Tuesday 27 June 2000

Turkish Islamic leader attempts suicide in jail

ANKARA: The imprisoned leader of a radical Islamic group was hospitalised after hitting his head following what appeared to be a suicide attempt, reports said on Monday.

Salih Mirzabeyoglu, leader of the banned Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front, or IBDA-C, received five stitches to his head late Sunday and was in good condition. According to police, Mirzabeyoglu has rope marks around his neck and fell down while attempting suicide, Milliyet newspaper reported. But Mirzabeyoglu gave conflicting accounts as to how he hurt himself, initially saying he fell off his chair and later saying that he fell from the steps of his bunk bed, newspapers reported. IBDA-C aims to replace Turkey's secular government with Islamic rule and has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks. Mirzabeyoglu is in an Istanbul prison pending trial on charges of attempting to overthrow the state. He faces the death penalty. (AP)

Rheinische Post, 26.1.
Istanbul: Gefaengnisaufstand gewaltsam beendet
Zwoelf Gefangene verletzt

Istanbul (AP). Zwoelf Stunden nach seinem Beginn ist ein Aufstand islamistischer Haeftlinge in einer Istanbuler Strafanstalt von Militaer und Polizei am Dienstag gewaltsam beendet worden. Nach Angaben der halbamtlichen tuerkischen Nachrichtenagentur Anatolia wurden dabei zwoelf Gefangene verletzt.

63 gefangene Mitglieder der radikalislamischen Untergrundorganisation Kampffront des Grossen Islamischen Ostens (IBDA-C) hatten sich in ihrem Gefaengnisblock verbarrikadiert, um zu verhindern, dass ihr Anfuehrer Salih Mirzabeyoglu von der Polizei zu einem Gerichtstermin abtransportiert wird. Sie steckten dabei Betten und andere Gegenstaende in Brand.

Wie Anatolia und der tuerkische Privatsender NTV berichteten, stuermten Soldaten am Dienstag das Gefaengnis. Mirzabeyoglu und 18 Mitkaempfer waren die letzten, die sich am Dienstagnachmittag den Sicherheitskraeften ergaben. Justizminister Hikmet Sali Tuerk erklaerte, Mirzabeyoglu und 39 seiner Mitgefangenen wuerden in andere Gefaengnisse verlegt. Sie sollten kuenftig in Zweierzellen untergebracht werden, um das Blocksystem aufzuloesen, das in tuerkischen Gefaengnissen immer wieder zur Herausbildung quasi autonomer Raeume fuehrt, die von den Gefaengnisverwaltungen nicht mehr kontrolliert werden koennen, weil die einzelnen Gefangenengruppen sie beherrschen. Dadurch kommt es auch immer wieder vor, dass Waffen und Mobiltelefone in die Haftanstalten geschmuggelt werden. Angehoerige der Haeftlinge versammelten sich vor der Anstalt. Einige sprachen ueber Mobiltelefon mit den Insassen. Der Anwalt der Haeftlinge sei verhaftet worden, als er versuchte, mit Reportern zu sprechen, berichtete NTV. Die IBDA-C hat sich zu Anschlaegen auf Einrichtungen linksgerichteter und weltlich orientierter Gruppierungen bekannt. Zu Beginn des Monats hatten Haeftlinge derselben Gruppe in einem anderen Gefaengnis 17 Sicherheitsbeamte und einen Anwalt sechs Stunden lang festgehalten.

Radical Muslim inmates clash with security forces in Turkish jail
By Associated Press

