Öznur Değer 

 

NEWS CENTER - Journalist Meltem Oktay, who was heard as a witness at the Turkey Tribunal established in Geneva, said: ‘’In line with the result of the court, there will go to the Hague. Applications will be made to the EoC, the EU, and the UN, and Turkey will be asked to be tried. What we tell is not just our story, it is a problem faced by millions of people in Turkey.’’

 

The Turkey Tribunal was established in Geneva, Switzerland, between 20-24 September to judge the increasing violations of rights in Turkey. Under the leading of Belgium-based Van Steenbrugge Advocaten law firm, the court, consisting of former European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judges, human rights defenders and leading lawyers, was founded by Johan Vande Lanotte, a professor at Ghent University in Belgium.

 

Observers took part in the court

 

In the court, which lasted for five days, the trial was held on six main topics: ‘’Torture’, ‘’Abductions’’, ‘’Freedom of the press and expression’’, ‘’Impunity’’, ‘’Judicial independence and access to justice’’ and ‘’Crimes against humanity’’. While three witnesses were heard under each heading, excluding crimes against humanity, a total of 15 names, including journalists and lawyers, who were exposed to rights violations in Turkey were heard. Journalists, observers and spectators from the European Union (EU) and the European Commission of Human Rights were among those who watched the court. In line with the report consisting of 51 articles announced after the symbolic court that lasted for five days, it was determined that the acts of torture and enforced disappearance committed in Turkey were within the scope of crimes against humanity, and it was stated that Turkey should be prosecuted.

Journalist Meltem Oktay, whose witness was heard in the court under the title of ‘’Freedom of the press and expression’’ and who was imprisoned for three years for the news she made in Turkey, shared her observations and evaluations about the court with our agency.

 

‘The court was established as a result of the evaluation of the applications’

 

Stating that human rights violations have been faced in Turkey for a long time, Meltem said that after the processes lived in 2016, many people who were exposed to rights violations migrated from Turkey to Europe. Noting that people who immigrated from Turkey to Europe applied to the Van Steenbrugge Advocaten law firm in Belgium regarding the rights violations they were exposed to, Meltem stated: ‘’The Turkish Tribunal is a court established with the initiatives of this law firm. As a result of the evaluation of the applications received by the law firm, an investigation was carried out on violations of rights and it was decided to establish such a court within this framework. The court was founded by Prof. Dr. Johan Vande Lanotte who is also the coordinator of the court. The court aimed to address the violations of rights in Turkey under six headings. For each title, reports were prepared by experts in their fields.’’

2nd stage symbolic court in Cizre

 

Stating that the court was established in 2020, but after reaching the victims, they started to judgment in line with their witnesses, Meltem said that the rights violations suffered by the witnesses in Turkey were heard by the court board. Adding that these testimonies show the table of Turkey as a whole, not an individual, Meltem said: ‘’As the second phase of this program, it was decided to establish a symbolic court in Cizre. Geneva has hosted various agreements and conventions and is a city where some agreements are still implemented today. In this sense, it is important that the court be established here.’’

 

‘Judges were impartial and independent’

 

Emphasizing that one of the most important aspects of the court is the judges who conduct the trial, Meltem stated that there are six impartial and independent judges who are experienced in their fields and have served as judges in places such as the ECHR and the UN. Meltem said: ‘’Like all the witnesses, we were at the court on September 20-24. Witnesses include Kurds who have been violated by the Turkish regime, and members of the Gülen Community who were victims after the 2016 military coup attempt.’’

 

Reports of torture against Kurds

 

Stating that the court was opened with the title of ‘’Torture’’ on September 20, Meltem stated that a wide and comprehensive report was presented under this title. Emphasizing that the main point that draws attention in all the reports presented is the violations of rights against the Kurds for years, Meltem said: ‘’The violations of rights against Kurds in Turkey are not a new situation. Violations of rights regarding torture from the 80s and 90s to the present were reflected in the report. In the report, it was reported that torture was mostly made to Kurds and these were often reflected in the courts. Eren Keskin was heard as a witness under this title. Eren Keskin stated that torture is a state policy that has been going on for a long time. The report complemented this. It was stated that torture in Turkey was systematically applied to suppress the opponent voice. At this point, names from the Gülen Community also expressed their witnesses and told about the torture they were subjected to in custody.’’

