Concern
over arrest and sentencing of BTC campaigner Ferhat Kaya for "Mr"
remark
The Kurdish
Human Rights Project and other concerned NGOs today wrote to the
UK Secretary for International Development and the Minister for
Trade and Investment calling for action over the arrest and sentencing
of Ferhat Kaya, Chair of the pro-Kurdish Democratic People Party
(DEHAP) in the Central District of the city of Ardahan in north-east
Turkey.
Mr. Kaya was
recently sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for referring to
the jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan as "Mr Ocalan"
in a speech he delivered in April criticising the detention conditions
of the leader of the banned Congress for Freedom and Democracy
(KADEK).
The evidence
strongly suggests that Mr. Kaya has been singled out for prosecution
because of his work in obtaining rights for people affected by
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. Witnesses suggest that
Mr. Kaya’s speech was by no means illegal, nor even especially
contentious nor different from others given at the same event.
Moreover, whilst other speakers at the same congress were charged
with similar offences, they noticeably had their charges either
dropped or were acquitted.
"It seems
evident from the circumstances of Mr. Kaya’s prosecution that
he has been deliberately singled out for his entirely lawful work
on the BTC pipeline, in direct contravention of all assurances
given by BP, the World Bank and the UK government," says
KHRP Executive Director Kerim Yildiz.
"There
is absolutely no justification for Mr Kaya’s detention,"
added Mr Yildiz. "If Mr Benn and Mr O’Brien do not press
the government of Turkey to reconsider this case, it will send
an unmistakeable message to all those affected by the pipeline
that dissent will be punished."
Nicholas Hildyard
of The Cornerhouse, one of the groups supporting the campaign
to overturn Mr Kaya’s sentence, stated, "It is incumbent
upon BP and the other sponsors of the BTC pipeline to live up
to their promises and ensure that no-one is harmed by the project."
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