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International
protests in support of gay Turkish refusenik Mehmet Tarhan took place
on 12 July -- the day of his military trial following his refusal to
be drafted -- in London, New York and Venice.
Organized by Payday
and Wages Due Lesbians, these protests demanded Mr Tarhan’s immediate
release from jail, and recognition of his conscientious objector
status.
Detained in Sivas
military prison since 8 April, he has been attacked, robbed,
humiliated and abused with the connivance of prison guards. Only
after a month-long hunger strike was his safety ensured.
At his previous
trial on 9 June, Mr Tarhan was released by a judge
because
he had "already spent two months in prison, which is about the time
he would have to serve if finally sentenced". Yet, he was
charged again and
returned to military prison to face another trial.
Mehmet Tarhan is
part of a huge movement of refuseniks and draft evaders in Turkey –
over 350,000. Many are Kurds refusing to kill and repress their own
people. As Mehmet Tarhan says: “The way to stop war is to deprive
it of its human resource.”
As a gay man, Mehmet
could have claimed a “disability” discharge because the Turkish
military considers homosexuality an illness, but he has instead
demanded his right to recognition as a conscientious objector.
According to Wages Due Lesbians, “equality” is no better: “Having
an integrated military that bombs, tortures and maims people is not a
victory for diversity!”
The lively LONDON
picket in front of the Turkish Embassy had placards stating: “Free
Mehmet Tarhan – jailed for refusing to kill” and “Stop the murder and
rape of Kurdish women, children and men.”
Protesters raised
that Turkey’s military spending represents one-third of its budget,
and that resources everywhere should be used for caring and not
killing. “After the London bombs, bringing the troops home is more
urgent than ever.”
Speakers also
condemned the growing repression here – the denial of the right to
protest in Parliament Square, the spread of Anti-Social Behaviour
Orders, particularly targeting young people, and as one mother put it,
“the growing militarization and ‘policisation’ of our schools.”
In NEW YORK,
protesters spoke to a Consulate representative who rejected their
claims, but was visibly shaken by them. Consulate employees and
visitors, as well as hundreds of others in the United Nations
district, took leaflets.
In VENICE, too
hundreds took leaflets including tourists who will carry the word back
to other European countries. Turkey hopes to join the European Union
by presenting a sanitised record on human rights, but Mehmet Tarhan’s
experience exposes both the repression inside Turkey and the massive
resistance to it.
Mr Tarhan’s trial was
deferred until 4 August. Meanwhile, people are invited to write
directly to him as well as the Turkish authorities and MEPs calling
for his urgent release. (For more information, including addresses see
www.refusingtokill.net
). |
