No to
executions
in Turkey
Amnesty International called on April 11 for an emergency campaign to save the lives of seven Turkish socialists sentenced to death by a martial law court of the military dictatorship.
Since the Amnesty appeal, one of th ight, Sener Yigit, has been hanged, and i is feared that the execution of the other seven is imminent.
Yigit was convicted of killing the wife and daughter of the Austrian ambassador. He had no connection with any political group, it is the method of the military dictatorship to lump together nonpolitical prisoners convicted of atrocious crimes with political prisoners accused of terror-
Yigit was obviously executed first to prepare public opinion for the execution of the other seven, who are reportedly members of Dev-Sol (Revolutionary Left). They are Sadettin Guven and Baki Altin, accused of the murder of former prime minister Nihat Erim; and Ahmet Fazil,
Yildirim, Tayfun Ozkok, and Harun Kartal - accused of the murder of a police chief and his bodyguard.
Terrorism both by left and rightist groups was widespread before the establishment of the military dictatorship. The rightist terrorists enjoyed support and encouragement from the military and police, and were used to help prepare the way for a military coup in the name of "restoring order."
Basing its claim to rule on its ability junta has no reason to be very scrupulous about making sure that it is convicting the people who actually committed terrorist acts.
The Amnesty statement noted:
"Death sentences have been called for by prosecutors in thousands of cases at present being tried or awaiting trial in martial law courts...Amnesty International is concerned about the sharp increase in the number of executions since the beginning of 1983."
If the government can execute these eight without protests, the lives thousands of others will be in immediate danger.
Amnesty called for protest telegrams to President Kenan Evren, National Security Council, Ankara Turkey. Copies should be sent to Cumhuriyet, Halkevi Sokak 39/41 Cagaloglu, Istanbul, Turkey.