 

Disappearance: Systematic torture since the 90s

 

Stating that the title of "Disappearance" was started afterward, Meltem noted that since the 90s, it has been reported that enforced disappearances still continue in a systematic way in Turkey. Under this headline, Meltem stated that Sezin Uçar, the lawyer of Gökhan Güneş, who was abducted in Istanbul on January 20, was heard as a witness. Meltem continued: ‘’His lawyer said that Gökhan was systematically tortured for six days in the place where he was taken after he was kidnapped. His lawyer stated that he received psychological and physiological treatment. Again, a lawyer from the Gülen Community testified that he was kidnapped and tortured for 92 days.’’

 

‘The press has been attacked since the 90s’

 

Stating that she was heard as a witness within the scope of the 3rd title, ‘Freedom of the press and expression’, Meltem drew attention to the fact that the report presented in this direction is wide and comprehensive. Noting that the attack on the press has been reported since the 90s, Meltem said: ‘’In the report, it was stated that the freedom of the press and expression could not be talked about. It has been determined that more than 100 journalists are in prison and those who are outside are self-censored. It was stated that democracy and human rights cannot be talked about in a country where journalists are imprisoned. I also participated as a witness and stated that I was detained and arrested due to the news I made while I was a journalist in Turkey, and that only the news I made was included as 'evidence of a crime' in the indictment prepared against me in this sense, and I was sentenced to four years in this context and I was imprisoned for three years. We are also victims of victims. The Gülen Community has been saying that they have been victims since 2016, but we have been experiencing this since the 80s. Hundreds of journalists were imprisoned, murdered and kidnapped. There are ongoing lawsuits against all my working journalist friends. While we have been experiencing these since the 90s, the people who told about their grievances in the Tribunal were also people in the most effective organs of the state. The Gülen Community also needs to know and see its own role. They have to face with this reality.’’

 

‘The state should be prosecuted’

 

Saying that Ercan Kurkut, the elder brother of Kemal Kurkut, who was murdered by the police on March 21, 2017, after the report presented under the title of ‘Impunity’, was heard as a witness. Meltem stated: ‘‘Ercan Kurkut stated that in the case that going on since 2017, has gone nowhere fast. He stated that the perpetrators were released immediately after they were taken into custody, the first report was changed and the file was procrastinated. He noted that all cases were covered up in this way and the perpetrators were never prosecuted. Then, the report was presented under the heading of ‘’Access to justice’. The report mainly dealt with the decisions of the ECtHR. Kurdish politician Faysal Sarıyıldız was heard as a witness on this issue. Faysal Sarıyıldız talked about the war process in Cizre during the 2015-16 process. He stated that a city was completely destroyed, burned down, ambulances were not allowed to pick up the injured, and there was war crime, human rights violations and massacre, but the state that did this was not prosecuted.’’

 

‘Turkey has committed crime against humanity and should be tried’

 

Meltem said that no witnesses were heard in the last title of the Tribunal, ‘Crimes against humanity’, and a comprehensive report was presented by the court’s coordinator, Johan Vande Lanotte. Stating that it was noted in the report that it was determined that Turkey had committed crime against humanity in the light of all these topics, Meltem continued her words as follows: ‘’It was stated that there is no justice in Turkey, that impunity, torture and enforced disappearances have occured systematically, and are aimed at silencing all opponent groups. In the report, it was revealed with very strong datas that Turkey committed crimes against humanity and that it should be prosecuted in this regard.’’

 

To the Hague

 

Adding to her words that the judges announced their decision on the court after hearing the witnesses under six topics, Meltem said: ‘’In its decision, the court concluded that there are crimes against humanity, torture, enforced disappearances, no freedom of the press and expression and that Turkey should be tried. Reactions were positive. This is a symbolic court and it is not binding, but the opinion of the judges is important. In line with the decision of the judges, individual files will be processed within two months. And after the prepared files, they will go to the Hague (International Criminal Court). Then, applications will be made to the Council of Europe (CoE), EU, and UN. Within the scope of these reports, Turkey will be asked to be tried. This is planned to be done by the end of the year.’’

 

‘Everything we tell is not just our story’

 

Meltem stated that before the trial began, Turkey tried to prevent the trial from being held through the Embassy. Noting that this is an indication that the outcome of the court is known, Meltem said: ‘’They were afraid of it. Turkey was given the right to speak in the court and was invited to the Tribunal, but Turkey did not respond to the invitation and did not attend the court. They did not respond to the accusations against Turkey. This is accepting what has been done. Turkey is not a country that signed the Hague. However, it could be tried for crimes against humanity here, as it abducted a large number of people from the countries that signed The Hague. Therefore, the result here is very important. Everything we tell is not just our story, it is a problem faced by millions of people in Turkey. This is a table of Turkey. All of this will have a return to Turkey.’’