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) Imprisoned Islamic militants battledsecurity forces inside an Istanbul prison Sunday, injuring scoresof soldiers and an undisclosed number of inmates. Prison official Celil Demircioglu denied reports that members ofthe banned Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front had taken as manyas 150 other soldiers hostage at the Metris prison. There were also conflicting reports on what prompted theuprising. The Justice Ministry said it started when authorities sent insoldiers for a surprise search of the ward that houses members ofthe Islamic group, including its leader, Salih Mirzabeyoglu. However, Hasan Olcer, Mirzabeyoglu's lawyer, told reporters thatthe activists rose up to block efforts to transfer some of them todifferent prisons. He said the 65 imprisoned activists had a number of othergrievances, including overcrowding in the ward and restrictionsimposed on visitors. Anatolia news agency said 54 soldiers were injured, includingone hospitalized with stab wounds. The Justice Ministry said some inmates were slightly injured butgave no details. Olcer said the prisoners had taken as many as 150 soldiershostage and were negotiating with authorities seeking the men'srelease. Demircioglu denied the claim. ''There was no hostage-taking,'' he told reporters. The uprising was quelled Sunday, but Demircioglu gave noinformation on any terms for ending it. Government officials convened in emergency session in thecapital, Ankara, to discuss what was only the latest politicallyrelated violence in Turkey's prisons. Turkish prisons house political prisoners together, oftenletting them run their own wards. Hunger strikes, rioting andhostage-taking are common. The government is taking steps to break up the large wards bytransferring inmates to jails where they would be kept in smallernumbers in cells. The Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front has been the target ofa government crackdown since October, when a bombing claimed by thegroup killed a prominent pro-secular journalist. The group has claimed responsibility for a number of otherattacks on left-wing and Western-oriented targets. Police have detained scores of members of the group since thebombing.
[Associated Press]

Turkish Islamist Rebel Leader Attempts Suicide

ISTANBUL, Turkey (Reuters) - The leader of a Turkish armed Islamist rebel group tried to hang himself in his prison cell, but survived when a fellow inmate cut the rope, state-run Anatolian news agency said Monday. The Islamic Great Eastern Raiders-Front (IBDA-C) leader, known as Salih Mirzabeyoglu, was arrested two years ago and is being tried for ``attempting to change the constitutional order by force of arms.'' He faces a possible death penalty.

Turkish Islamic leader attempts suicide in jail

ANKARA: The imprisoned leader of a radical Islamic group was hospitalised after hitting his head following what appeared to be a suicide attempt, reports said on Monday.

Salih Mirzabeyoglu, leader of the banned Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front, or IBDA-C, received five stitches to his head late Sunday and was in good condition.

According to police, Mirzabeyoglu has rope marks around his neck and fell down while attempting suicide, Milliyet newspaper reported. But Mirzabeyoglu gave conflicting accounts as to how he hurt himself, initially saying he fell off his chair and later saying that he fell from the steps of his bunk bed, newspapers reported.

IBDA-C aims to replace Turkey's secular government with Islamic rule and has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks. Mirzabeyoglu is in an Istanbul prison pending trial on charges of attempting to overthrow the state. He faces the death penalty. (AP)

Turkish Islamic guerrilla leader attempts suicide in prison
Reuters

The leader of a Turkish armed Islamist rebel group tried to hang himself in his prison cell, but survived when a fellow inmate cut the rope, state-run Anatolian news agency said on Monday.

The Islamic Great Eastern Raiders-Front (IBDA-C) leader, known as Salih Mirzabeyoglu, was arrested two years ago and is being tried for "attempting to change the constitutional order by force of arms." He faces a possible death penalty.

His militants are held responsible for a number of bomb attacks on secularist targets. Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim country, is governed by a strictly secular constitution.

The guerrilla leader, widely known as Mirzabeyoglu but whose real name is Salih Izzet Erdis, had been in depression for some time, a police report said. Jail authorities had moved another prisoner into his cell suspecting he might attempt suicide.

The agency did not say what his cell-mate used to cut the rope in Sunday's incident.

The Islamist rebels, renowned for their martial arts skills, fought off prison guards trying to take Mirzabeyoglu to a court hearing early this year. But troops with tear gas later quashed the prison riot and the rebel chief was then put in solitary confinement.

He and his companions held some 150 prison guards and gendarmes hostage in December in another prison riot.

Separately, police in the southeastern town of Gaziantep unearthed the body of a man believed to be the victim of another armed Islamic group, Hezbollah.

Hezbollah first emerged in the late 1980s and Turkish officials say the secretive groups seeks to replace the secular order with one based on Islamic Sharia Law.

The agency said the body of the 35-year-old man was found buried beneath the garage of a house. He was thought to have been killed some eight months ago by Hezbollah guerrillas.

