higher courts
and oversees those of the lower courts.
Defendants normally have the right to an open trial, and the
Constitution states that no one shall be found guilty until
proven guilty in a court of law. The law requires the Bar
Association to provide free counsel to indigents who make such
a request to the court. Costs are borne by the Association,
but Parliament is considering a proposal for the State to
assume these legal fees. There is no jury system; all cases
are decided by a judge or a panel of judges.
Defense lawyers generally have access to the independent
prosecutor's files after arraignment and before the trial (a
period of a few weeks). In political cases, access may be
denied to files dealing with national intelligence or security
matters.
Eight state security courts, composed of two civilian judges
and one military judge, try defendants accused of crimes such
as terrorism, drug smuggling, membership in illegal
organizations, and espousing or disseminating ideas prohibited
by law as "damaging the indivisible unity of the state with its
territory and nation." Government sources indicate there are
currently 1,192 cases involving 7,110 defendants being tried in
the State Security Courts. State Security Courts may hold
closed hearings and admit testimony secured during police
interrogations or under torture if it is corroborated by other
sources. Sentences imposed under the Anti-Terror Law may not
be commuted to a fine or suspended.
Military courts, with their own appeals system, hear cases
relating to infractions of military law by members of the armed
forces.
The Constitutional Court is composed of 11 judges nominated by
members of the judiciary and appointed by the President. It
examines the constitutionality of laws, decrees, and procedural
rules of the Parliament. However, no "decrees with the force
of law" issued during a state of emergency, martial law, or in
time of war may be brought before the Constitutional Court.
Available figures indicate that several dozen cases involving
close to 1,000 defendents remained in the martial law courts as
of the end of November, the majority of which have been
referred to the military supreme court of appeals. Since the
abolition of Articles 141, 142, and 163 in April 1991, a number
of persons have been convicted under the new anti-terror laws
but the number of those convicted for nonviolent crimes was
probably small.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The Constitution provides for the inviolability of a person's
domicile and the privacy of correspondence and communication.
Government officials may enter a private residence and
intercept or monitor private correspondence only upon issuance
of a judicial warrant.
In the 10 provinces under a state of emergency, however, the
governor (or regional governor) may empower authorities to
search residences or the premises of political parties,
businesses, associations, and other organizations without a
warrant. Authorities in these provinces may also search, hold,
or seize without warrant persons, letters, telegrams, and
docviments. Roadblocks are commonplace in the southeast, and
security officials, in search of smugglers and terrorists,
regularly search vehicles and travelers.
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in Internal Conflicts
Since 1984 a continuing and increasingly violent insurgency by
the separatist Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) has claimed over
3,000 lives. The PKK ' s campaign of terrorism in southeast
Turkey is directed both against security forces and against
fellow Turks of Kurdish origin. In addition to casualties
among security forces, there were some 105 noncombatant deaths
as a result of these actions.
The PKK fired rockets at night into the centers of Turkish
towns, ostensibly aiming at security establishments or the
homes of Turkish officials but in fact, causing death, injury
or damage in surrounding neighborhoods. The PKK has also
continued its attacks against the educational system, killing
or threatening to kill ethnic Turkish teachers in many
districts. As a result, schools did not reopen in most rural
areas of southeast Turkey at the beginning of the 1991-92
school year. The PKK stopped five minibuses one night in Siirt
and killed 5 passengers, including one child. The PKK also
killed the village teacher and her parents in Gorkce in Tuncele
province. On two other occasions, the PKK attacked the homes
of the head of a village guard force and of a Jandarma
sergeant, wounding by gunfire the children of the first and
killing the spouse of the latter.
Government security forces have sometimes attacked villages
suspected of harboring PKK terrorists, thereby causing an
unknown number of casualties and destruction. In July,
citizens in Cizre and Idil villages accused government forces
of indiscriminate firing after a PKK incident. It is
impossible to determ.ine the instigating party.
Vedat Aydin's funeral on July 11 (see Section l.a.) erupted in
violence; several people were killed by police gunfire, dozens
were wounded, and hundreds arrested. The facts are disputed;
all parties agree only that no one knows for sure who killed
Aydin. Even the numbers of dead in the funeral riot are
uncertain. Turkish government officials admitted to five, but
another informed source mentioned twice that number of victims
from a nearby town alone. The Government accused funeral
participants of provoking the police, while human rights
activists accused the Government of using the occasion to
attack Kurdish rights leaders.
