Turkish today,Crypto tomorrow?

[mattd]

(Longish)YEARLY REPORT ON ANARCHISM IN TURKEY - 2001* In Turkey, year 2001 
passed with the deep impacts of economic crisis that was declared to be the 
greatest since World War II. In the anarchist arena, unfortunately on the 
same days with the emerging of crisis in Turkish economy (on February) an 
attack to an anarchist comrade by a group of "so-called" anarchists caused 
a kind of "division" in the movement. But in general anarchism went on 
spreading all over the country and for the first time in their seventeen 
years of "official" history, a group of Turkish anarchists are arrested for 
the claim of "being members of an illegal organization". GROUPS & ACTIONS 
In 2001, Turkish anarchists organized in lots of different autonomous 
groups and around some campaigns. Except the "isolated group" Anarchist 
Platform which organized few own demonstrations in Istanbul, anarchists 
from Istanbul formed a new group named TSK-I "Initiative Against Domination 
and War-Istanbul". This group includes members from both IAMI (Istanbul 
Anti-Militarist Initiative) and kara MecmuA involvers with also individual 
participants from Istanbul. Mayday, Genova events etc. were among those 
demos that Istanbul anarchists participated. TSK-I also succeeded to 
organize a self-performance demo and few seminars against the war. 
Anti-MERNIS campaign (a campaign against national identity card number 
system-MERNIS) was one of those initiatives started by the same group. 
Ankara anarchists have their own place named Kara Kalem Sanat Atvlyesi 
"Black Pencil Art Workshop" in downtown since August 2001. More than 
dealing only with so-called "art", it is also an active meeting place for 
organizing every kind of activity. Last year they would manage to organize 
an anti-militarist festival and a press meeting for objectors. A number of 
fanzines published by various members of Ankara anarchist circle (including 
AN kara fanzin). They've appeared in lots of demos, in some carrying their 
own flags and placards. During Genova events, after the murdering of Carlo 
was heard, bank ATMs and walls of buildings in downtown met with 
anarchists. In Izmir, which is the third biggest city of Turkey, there are 
two main groups. One of them is IAF (Izmir Anarchist Federation); in fact 
they are just an autonomous group of young anarchists-not a "federation" in 
the real meaning of the word. They have published their own fanzine and 
attended some local demos. This group has some relations with "isolated" 
Anarchist Platform. There are some other anarchists who had worked with 
Genova initiative and appeared on Mayday; they used the name of Kara G|ndem 
"Black Agenda". ISKD (Izmir War Resisters Association) must also be 
mentioned here as an important anti-militarist organization. This group 
organized an international meeting named "Anti-Militarism and Feminism in 
Turkey" on September. It does also include a women group named 
"Anti-Militarist Feminists". This year various autonomous groups from 
different cities emerged. Anarchist Collective from Istanbul dissolved 
itself after succeeding in a few actions and publishing some materials. 