Turkish security forces have found scores of bodies similarly buried in shallow graves across the country since January when the group's leader Huseyin Velioglu was killed in a shoot-out with police.

Turkish Islamist Rebel Leader Attempts Suicide
Jun 26 - Turkey;
The leader of a Turkish armed Islamist rebel group tried to hang himself in his prison cell, but survived when a fellow inmate cut the rope, state-run Anatolian news agency said Monday. The Islamic Great Eastern Raiders-Front (IBDA-C) leader, known as Salih Mirzabeyoglu, was arrested two years ago and is being tried for ``attempting to change the constitutional order by force of arms.'' He faces a possible death penalty. Speak your mind Discuss this story with other people. His militants are held responsible for a number of bomb attacks on secularist targets. Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim country, is governed by a strictly secular constitution. The guerrilla leader, widely known as Mirzabeyoglu but whose real name is Salih Izzet Erdis, had been in depression for some time, a police report said. Jail authorities had moved another prisoner into his cell suspecting he might attempt suicide.

SABAH (LIBERAL)
ERDIS ATTEMPTED TO HANG HIMSELF

Salih Izzet Erdis, the head of terrorist Islamic Great Eastern Raiders Front (IBDA-C) who is also known as ''Salih Mirzabeyoglu'', tried to hang himself in his prison cell, but survived when a fellow inmate cut the rope. Erdis was arrested two years ago and is being tried for ''attempting to change the constitutional order by force of arms''. He faces a possible death penalty. He was taken to the Bakirkoy Psychopathology Center.

Incidents dans une prison d'Istanbul: au moins 36 gendarmes blessés
(AFP, 5 décembre 1999)

Au moins 36 gendarmes et des détenus ont été blessées dimanche lors d'incidents provoqués par des islamistes incarcérés dans la prison de haute sécurité de Metris à Istanbul, a indiqué l'agence Anatolie.

Les incidents ont éclaté lorsque des détenus, membres de l'organisation clandestine islamiste du Front islamique des combattants du Grand-Orient (IBDA-C), se sont opposés aux forces de l'ordre qui voulaient effectuer une fouille dans leur dortoir.

36 membres de la gendarmerie, corps d'armée responsable de la sécurité dans les prisons, ainsi que des détenus ont été blessés, a précisé Anatolie.

D'importantes mesures de sécurité ont été prises par la gendarmerie et la police autour de l'établissement pénitencier où une dizaine d'ambulances sont entrées et ressorties depuis le début des incidents, a-t-on ajouté de même source.

Le chef présumé de l'organisation, Salih Mirzabeyoglu, se trouve également dans ce dortoir de cette prison, située dans la partie asiatique de la métropole, selon l'agence.

Salih Mirzabeyoglu, qui nie tout lien avec l'organisation, a été arrêté en 1998. Il est jugé à Istanbul pour tentative de changer l'ordre constitutionnel par la force, une accusation passible de la peine de mort.

L'IBDA-C, fondé en 1985, vise à instaurer un Etat islamique en Turquie et a perpétré plusieurs attentats contre des bars, des discothèques et des églises à Istanbul.

Fin d'une mutinerie dans une prison d'Istanbul
(AFP, 5 décembre 1999)

Une mutinerie déclenchée dimanche par des détenus islamistes de la prison de haute sécurité de Metris à Istanbul lors d'une fouille effectuée par les gendarmes a pris fin en fin d'après-midi, a-t-on indiqué de source officielle.

Les mutins, membres de l'organisation clandestine islamiste du Front islamique des combattants du Grand-Orient (IBDA-C), ont mis fin à leur action à la suite de négociations avec les autorités, a précisé le procureur en chef d'Istanbul, Celil Demircioglu.

Les incidents ont éclaté lorsque les détenus se sont opposés aux forces de l'ordre qui voulaient effectuer une fouille dans leur dortoir.

Au moins 54 membres de la gendarmerie, corps d'armée responsable de la sécurité dans les prisons, ont été blessés par des coups de bâtons et à l'arme blanche lors des incidents.

Le chef présumé de l'organisation, Salih Mirzabeyoglu, se trouvait également dans le dortoir de cette prison, située près de Gaziosmanpasa dans la partie européenne de la métropole.