Villagers complain that Jandarma and security team searches for
PKK terrorists and for evidence of local support for them have
resulted in expulsions, beatings, torture, and arbitrary
killing of innocent civilians. Claiming official intimidation,
Zubeyir Aydar, a lawyer, and his wife Evin, president of the
Siirt HRA, allege they have received death threats for their
activities since 1989, when Aydar publicized the existence of a
so-called "butcher's river" near Siirt. Aydar was excluded
from Siirt under the emergency situation legislation but was
allowed to return in 1990. In December of that year, he was
unable to attend Helsinki Watch ceremonies honoring his work as
a human rights monitor because he was refused a passport. In
May 1991, after a civilian was killed by the PKK, a Jandarma
commander allegedly told the dead man's relatives to seek
revenge by killing Aydar. Aydar also asserts that security
teams in August offered village guards inducements to
assassinate him.
Government decrees, codified in December 1990 as decree 430 and
most recently renewed in mid-November 1991, imposed stringent
security measures in the southeast. The regional governor may
censor news, ban strikes or lockouts, and impose internal exile
(see Section l.d.). The decree also provides for the doubling
of sentences for those convicted of cooperating with
separatists. Informants and convicted persons who cooperate
with the State are eligible for rewards and reduced sentences.
Provisions in the decree that specifically prohibited court
challenges to administrative decisions of the regional governor
were later amended to provide limited judicial review.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
With some significant exceptions, the freedoms of speech and
press are widely and vigorously practiced in Turkey. The
privately owned press, which reflects a broad range of opinion,
does not hesitate to criticize the Government. Penal Code
Articles 141, 142, and 163—designed to prevent what were
historically considered threats to the democratic and secular
nature of the State—were abolished in April.
Prosecutions against authors, publications, and publishers
continued, however, under the provisions of the Anti-Terror
Law. It provides that "written and oral propaganda ... aiming at
damaging the indivisible unity of the state of the Turkish
republic with its territory and nation (is) forbidden,
regardless of the method, intention and ideas behind it."
Those conducting such activity are to be punished by a sentence
of between 2 and 5 years in prison and a fine eqxial to the
equivalent at the current exchange rate of $10,000 to $20,000.
If the offending "propaganda" is a periodical, the publishers
are liable to an additional fine of no less than $20,000.
Responsible editors may be fined half the amount of the
publisher's fine and sentenced to between 6 months and 2 years
in prison.
Abolition of Article 141 (advocacy of a state based on class or
race dominance, i.e., communism or fascism), led to
decriminalization of the Communist Party and to acquittal in
October of Turkish United Communist Party leaders Haydar Kutlu
and Nihat Sargin, who had been on trial under Articles 140,
141, and 142, on most charges against them. Kutlu and Sargin
also benefited from an August decision by the International
Court of Justice declaring they had been wrongly imprisoned.
The Government has agreed to pay them compensation in an amount
still to be determined. Abolition of Article 141 also led to
the lifting of the ban on the leftist trade union confederation
DISK (see Section 6.a.).
Abolition of Article 142 (advocacy of a separate state based on
ethnic origins, e.g., Kurdish separatism), along with the
demise of Law 2932 prohibiting the use of the Kurdish language,
prompted a rash of Kurdish-language cassette tapes and of
publications on Kurdish subjects. Some of these initially ran
afoul of the new law. Sociologist Ismail Besikci, a familiar
figure in Turkish courtrooms, went on trial again (along with
his publisher) in Ankara State Security Court on October 3,
charged with producing antistate propaganda in his book "State
Terror in the Middle East." Judges denied his attorneys'
request that he be freed on bail until the case continued but
did release him on October 31 pending further hearings. His
freedom was short-lived, however, as Besikci was arrested again
in November for another objectionable volume. The Turkish
press wrote on December 17 that Besikci, now free on his own
recognizance, is on trial in Ankara Criminal Court for
"defaming Turkish citizenship and the Turkish republic" and
faces a possible 1-to 6-year prison term. The HRA reported on
October 3 that "Kurdish File," a book by journalist Rafet
Balli, was ordered confiscated by the Istanbul State Security
Court on the grounds that "it disseminated separatist
propaganda and praised activities that are considered crime by
the laws." The book interviewed leaders of several Kurdish
organizations. The same court earlier ordered confiscation of
the 49th issue of weekly Yeni Ulke (New Land) newspaper and the
50th issue of biweekly magazine Emegin Bayragi (Flag of Labor)
on grounds that they disseminate separatist propaganda. Yucel
Halis was sentenced in Ankara State Security Court to 10 years'
imprisonment for "disseminating PKK propaganda in Ankara."