Some groups dared to declare themselves as "anarchist autonomous groups" 
(Ushak and Samsun) and some as local anarchists initiatives (in Antalya, 
Mersin etc.). This year on Mayday, Antalya met with anarchists carrying 
black fags. In other cities anarchists act either as "friend" groups or 
smaller initiatives. "ANARCHIST" PLATFORM AND ISOLATION POLICY On 10 of 
February, a group of 5-6 people attacked a well-known anarchist and 
conscientious objector grotesquely during a meeting about non-violent 
methods of struggle in Istanbul. The attack against him was probably 
because of his critics about the attackers but as it would be expected the 
attackers claimed him in other "personal" means. The incident was 
immediately condemned by most of the anarchist, anti-militarist and 
libertarian groups all around the country including MecmuA, IAMI, ISKD, 
Kaos GL, and Ankara Anarchists etc. The related group Anarchist Platform 
including AGF (Anarchist Youth Federation), SED (Social Ecological 
Transformation) and their periodical Efendizler (Masterless) did not make 
any statement about the subject, instead they preferred to claim the 
"other" groups and individuals for their isolation policy. As it was not 
the first not the last violent incident against anarchists organized by 
this group, "isolation" policy seems to continue until they have gave up 
their treatments and violent acts against anarchists. ANTI-MILITARISM 
Anti-militarist activities were mostly located in three big cities 
Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. For the day of Conscientious Objection on 15th 
May various activities were organized; mainly in Ankara and also two other 
cities. In Ankara, three day long anti-militarist festival included a 
seminar, an inner discussion, film exhibitions, and a concert (although it 
did not last long because of the rain). This was organized by mostly 
anarchists from Ankara and few anti-militarists. On 27th of October, two 
people from Ankara declared their conscientious objection against the 
military service. For some people their declarations were more than 
conscientious, "total" objection as they rejected any possible corporation 
with the state and the army. One of the objectors was a gay from Kaos GL 
group. For the first time as a gay "objector" he and his group stated the 
oppression of the state and army on gays. On the same day Ankara Anarchists 
organized an illegal demo against the ongoing war and in order to support 
the objectors. Similar demonstrations and actions were organized by 
anarchists in various cities and universities in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir 
mostly against the war in Afghanistan. On 27-30 September in Izmir-S}gacik, 
with the initiative of ISKD group an international meeting on 
anti-militarism, feminism and libertarian activities was organized. About 
80 people attended; 30 of whom came from abroad. The issues were based on 
anti-militarism, pacifist methods of struggle, feminism, ecologism and 
anarchism. Although some disagreements among anarchists and some 
anti-militarists appeared, it must be regarded as a successful meeting. 
PRISONS AND ANARCHISTS On 1st of December, two anarchists were taken by the 
police in Ushak (a city in Mid-West Anatolia) with the claim of 
distributing "illegal" leaflets in a meeting organized by trade-unions. 
Later on, 3 other were taken, and all (5) of them were arrested with the 
claim of "being members of an illegal organization" namely Ushak Anarchist 
Autonom. In fact they had nothing to do except distributing their own 
materials/leaflets. But for this terrorist state, it may be enough to judge 
them with the claim of organizing in such a way "to destroy or to divide" 
it, although they did not even find any (in their own "words") "violent" or 
"terrorist" clues related with the group. Their trail will be held in Izmir 
DGM (SSC-State Security Court) and probably they'll be sent to Nazilli 
Prison. At the moment they are in Ushak Prison; each of them was put into 
different cells, which is not "usual". As it was heard they were badly 
beaten and tortured by Ushak police and refused the lawyer offered by the 
state. This is the first time that Turkish anarchists will be judged by 
Turkish State as an "illegal organization" and this trail will show the 
attitude of the state against anarchists and anarchist organizations. The 
last months of 2000 and the most of 2001 passed with the hunger strikes' of 
revolutionary leftist prisoners against F type prisons and the terror of 
Turkish state against them. Some anarchist groups and individuals supported 
the riots of political prisoners without being a tool for the leftist 
groups' policies. Yet, among the prisoners there are only five people who 
were arrested because of anarchist activities; most of the others naming 
themselves "anarchists" are former members of leftist organizations. Among 
these people there are some who are suffering from not only the oppression 
of the state and prison authorities but also the oppression of the 
leftists. This may even sometimes end up with death just like it happened 
three years ago in Bursa jail in suspicious murder of an anti- 
authoritarian/anti-militarist prisoner Mehmet Cakar by his former group 
TIKKO (Turkish Liberation Army of Peasants and Workers). "Anarchist" 
prisoners in jail did not "fully" support the hunger strikes as it was 
initiated by leftists -mostly led by DHKP-C (Revolutionary People's 
Liberation Army-Front)- but some of them partially went a few days symbolic 
hunger strike. Only one among all "anarchists" in jail, Dervish Orhan 
personally -although his former organization PKK (Kurdistan Labor Party) 
did not support hunger strikes- went on a hunger strike for over 150 days 
including a few weeks of break. His "requests" were mostly personal; 
against the prison administration that had taken his personal notes, books, 
clothes and furniture. But this was not a hunger strike just for 
"requests", in fact more than that it was to protest the administration and 
on their behalf the State itself. In a few months time anarchists all 
around Turkey organized a campaign for the release of him, afterwards the 
needed money was collected to transfer him to hospital for medical control 
from Mersin (where he was imprisoned) to Istanbul. At last, after following 
some legal procedures with the initiative of his new lawyer, he was 
released on 31st of October for 6 months because of health problems. 