M. Demircioglu a démenti que les mutins aient pris des gendarmes en otage comme l'avait affirmé auparavant Hasan Olcer, l'avocat de Mirzabeyoglu.

Ce dernier avait indiqué que quelque 150 gendarmes, dont plusieurs officers, étaient retenus en otage.

Salih Mirzabeyoglu a été arrêté en 1998. Il est jugé à Istanbul pour tentative de changer l'ordre constitutionnel par la force, une accusation passible de la peine de mort.

L'IBDA-C, fondé en 1985, vise à instaurer un Etat islamique en Turquie et a perpétré plusieurs attentats contre des bars, des discothèques et des églises à Istanbul.

Mutinerie dans une prison d'Ankara mise à feu par des détenus
(AFP, 7 décembre 1999)

Un groupe de détenus de la prison d'Ulucanlar à Ankara s'est révolté et a mis le feu à leur quartier mardi après qu'un juge eut refusé leur demande de mise en liberté, a indiqué l'agence Anatolie.

Des troupes de la gendarmerie sont entrées dans la prison dans l'après-midi pour mettre fin à la révolte. Plusieurs gardiens ont été blessés, tandis que le feu s'était étendu à quatre quartiers, selon l'agence.

Le groupe de mutins est composé de Fatih Mehmet Bucak, le cousin d'un député kurde conservateur, et ses compagnons jugés sous l'accusation d'avoir formé un groupe mafieux.

Les mutineries, prises d'otages et grèves de la faim sont courantes dans les prisons turques surpeuplées.

Dimanche encore, 54 gendarmes et un nombre non précisé de prisonniers avaient été blessés lors d'une révolte de détenus appartenant à un groupe islamiste clandestin dans la prison de Bayrampasa à Istanbul.

En septembre, également à Ulucanlar, au moins 10 détenus d'extrême gauche avaient été tués par la gendarmerie lors d'une mutinerie.

Authorities, prisoners battle over Turkey's prisons
HARMONIE TOROS, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, February 23, 2000

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- The Islamic militant inmates used guns, swords, knives, even makeshift flame-throwers and firebombs to battle guards entering their prison ward. It was only the latest riot in Turkey's penitentiaries, and Turkish officials say they must regain control. Turkey's prisons have been plagued by violence, including riots, hostage-takings and shootouts. The problem, says Ali Suat Ertosun, director of Turkey's prisons, is the large wards that house up to 100 prisoners, who often all belong to a single political group and run their blocks independently. So authorities aim to move the inmates out of the wards into smaller cells, Ertosun said. But prisoners linked to radical groups say they will fight to the death before they agree to leave their comrades and enter small cells, where they fear they are more likely to be abused by authorities. The war has already begun. In September, 10 inmates were killed in a prison riot in Ankara when inmates, fearing that authorities were planning to transfer comrades to another prison, clashed with soldiers. Prosecutors accuse 86 of the rioters of accidentally killing the 10. Inmates say security forces killed the prisoners and that they are being charged as part of a cover-up. A court ruled Tuesday that the inmates should be charged with committing a terrorist act against the state. In December, inmates loyal to a radical Islamic group, the Islamic Great Eastern Raiders-Front, injured 54 soldiers and took over 100 hostage at Istanbul's Metris prison to protest plans to transfer some of them out of a ward. The latest rioting was also at Metris, where prisoners last month fought soldiers for 12 hours in a vain attempt to stop them from entering a ward to take the group's leader to court. Some prisoners apparently feared that soldiers would not return Salih Mirzabeyoglu but would take him to a new prison that had cells. In the end, one inmate was killed, 11 injured, and Mirzabeyoglu was transferred to a cell. The ward at Metris is now a wreck. Its floors are covered in rotten food, half-burnt furniture litters the area and entire slabs of walls lie broken by soldiers who had to fight their way in. Authorities showed journalists the array of makeshift weapons the inmates used. Prisoners say conditions in the wards are terrible and often stage hunger strikes to protest conditions that include overcrowding and poor food and medical care. But at the same time, prisoners are so scared of being transferred out of their wards that they even refuse medical treatment, fearing that authorities will use the occasion to put them in a cell, said Erkan Yirdem, a member of an association of relatives of leftist prisoners. ``They want to isolate the prisoners, then they can hurt them or even kill them,'' said Yirdem. ``The prisoners say they will fight until the very last one of them.'' Human rights groups say that torture and killings in Turkish prisons are not uncommon. They say abuse is more likely against prisoners from anti-state groups, such as leftist and Kurdish organizations, than inmates from right-wing or criminal groups. The government argues that the prisoners refuse to move because the wards allow political groups to run virtual indoctrination centers and in some cases also organize attacks outside. Of Turkey's 69,000 prisoners, 10,000 are linked to political groups, mainly Kurdish, leftist and radical Islamic groups. A report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch said that in Turkish prisons ``political organizations exert tough party discipline to the extent that they have sentenced and 'executed' many supposed spies and informers.'' Eleven new cell-system prisons will be ready in May and more are coming to replace prisons made up of large wards -- a series of interconnected rooms, each with its own kitchen and bathroom where up to 100 prisoners live in near-complete independence. Different political groups tend to have their own wards. Of Turkey's 561 prisons, 64 are already based on the cells, mostly built for six to eight prisoners. Single-inmate cells do exist. Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said the prisoners are not isolated and the new prisons meet U.N. standards. But Human Rights Watch says the regime in Istanbul's Kartal cell-system prison ``appears to be one of extreme isolation ... and may amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