Minister of Culture Fikri Saglar announced on December 15 that
he was immediately lifting the bans against all books
prohibited since the 1980 military takeover in Turkey. Saglar
said some 25,000 titles would be freed for publication and
sale. Saglar also has stopped any government actions against
Kurdish-language cassette tapes. A Turk resident in Sweden
began publication of a weekly Kurdish-language newspaper in
Turkey in December.
Journalists sometimes face harassment and aggressive
application of the law by public prosecutors. Publications
must designate a "responsible editor" who is legally
accountable for a publication's contents. Many have faced
repeated criminal proceedings. According to information
provided by the Justice Ministry, as of November 29, 1991, the
single "editor, writer, or journalist" in confinement of any
kind in Turkey is Gunes ' s Deniz Teztel, mentioned below. HRA
president Nevzat Helvaci confirmed that fact on December 10.
The Justice Ministry adds that trials continue against 83
editors, writers, or journalists without their being detained.
Decree 430 superseded and modified some of the more severe
provisions of its predecessors. For example, although it still
requires self-censorship on all news reporting from or about
the southeast and gives the Interior Ministry the authority to
ban, upon the regional governor's proposal, the distribution of
any news regarded as misrepresenting events in the region, it
does not permit indefinite closure of printing houses that
violate the decree. Nevertheless, operations may be
suspended—10 days for a first offense and 30 days for
subsec[uent offenses—if a government warning is not obeyed.
Gunes journalist Deniz Teztel was imprisoned in Ankara in July
for refusing to cooperate with authorities by providing
information on sources who are allegedly members of Dev-Sol.
She is currently imprisoned in Cankiri, awaiting trial for
violating provisions of the Anti-Terror Law.
Turkish radio and television (TRT) is a government monopoly.
Opposition figures asserted that its broadcasts have a
progovernment bias, despite coverage of opposition leaders and
their parties. A government commission generally apportions
party access to television and radio during election and
referendum campaigns based on the proportion of parliamentary
seats that each party holds. However, TRT television aired a
3-hour roundtable preelection debate with the leaders of six
parties—including the Socialist Party and the Islamic
fundamentalist Refah Party—participating on equal terms. In
1991 Turkish viewers with access to cable facilities or
satellite dishes have also been able to watch foreign
broadcasts, the Turkish-language "Star 1," and other private
channels operating from abroad. Obscenity and censorship laws
remain on the books and sometimes result in the confiscation
and banning of publications and films.
The leftwing weekly Toward The Year 2000, which had had its
publication suspended by the Interior Ministry during 1990,
resumed publication in 1991. It is published regularly, but
some issues have been confiscated. Other leftwing publications
that had stopped publication or were published only
sporadically during 1990 have benefited from the more liberal
provisions of Decree 430. There remains limited independent
reporting on southeastern Turkey.
In three instances, foreign journalists were either detained or
harassed by Turkish authorities: British journalist Robert
Fisk was expelled from Turkey for "biased and insulting
reporting" about Turkey; Elizabeth Schmidt, a German journalist
who covered Vedat Aydin's funeral in July, was beaten by police
and detained for about 2 weeks; and a Turkish member of the New
York Times team led by Chris Hedges was detained for having
photographed Turkish soldiers firing into the air to break up a
pro-PKK demonstration.
While it is generally permissible to criticize government
leaders or policies, the Criminal Code provides penalties for
those who "insult the President, the Parliament, and the army,"
ranging from a 3-year minimum sentence for insulting the
President to a 6-year maximum for insulting the other branches
of government. Judges have generally been rigorous in
examining evidence and have dismissed many charges brought
under these laws. Police still detain people and prosecutors
Still bring them to court under this section, resulting in long
and expensive trials in many cases.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Peaceful assemblies are permitted with prior notification to
government authorities but may be restricted to designated
sites. Permission may be denied if the authorities believe the
assembly (for example, a May Day rally) is likely to disrupt
public order.
The law on associations reflects lingering concern over the
widespread violence that preceded the military intervention of
1980. It prohibits associations and labor unions from having
ties to political parties or engaging in political activity.
Police raided or closed branches of the Ozgur Dernegi (Freedom
Association) in various cities in Turkey during 1991.
Associations must submit their charters for government
approval, which is a lengthy and cumbersome process. The
Constitution and the law governing political parties proscribe
student and faculty involvement in political activities.
