H. E. Tansu Ciller
Prime Minister of Turkey
Prime Minister’s Office
Ankara
Turkey

Vienna, 21 August 1995

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors and media executives from newspapers, magazines, broadcasting organisations and news agencies in 85 countries, strongly condemns the de facto banning of Yeni-Politika, a pro-Kurdish daily newspaper.

We are informed that on 16 August 1995 the Istanbul Criminal Court found that Yeni-Politika, is a successor to Özgür Gündem and Özgür Ülke, two pro-Kurdish dailies which were effectively banned in April 1994 and February 1995 respectively. The court ruled that Yeni-Politika, is in violation of the press law which states that “any publication that is clearly a continuation of a publication that was shut down by court order is banned from publication and will be confiscated.” The law calls for prison sentences of up to six months for those who continue to publish in spite of such a ban.

As you may recall, IPI protested the original decisions against Özgür Gündem and Özgür Ülke. We therefore regret that we must once again urge Your Excellency’s government to revoke its decision with regard to the banning of a pro-Kurdish daily. We also strongly urge you to use your office’s influence to ensure that Yeni Politika is allowed to publish without further interference.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director