Turkish Islamic Militants Free Hostages

ISTANBUL--Imprisoned Islamic militants battled security forces in an Istanbul prison, injuring 54 soldiers and seizing 150 hostages before ending the standoff, authorities said.

Members of the Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front freed the hostages after negotiations with prison officials, authorities said.

Turkish television showed the prisoners massed in a courtyard of the Metris prison, waving banners with quotes from Islamic scripture at a helicopter overhead.

No information was immediately available on any terms of the hostages' release, and there were conflicting accounts of what prompted the violence.

Turkey's Anatolia news agency said it started when authorities sent in soldiers for a surprise search of the ward that houses members of the Islamic group, including leader Salih Mirzabeyoglu. But Mirzabeyoglu's lawyer said the activists rose up to block efforts to transfer some of them to different prisons.

Radical Muslim inmates clash with security forces in Turkish jail
Associated Press Sunday, December 5, 1999

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Imprisoned Islamic militants battled security forces inside an Istanbul prison today, injuring scores of soldiers and an undisclosed number of inmates. Prison official Celil Demircioglu denied reports that members of the banned Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front had taken as many as 150 other soldiers hostage at the Metris prison. There were also conflicting reports on what prompted the uprising. The Justice Ministry said it started when authorities sent in soldiers for a surprise search of the ward that houses members of the Islamic group, including its leader, Salih Mirzabeyoglu. However, Hasan Olcer, Mirzabeyoglu's lawyer, told reporters that the activists rose up to block efforts to transfer some of them to different prisons. He said the 65 imprisoned activists had a number of other grievances, including overcrowding in the ward and restrictions imposed on visitors. Anatolia news agency said 54 soldiers were injured, including one hospitalized with stab wounds. The Justice Ministry said some inmates were slightly injured but gave no details. Olcer said the prisoners had taken as many as 150 soldiers hostage and were negotiating with authorities seeking the men's release. Demircioglu denied the claim. ``There was no hostage-taking,'' he told reporters. The uprising was quelled Sunday, but Demircioglu gave no information on any terms for ending it. Government officials convened in emergency session in the capital, Ankara, to discuss what was only the latest politically related violence in Turkey's prisons. Turkish prisons house political prisoners together, often letting them run their own wards. Hunger strikes, rioting and hostage-taking are common. The government is taking steps to break up the large wards by transferring inmates to jails where they would be kept in smaller numbers in cells. The Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front has been the target of a government crackdown since October, when a bombing claimed by the group killed a prominent pro-secular journalist. The group has claimed responsibility for a number of other attacks on left-wing and Western-oriented targets. Police have detained scores of members of the group since the bombing.