Political parties may not form youth branches. Students are
not eligible to join political parties, and faculty members who
are elected to Parliament must resign their university
positions. Students and faculty members may participate in
politics as individuals.
c. Freedom of Religion
Turkey is a secular state. The Constitution provides for
freedom of belief, freedom of worship (in specifically
designated places of worship), and private dissemination of
one's religious ideas. Turkey's population is 99 percent
Muslim. Although Turkey is a secular state. Islamic religious
instruction in state schools is compulsory for Muslims.
Turkish law exempts non-Muslims from Muslim religious
instruction upon written verification of their non-Muslim
background, although students who wish to attend may do so with
parental consent.
Many prosecutors view proselytism and religious activism on the
part of either Islamic fundamentalists or evangelical
Christians with suspicion, especially when their activities are
seen to have political overtones. Courts dismissed virtually
all charges brought against Islamic fundamentalists and Turkish
and foreign evangelical Christians in 1991. The police,
nevertheless, continued their surveillance and detentions of
evangelical Christians, refused to renew some residence
permits, and expelled some from the country. The Foreign
Ministry asserts that such expulsions are administrative
measures taken against activities harmful and disturbing to
public order. However, interviews with some detainees and
deportees disclosed that they denied having broken Turkish laws
and almost all assert they were never granted even an
administrative hearing before actions were taken against them.
One American obtained a written statement describing the
grounds for his deportation and is pursuing the matter in
Turkish courts.
Among Turkey's non-Muslim religious groups, there are some
60,000 Armenians, 25,000 Jews, 20,000 Syriac Christians, 18,000
Arab Orthodox, 4,000 Greek Orthodox, and several thousand Roman
Catholics and Chaldean Christians. Most religious minorities
are concentrated in Istanbul. They operate churches,
monasteries, synagogues, schools, and charitable religious
foundations such as hospitals and orphanages. The Jewish
community reported no problems with the Government in 1991 (or
in recent memory).
Armenian and Greek churches and their affiliated operations are
reportedly subject to careful official monitoring of their
activities. The curriculum in their schools is tightly
controlled by the Ministry of Education. Greek and Armenian
theological seminaries in Turkey, ordered closed in 1971, have
not reopened since then. Armenian and Greek churches also find
their ability properly to manage or dispose of their
considerable real estate holdings in Istanbul is affected by
legal and bureaucratic regulations. Complicated and
time-consuming bureaucratic procedures deter repairs to some
religious facilities, which often require government approval
because of their historical value. Under Turkish law,
religious buildings that become "extinct" (i.e., due to
prolonged absence of clergy or of lay persons to staff local
religious councils) revert to the possession of the
Government. Some non-Muslim minorities, particularly the Greek
Orthodox and, to a lesser extent, Armenians and Jews, are faced
with the danger of losing their houses of worship. Controversy
also arose in April when an Armenian town hall under
construction on Kinali island was razed allegedly because
required building permits had not been obtained.
The Turkish Government made no attempt to interfere in the
election by the Greek Orthodox Holy Synod of Metropolitan
Bartholomew as Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
Turkish citizens enjoy freedom of movement within Turkey and
are generally free to travel abroad. The Constitution provides
that a citizen's freedom to leave may be restricted only on
account of the national economic situation, civic obligations
(i.e., military service), or criminal investigation or
prosecution.
Some human rights activists have experienced delays in
acquiring passports. For example, Hatip Dicle, formerly
president of the Diyarbakir chapter of the HRA and now an SHP
parliamentarian, was unable to accept an official invitation to
visit the United States in February 1991 because government
authorities delayed his passport application for several
months. Reportedly, he did obtain a passport later in 1991.
When Kurds and other Iraqis fled from Saddam Hussein's forces
in April, more than half a million found haven along Turkey's
border with Iraq. The Turkish Government opened a staging
center for hajj pilgrims to shelter some of the Iraqi refugees
in Turkey. With the assistance and cooperation of coalition
"Operation Provide Comfort" personnel, international
organizations, and numerous private voluntary organizations and
nongovernmental organizations, Turkey housed, fed, and provided
medical care for the refugees. Turkey also cooperated with
coalition efforts to establish a secure zone in northern Iraq
to which the refugees could return.