ANTI-SEXISM Kaos GL, which is the unique libertarian anti-heterosexual gay 
& lesbian group in Turkey managed to open the first homosexual culture 
center of Turkey (Kaos K|lt|r Merkezi-Chaos Culture Center) in Ankara on 
September 2000. Kaos GL is released periodically on every three months but 
fifteen days newspaper project Parmak (Finger) had failed after a number of 
issues. Unwillingly they have become very "popular" in the mainstream media 
with their participation in Mayday demonstration. Some women groups mostly 
from Istanbul and Izmir were active during this year; Sigacik meeting was a 
good organization in this means. ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM Yet Turkish 
anarcho-syndicalists and other anarchists that are members of trade unions 
did not manage to organize. This is more or less because of the fact that 
anarcho-syndicalism does not have any tradition or historical background in 
Turkish syndicalism history. In addition, Turkish legal infrastructure is 
quite problematic about establishing syndicates. That's why, anarchists 
usually choose to work in recent syndicates as just members or even 
sometimes they are taking some responsibilities. Although they are very few 
in number for now, increasing day by day -most of them are former Marxists- 
in some syndicates like KESK (Confederation of Public Workers' 
Syndicates-office workers syndicate for government sector). In the riots 
against the new trade-union law -which gave "legality" to syndicates such 
as KESK- anarchists and anarcho-syndicalists were among those people who 
has fought against the security forces. PRESS & PERIODICALS First issue of 
kara MecmuA (black Periodical) came on February and five issues were 
printed until January 2002. "MecmuA involvers" include different writers 
from -nearly- all of the previous anarchist periodicals; Kara (Black-first 
appeared on 1984), Efendisiz, Amargi, Atesh Hirsizi, Apolitika, 
Efendisizler etc. Each issue -but not the whole magazine- has a different 
subject to discuss and has a two months period to be released again. 
Published in Istanbul, it is distributed in most of the country and as an 
average more than 1000 are sold. Kaos Yayinlari (Chaos Publications) uses 
the same address with MecmuA and still the unique anarchist bookstore in 
Turkey. In addition some leftist bookstores publish -mostly translated- 
books on anarchist theory and history but yet "anarchism in Turkish" is not 
so rich. This year so called "Anarchist" Platform circle's periodicals like 
Efendisizler, Anarsi, and Kara Toprak (Black Land) did not appear so much 
(only a few issues). On the other hand zines are still active and lots of 
new anarchist and anarcho-punk zines born. Among them "AN kara fanzin" is 
different, as it looks like a "formal" periodical more than a zine-with 
both by number of the participants and with its page-format. The staff 
contains some anarchists from Ankara and the zine is distributed to many 
cities. Starting from May, three issues were published. Except this one, 
lots of zines Oldsletter, KatrAn, Veganarshi, Kontra Atak, Twillight Zine, 
Ictepi, Afanzin etc. were published in 2001 and as a counter culture they 
have signed the development of anarchist theory and practice in Turkey. As 
a historical and effective a well-known Turkish periodical on culture and 
literature, Varlik appeared to be an arena for spreading anarchist ideas. 
S|reyyya Evren, Rahmi Vgd|l, Yasar Cubuklu and Isik Erg|den are among the 
writers whose articles on anarchist and libertarian thought are good 
sources for intellectual ground. * Written by B. V. from AN kara fanzin - 
January 2002