25th anniversary of the September 12, 1980 Military Coup

Shameful heritages
of the military dictatorship
persist at the EU's doorstep


September 12, 1980... The generals of the Turkish Army carried out a military coup to prevent the progress of the civil forces defending the social and economic rights of working population and the national rights of the Kurdish people. The process of democratization and adhesion to the European Economic Community (currently European Union) was stopped by force and the country was transformed into a huge concentration camp.

In fact, the September 12 Coup was the second stage of the process of the militarization in all spheres of the country.

The earlier military of March 12, 1971, had already destructed a lot of democratic rights and institutions by applying an unprecedented repression.

We shall remind the shameful balance-sheet of the March 12 coup at its 35th anniversary in 2006.

Today, at the 25th anniversary, we remind once more the crimes committed by the putschistes of the September 12 military coup.

Crimes committed by the putschistes of the September 12 Military Coup:

• The Constitution 1982 imposed by the military junta abolished the last remnants of the freedoms that the 1961 Constitution had recognized.
• This constitution denies the fundamental rights of the Kurdish people and the Armenian, Assyrian, Greek minorities of Turkey.
• The Army's domination on the country's political, economic and social life was guaranteed by the privileges recognized by this constitution to the National Security Council (MGK).
• Within two years, more than 650,000 people were taken into custody and subjected to torture.
• 500 people lost their lives in custody.
• Thousands of people were left disabled.
• 210,000 political cases were opened in military courts.
• A total of 98,404 people were tried  because of their "thoughts."
• 6,353 people were triedunder the menace of capital punishment.
• 21,764 people were sentenced to heavy prison terms.
• Fifty people were executed at the end of political trials.
• Files were opened on 1,683,000 people.
• 348,000 people were banned from acquiring passports.
• Universities were placed under the discipline of the Higher Education Council (YOK), depended on political power.
• 15,509 people were ousted from their university posts under Law No. 1402.
• 18,000 public servants, 2,000 judges and prosecutors, 4,000 police officers, 2,000 army officers and 5,000 teachers were forced to resign.
• All political parties were closed down.
• The activities of 23,667 associations were halted.
• The press was censored.
• 4,509 people were deported by the martial law administration.
• Many convicts lost their lives in prison due to maltreatment and hunger strikes to protest this maltreatment.
• 113,607 books were burned.
• 39 tons of books, magazines and newspapers were destroyed by the State's paper mills.
• 937 movies were banned.
• 2,792 authors, translators and journalists were tried.
• Journalists and writers were sentenced to a total imprisonment of 3,315 years and three months.

25 years after the September 12, 1980 military coup:

1. The putschist generals are still protected by the government and the demand of the victims to bring them before tribunals are always refused. A demonstration for this purpose on September 11, 2005, has been forbidden by the Istanbul Governor. Writers and journalists are still judged for having criticized the putschist generals even under the new Penal Code.

2. The undemocratic constitution preaching the superiority of the Turkish race and language (Articles 3, 42 and 66) is always in force. Article 4 declares that Article 3 can never be modified and even the modification of this article can never be proposed. Moreover, an electoral system imposing a national threshold of 10% is always maintained with the detriment of the political parties representing different political opinions, in particular pro-Kurdish or left-wing ones, so that the Islamist party remains in power with an absolute majority in the Parliament in spite of its electoral score less than 50%.

3. In spite of the so-called "demilitarization" of the National Security Council (MGK), the military continue to dictate their militarist choices by well-publicized declarations of the Chief of the General Staff or the commanders of the land, air and naval forces. Moreover, the Higher Military Council (YAS), charged to manage the interne work procedure of the Army, continues to dismiss certain officers considered "anti-secular" in spite of the opposition of the government. The military carry out their control on the country's economic life by their sui-generis finance holding OYAK and a series of war industry companies.

4.  In Turkish prisons, there are still thousands of political detainees. The Justice Ministry has announced on August 12, 2005, that the number of the prisoners for " offences of terror" climbs to 3,788 and that they are kept in 73 grand prisons of the country including 11 prisons of type-F.

5. The summary execution and torture under arrest are always being practiced. Very recently, a number of Kurdish demonstrators were shot dead by security forces. Moreover, ultra-nationalist mobs are encouraged to lynch those who attempt to hold public meetings for defending Kurdish people’s rights or for protesting prison conditions of political detainees.
 
6. The new Turkish Penal Code, so applauded by the European Union, always constitutes a threat against the freedom of press. Journalists are always judged for insult to the Army, the government or the security forces because of their criticisms, under the terms of article 302 (old article 159) of the TPC. Recently, famous Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk was indicted under Article 301 of the same code for insulting Turkish nation because he had talked of the massacre of Armenians and Kurds. 
 
7. In spite of some cosmetic reforms, the equal rights (teaching, audio-visual expression, association) are still not recognized as well for the Kurdish people as for the ethnic or religious minorities of the country, in particular Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks and Alevis. All the pacific initiatives of the Kurdish national movement in order to arrive at a peaceful solution is systematically declined and the military operations continue in order to satisfy the voracity of the Army and the industry of war.

8. Ankara does not show any intention to recognize the injustices and atrocities committed in the Turkish history and follows an absolutely policy of negation. According to the statement of reasons for Article 305, a citizen who demands the withdrawal of Turkish soldiers from Cyprus or declares that the Armenian genocide actually took place during the First World War, can be pursued by Justice. Moreover, the diplomatic missions of Ankara often instigate the Turkish nationals and even the deputies or candidates of Turkish origin of the European political parties (Socialists, Liberals, Ecologists or Christians) to take part in the demonstrations of negation.

Despite these facts, The European Commission spokesmen, yielding to Ankara’s blackmail, declare that Turkey has already fulfilled all conditions for starting the talks of adhesion from October 3, 2005. For them, the only problem that remains is the Turkish refusal to recognize the Republic of Cyprus.

Is it really the only problem that remains?

INFO-TURK FOUNDATION