Turkey is still host to many refugees who did not feel they
could return to Iraq. Official figures released in mid-October
1991 showed that 5,538 Iraqis who fled Saddam's forces earlier
in the year remain in camps in southeastern Turkey, which
representatives of international organizations continue to
visit grequently. An additional 5,933 Iraqi refugees were
granted temporary residence permits by the Turkish Government
and are living independently in Turkey. About 21,000 of the
60,000 Iraqi Kurdish refugees who arrived in 1988 remain in
camps in the southeast. The Government does not recognize the
Iraqi Kurds' claims to refugee status but has also stated these
people will not be returned forcibly to Iraq. The Turks
historically have followed this policy towards all persons
seeking refugee status.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Turkish citizens have the right and ability to change their
government peacefully, within certain legal constraints. As
noted in Section 2.b., the repeal of Article 141 of the Penal
Code decriminalized the Turkish United Communist Party. Turkey
has a multiparty parliamentary system, in which elections are
held every 5 years on the basis of mandatory universal suffrage
for all citizens 20 years of age and over.
The Grand National Assembly (Parliament) elects the President
as Head of State every 7 years. In the October parliamentary
elections, the Correct Way Party (DYP) won a plurality of 27
percent of the vote and 178 seats in the 450-member unicameral
Parliament. Seats are allocated on a weighted proportional
representation basis in which parties that poll less than 10
percent of the total national vote are excluded. This
provision is intended to prevent political fragmentation. Four
other parties obtained seats in the Parliament, and the DYP
formed a coalition with the Social Dem.ocratic Populist Party to
achieve a parliamentary majority.
The Constitution provides equal political rights for men and
women. Eight women, representing three parties, were elected
to Parliament in 1991. Members of minorities, Muslim and
non-Muslim, face no legal limitations on political
participation. Although the People's Workers' Party (HEP)
experienced difficulties with authorities during the year and
some of its members were arrested and charged with speaking in
Kurdish before the language law was repealed, some 22
HEP-af filiated candidates won seats in Parliament as SHP
candidates. Several of these created a disturbance in
Parliament when they took their oaths as written and appended
Kurdish slogans to them. To date, no consequences have
followed their action. HEP held an extraordinary convention
that turned into a celebration of the PKK on December 15 in
Ankara. The Government is proceeding with an investigation.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
A nongovernmental Human Rights Association (HRA), officially
approved in 1987, has branches in 42 provincial capitals and
organizes discussions, publications, rallies, petitions, and an
annual Human Rights Day celebration. Its membership numbers
about 12,000. The HRA established the Human Rights Foundation
in 1990 which, as well as operating torture rehabilitation
centers in Ankara, Izmir, and Istanbul, serves as a
clearinghouse for information on human rights.
The Government closed the Batman branch of the HRA for several
months in 1991 and has ordered other branches shut for greater
and lesser periods. It contended that HRA statements opposing
the Persian Gulf war violated the law on associations which
restricts political activities to political parties. Police
have also reportedly raided HRA branches in Istanbul and
elsewhere and confiscated materials. In September police
detained 23 persons who attended an Ankara exhibit mounted by
the HRA to commemorate the anniversary of the military coup on
September 12, 1980. Four remain in custody. According to the
president of the Istanbul chapter of HRA, his association was
the subject of 17 separate police investigations and pending
prosecutions as of the end of September. Many of these, and
many arrests of human rights activists, stemmed from alleged
violations of the Law on Associations or the holding of illegal
demonstrations.
The Social Democratic Populist Party has a human rights
committee and has actively pursued human rights issues in
Parliament for several years. All the political parties
contesting the 1991 elections incorporated a human rights plank
into their campaign platforms. Parliament passed the bill
establishing its Human Rights Commission in December 1990. The
Commission began operating early in 1991. It has authority to
oversee Turkey's compliance with the human rights provisions of
Turkish law and international agreements to which it is a
signatory, investigate alleged abuses, and prepare an annual
report. The Commission has visited and reported on conditions
in Bursa Prison; has made a surprise inspection of a police
headquarters in Ankara; and has issued a report on the number
and types of cases brought to its attention. The Commission,
whose new chairman is an ethnic Kurd, announced on December 18
that it had established a subcommittee dedicated to
investigating disappearances. The first case it will
investigate is that of Huseyin Toraman, cited in Section l.b.
While representatives of diplomatic missions or foreign private
organizations who wish to monitor the state of human rights in
Turkey are free to speak with private citizens, official
visitors to the southeast may be followed by security police.
The Government contends that protection from possible terrorist
assaults is necessary, but the presence of security officials
may have an intimidating effect upon interviewees. The
Government continues to be ambivalent toward nongovernmental
organizations (NGO's) because of its belief that their reports
do not reflect adequately the country's progress in human
rights and tend to overlook human rights abuses practiced by
terrorists. Access to government officials or facilities at
times may be refused or restricted.
