Basından

OSCE REVIEW CONFERENCE CONTINUES
Anadolu Agency, 09 November 1999 Tuesday

ISTANBUL, Nov 9 (A.A) - The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Review Conference continues prior to the Istanbul summit which will be held between November 18 and 19, 1999. The issues of human rights, security, and economy and the compliance of the member countries to the principles of the organization are being discussed in the Review Conference. The representatives of 54 member countries, the administrators of 170 non-governmental organizations, and the countries which are the members of the Mediterranean Cooperation, participate in the conference.
 Japan and South Korea attend the Review Conference as observers. The non- governmental organizations express their problems which they face within the framework of the organization and press during the conference.

 Akkan Suver, the Director General of Marmara Group Strategic and Social Researches Foundation, spoke in the conference. Suver drew the attention to the attacks of the terrorist organization PKK which violate the human rights. Turkey has been exposed to the attacks of a group of bandits who are the enemies of the humanity for 16 years, Suver said. Turkey maintained her unitary structure and integrity against these attacks, captured the head of this terrorist organization and handed him over to the justice, Suver noted.

Suver stated that the foundation thinks that the PKK is an illegal organization which has violated the basic human rights. The young people who want to surrender to the security forces to benefit from the repentance law are around 16 or 17 years old, Suver stressed. The Serbians did the similar things in Kosovo, Suver recalled. Suver said that to this end, they condemn the PKK terrorist organization and the Serbian gangs which abduct the children and force them to stage armed attacks.

They also condemn the parents who force their children to stage armed attacks in return of money, Suver pointed out. The Kurdish Institute also submitted a report to the OSCE Secretariat. The report asked the organization to allocate a different budget to the countries like Turkey which have some socio-economic problems. Hasan Kaya, the Chairman of the Institute, said that they do not want to complain about Turkey. The member countries should help each other and should be in solidarity to solve the present problems and to increase the welfare of the countries, Kaya added. Meanwhile, Harold Koh, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Responsible for Human Rights who visited Turkey a short time ago, responded the questions of the journalists about the human rights issue in Turkey.

Koh said that they were pleased about the developments Turkey marked in the human rights. But there are still many things Turkey should do in this field, Koh added. The OSCE Review Conference is discussing the human rights in today's session. The conference is evaluating whether or not the member countries comply with the human rights principles of the OSCE. The non-governmental organizations will also discuss the human rights in Turkey and OSCE Region in the afternoon session. The OSCE Review Conference will end on Wednesday following the session in which the economic issues will be discussed.