Her Excellency Tansu Ciller
Prime Minister of Turkey
Prime Minister’s Office
Ankara
Turkey

Vienna, 5 December 1994

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), is most concerned about the recent bomb attacks on bureaus of Özgür Ülke, the Istanbul daily newspaper.

We understand that on 3 December 1994, bombs exploded in the Ankara and Istanbul bureaus of the pro-Kurdish paper. One employee, Ersin Yildiz, was killed and five others seriously hurt. We also understand that other employees who were attempting to put out the flames were arrested.

Since it started publishing on 28 April 1994, Özgür Ülke has been the frequent target of police pressure. IPI, representing publishers, editors-in-chief and leading journalists from newspapers, magazines, broadcasting organisations and news agencies in 89 countries, views your Government’s continued campaign of harassment, arrests and seizures against the newspaper to be a serious violation of press freedom. We strongly urge that you conduct a full investigation into the bomb attacks and that your authorities allow Özgür Ülke to publish without further interference.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director