Under the European and U.N. Conventions Against Torture
ratified by Turkey, committees or rapporteurs may visit all
places of detention at any time, following notification to the
government. In September the Council of Europe's Committee for
the Prevention of Torture visited Turkey and was given access
to prisons and police facilities. European parliamentary
representatives attending the human rights symposium sponsored
by the Turkish Parliament in October publicly stated their hope
that Turkey will authorize publication of the Committee's
report on its findings. Turkey formally recognized the
compulsory jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights
in 1989, and a number of cases involving Turks have been
referred to it.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Language, or Social Status
The Constitution proclaims Turkey to be a secular state,
regards all Turkish citizens as equal, and prohibits
discrimination on ethnic, religious, or racial grounds. The
Treaty of Lausanne (1923) also guarantees the rights of
Turkey's non-Muslim religious minorities. The Government
officially recognizes only those minorities mentioned in the
Treaty. Muslim ethnic or sectarian minorities face
difficulties in maintaining distinct separate identities within
Turkish society as a result of official attempts to assimilate
them.
Millions of Turkish Kurds who have moved to industrialized
cities in the western part of the country are by and large
fully integrated into the political, economic, and social life
of the nation. Most parliamentary representatives from
southeastern Turkey are ethnic Kurds, but representatives of
Kurdish ethnic origin have been elected from districts far
removed from the southeast. A niamber of Cabinet Ministers, as
well as other government officials, claim an ethnic Kurdish
background.
The controversial 1983 law declaring Turkish "the mother tongue
of Turkish citizens" and prohibiting publications and
unfettered communication in "any language other than first
official languages of states recognized by the Turkish
republic" was repealed in April. That action legalized
speaking in Kurdish, singing or recording Kurdish songs, and
publishing books, newspapers, or other material in the Kurdish
language. However, court proceedings continue to be conducted
in Turkish, and the poor quality of court-provided translators
may disadvantage some Kurdish-speaking defendants. Moreover,
materials dealing with Kurdish history, culture, and ethnic
identity continue to be subject to confiscation and prosecution
under the "indivisibility of the State" provisions of the
Anti-Terror Law. Foreign publications have been confiscated
for criticizing government policy toward the Kurds. The
question of Kurdish cultural identity within Turkey is more and
more openly debated, however, both in government and among the
general public.
The Gypsy population in Turkey is extremely small. There was
only one reported incident of public harassment directed
against a Gypsy tribe.
Although women are improving their situation in Turkish
society, including the professions, business, and the civil
service, they continue to face discrimination to varying
degrees. Traditional values, shared by large numbers of both
men and women, prevent many women from entering career fields.
The first female Vali (governor) was appointed in 1991.
Traditional family values in rural Turkey place a greater
emphasis on advanced education for sons than for daughters.
Primary education through the fifth grade is compulsory for all
children, but thereafter female school attendance declines
dramatically. According to 1985 census figures (the most
recent available), the literacy rate was 90.26 percent for
males under 50 and 76.19 percent for females under 50. Women
comprise about 36 percent of the paid Turkish work force and
generally receive equal pay for equal work. Although seldom
enforced, some laws that discriminate against women remain on
the books. The husband determines the legal domicile of the
family, and a married woman needs her husband's consent to be a
legal partner in a company. In some parts of Turkey, laws
requiring civil marriage are ignored, and polygamy is accepted,
although technically illegal.
Spousal abuse is still considered an extremely private matter,
although government and public interest in the problem is
growing. The police do not normally intervene in domestic
disputes. Turks of either sex may file civil or criminal
charges but rarely try to resolve family disputes in court.
Turkish law makes no discrimination between the sexes in laws
concerning violence or abuse, and courts make no distinction
between men and women. In 1989 and 1990, Turkey's first three
homes for battered women were opened by a private organization
called the Purple Roof Foundation. In addition, in 1990 the
Government began a program to open shelters in the major cities
for abused women (and their children) who have left home. The
first such government shelter in Ankara opened in the fall of
1990 and was expanded in 1991. Istanbul's Bakirkoy
municipality also operates a shelter, opened in September 1990,
which has received over 4,000 applications to date and has a
waiting list of more than 2,000.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
Most workers have the right to associate freely and form
representative unions. Exceptions are schoolteachers (both
public and private), civil servants, the police, and military
personnel. In November Prime Minister Demirel declared the
Government's intention to grant trade union rights to both
teachers and civil servants, and a draft bill was prepared for
submission to Parliament in January 1992. The law prescribes
that unions and confederations may be founded without prior
authorization on the basis of a petition to the governor of the
province where the union's headquarters are to be located.
Although unions are independent of the Government and the
ruling party, they must have government permission to hold
meetings or rallies and must allow police to attend conventions
and record the proceedings. Union officers may serve no more
than eight consecutive 3-year terms in a given union position.
The Constitution requires candidates for union office to have
worked 10 years in the industry represented by the union.
Both the 1983 law on trade unions and an amendment enacted in
1988 recognize the right of unions and their officers to
express views on issues directly affecting members' economic
and social interests, but it did not undo constitutional
prohibitions on any union role in party politics. Unions may
not establish organic or financial connections with any
political party or other association. In practice, union
leaders and the executive board of the Turkish Confederation of
Labor (Turk-Is) have been able to convey clearly in election
and referendum campaigns their support for, or opposition to,
given political parties, including in the October Parliamentary
elections.
Prosecutors may request labor courts to order a trade union or
confederation into liquidation based on alleged violation of
specific legal norms. However, the Government may not
summarily dissolve a union. The Turkish Confederation of
Revolutionary Workers Unions (DISK), which was Turkey's second
largest trade union organization in the 1970 's, had its
activities suspended, its assets seized, and some 1,500 of its
members arrested following the 1980 military coup. After a
highly publicized 6-year trial, the Military Court in December
1986 convicted 264 DISK militants on subversion charges. The
Anti-Terror Law of April 1991 abolished the "thought crimes"
provisions of the Penal Code (Articles 141 and 142) under which
the DISK militants had been convicted. Thereupon, the DISK
secured a ruling from the Military Court of Appeals in July
that not only overturned the 1986 convictions but also lifted
the 11-year suspension on DISK activity. On December 7, the
DISK held an extraordinary national convention for the purpose
of amending its bylaws so as to bring then into conformity with
post-1980 labor legislation. Under the 1983 Trade Union Law,
the DISK had until April 1992 to hold a second national
convention for the purpose of electing officers. The DISK
scheduled a regular national convention to elect new officers
on January 18-19, 1992.
The right to strike, while guaranteed in the Constitution, is
subject to a number of restrictions. For example, workers in
the petroleum industry, workers engaged in the protection of
life and property, sanitation services, national defense, and
education do not have the right to strike. Turkish law and the
labor court system require collective bargaining before a
strike. The law specifies the series of steps a union must
take before it may legally strike and a similar series of steps
before an employer may engage in a lockout. Nonbinding
mediation is the last of those steps. In those sectors in
which strikes are prohibited, disputes are resolved through
binding arbitration. A party that fails to comply with these
steps forfeits the exercise of its rights. Once a strike is
declared, unions are restricted in the actions pickets may take
as well as in the number of pickets they may place at each
entrance and exit of a strike site. The struck employer may
respond with a lockout. The employer is, however, prohibited
from hiring strikebreakers or using administrative personnel to
perform jobs normally done by strikers. Unions are forbidden
to engage in secondary (solidarity), wildcat, or general
strikes.
Under Article 33 of the 1983 Law on Strikes and Lockouts, the
Government also has the power to suspend strikes for 60 days
for national security reasons. Unions have the right to
petition the Council of State to lift such a suspension, but if
this appeal fails the strike is subject to compulsory
arbitration at the end of the 60-day period. On January 25,
during the Gulf War, the Government invoked Article 33 to
suspend all labor strikes nationwide. This was the first such
blanket suspension of strike activity under the 1983 labor
legislation. Turk-Is appealed the suspension. On February 27,
the Council of State decided in its favor and lifted the strike
suspension on the grounds that the Government's blanket
suspension exceeded the norms of relevant legislation and would
cause economic hardship if allowed to continue. Some 393
strikes, involving about 165,500 workers, took place in the
first 10 months of the year. All strikes were peaceful, and
most resulted in sizable wage and benefit settlements.
Unions may and do form or join confederations and international
labor bodies. The law requires governmental approval to do so
and prohibits affiliations with organizations hostile to Turkey
or to freedom of religion or belief.
The Committee on Freedom of Association of the International
Labor Organization (ILO) reviewed several complaints against
Turkey in November and asked the Government to return the
assets of the DISK and to expand its efforts to develop
constructive tripartite discussions on amendments to the labor
law.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
All industrial workers have the right to organize and bargain
collectively, and most industrial activity and some public
sector agricultural activities are organized. The law reqxiires
that, in order to become a bargaining agent, a union must
represent not only 50 percent plus one of the employees at a
given work site but also 10 percent of all the workers in that
particular industry. This has the effect of favoring
established unions. There is no agent election; the union
submits its membership rolls to the Labor Ministry and requests
certification as the collective bargaining agent. Once
certified, the union receives checkoff privileges, as well as
compensatory payment for nonunion members. The employer must
enter good-faith negotiations with the certified union.
Antiunion discrimination by employers is prohibited by law. An
effective means for resolving complaints of such discrimination
exists within the system of labor courts.
Union organizing and collective bargaining are permitted in the
duty-free export processing zones at Antalya, Istanbul, and
Mersin, but workers in those zones will not be allowed to
strike during the first 10 years of operation. Until then,
settlements not otherwise reached will be determined by binding
arbitration.
At the annual ILO Conference in June, criticism of Turkey
focused on ILO Convention 98 on the right to organize and
collective bargaining and Convention 111 on discrimination in
employment. In its 1991 report, the ILO Committee of Experts
(COE) again expressed concern about the numerical requirement
for certification as a bargaining agent and the requirement for
compulsory arbitration in sectors where strikes are forbidden.
The COE also reiterated that, in barring unionization of civil
servants, the Government's definition of "civil servant" was
too broad.
With regard to Convention 111, the COE took note of the
Government's report stating that nearly all of the public
employees dismissed or transferred between 1980 and 1987 as a
result of Martial Law Act 1402 have been reinstated. In regard
to the security investigation regulation of March 8, 1990,
concerning background checks on public employees, the COE asked
the Government to indicate the measures taken to ensure that
rejection or transfer of persons pursuant to this regulation is
not based on political or any other grounds that would
constitute discrimination under Convention 111.
The new Government which took office in November has pledged to
revise many provisions of the Constitution and labor laws in
order to bring them into compliance with ILO conventions.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Compulsory labor is prohibited by the Constitution and
statutes, and it is not practiced.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
Education is compulsory for the 5 years of primary school,
ending at age 11. In practice, however, children in rural
areas, especially in the east, sometimes leave school early.
The Constitution and labor laws forbid employment of children
younger than 15 years of age, with the exception that those
aged 13 and 14 may engage in light, part-time work, if enrolled
in school or vocational training. The Constitution also
prohibits women and children from engaging in physically
demanding jobs, such as underground mining, and from working at
night. The laws are effectively enforced by the Ministry of
Labor in the organized industrial sector but not elsewhere in
the economy.
In practice, many children work in Turkey. Families frequently
need the supplementary income their children can earn. In
family-owned businesses such as restaurants, boys visibly
younger than 15 work long hours, for example, as busboys . In
addition, there is an informal and essentially unsupervised
apprentice system in which young boys work at low wages, e.g.,
in auto repair shops, in the hope of learning a trade. Girls
are rarely seen in public in work circiomstances, but many are
kept out of school to work on indoor handicrafts, especially in
rural areas.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The Labor Ministry is legally obliged to set minimum wages at
least every 2 years through a Minimum Wage Board. In recent
years it has done so annually. The Board is a tripartite
government-industry-union body. On July 30, the minimum wage
was increased by 93 percent over the minimum wage set in July
1990. In comparison, inflation increased about 69 percent
during the period July 1990-July 1991. The minimum wage is
effectively enforced in the industrial sector.
Without support from other sources, it would be difficult for a
single worker, and impossible for a family, to live on the
minimum wage. Most workers earn considerably more. In
addition to wages, workers covered by the labor law also
receive a hot meal daily (or a food allowance), transportation
to and from work, a fuel allowance, and other fringe benefits
which, according to the Turkish Employers Association, make
basic wages alone only 34 percent of total remuneration.
Labor law provides for a nominal 45-hour workweek. Most unions
have bargained for fewer hours in the workweek, both to
increase premium-pay overtime and to obtain more leisure time.
Labor law limits the number of overtime hours a worker may work
to 3 hours a day for up to 90 days in a year. Wage and hour
provisions are effectively enforced by the Labor Inspectorate
of the Ministry of Labor in the unionized industrial, service,
and government sectors.
Occupational health and safety regulations are mandated by law,
but the Government has not carried out an effective inspection
and enforcement program. In practice, financial constraints,
limited safety awareness, carelessness, and fatalistic
attitudes result in scant attention to occupational safety and
health by workers and employers alike.
