IV

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 179

Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to the human rights situation

in the Republic of Turkey in light of that country’s desire to host

the next summit meeting of the heads of state or government of the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 28, 1997

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. HOYER, Mr. MARKEY, Mr.

CARDIN, and Mr. SALMON) submitted the following concurrent resolution;

which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to the human

rights situation in the Republic of Turkey in light of

that country’s desire to host the next summit meeting

of the heads of state or government of the Organization

for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Whereas the Republic of Turkey, because of its position at

the crossroads of Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia,

and the Middle East, is well positioned to play a leading

role in shaping developments in Europe and beyond;

Whereas the Republic of Turkey has been a longstanding

member of numerous international organizations, including the Council of Europe (1949), the North Atlantic
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Treaty Organization (1952), and the Organization for

Security and Cooperation in Europe (1975);

Whereas Turkey’s President, Suleyman Demirel, was an

original signer of the 1975 Helsinki Final Act of the

Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe;

Whereas the Republic of Turkey proposed in late 1996 that

Istanbul serve as the venue for the next OSCE summit,

a prestigious gathering of the heads of state or government of countries in Europe, Central Asia, and North

America, including the United States;

Whereas a decision on the venue of the next OSCE summit

will require the consensus of all OSCE participating

states, including the United States;

Whereas the OSCE participating states, including Turkey,

have declared their steadfast commitment to democracy

based on human rights and fundamental freedoms, the

protection and promotion of which is the first responsibility of government;

Whereas the development of genuine democracy in Turkey is

undermined by ongoing violations of international humanitarian law as well as other human rights obligations

and commitments, including provisions of the Helsinki

Final Act and other OSCE documents, by which Turkey

is bound;

Whereas the Department of State has found that serious

human rights problems persist in Turkey and that

human rights abuses have not been limited to the southeast, where Turkey has engaged in an armed conflict

with the terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) for

over a decade;
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Whereas flagrant violations of OSCE standards and norms

continue and the problems raised by the United States

Delegation at the November 1996 OSCE Review Meeting

in Vienna persist;

Whereas expert witnesses at a 1997 briefing of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (in this concurrent resolution referred to as the ‘‘Helsinki Commission’’) underscored the continued, well-documented, and

widespread use of torture by Turkish security forces and

the failure of the Government of Turkey to take determined action to correct such gross violations of OSCE

provisions and international humanitarian law;

Whereas the Government of Turkey continues to use broadly

the Anti-Terror Law and Article 312 of the Criminal

Code against writers, journalists, publishers, politicians,

musicians, and students;

Whereas the Committee to Protect Journalists has concluded

that more journalists are currently jailed in Turkey than

in any other country in the world;

Whereas the Government of Turkey has pursued an aggressive campaign of harassment of nongovernmental organizations, including the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey; branch offices of the Human Rights Association in

Diyarbakir, Malatya, Izmir, Konya, and Urfa have been

raided and closed; and Turkish authorities continue to

persecute the members of nongovernmental organizations

who attempt to assist the victims of torture;

Whereas four former parliamentarians from the now banned

Kurdish-based Democracy Party (DEP) Leyla Zana,

Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dog ̆an, and Selim Sadak remain imprisoned at Ankara’s Ulucanlar Prison and among the
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actions cited in Zana’s indictment was her 1993 appearance before the Helsinki Commission in Washington,

D.C.;

Whereas the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights has expressed concern over the case of human rights lawyer

Hasan Dog ̆an, a member of the People’s Democracy

Party (HADEP), who like many members of the party,

has been subject to detention and prosecution;

Whereas many human rights abuses have been committed

against Kurds who assert their Kurdish identity, and

Kurdish institutions, such as the Kurdish Cultural and

Research Foundation, have been targeted for closure;

Whereas the Ecumenical Patriarchate has repeatedly requested permission to reopen the Orthodox seminary on

the island of Halki closed by the Turkish authorities

since the 1970s despite Turkey’s OSCE commitment to

‘‘allow the training of religious personnel in appropriate

institutions’’;

Whereas members of other minority religions or beliefs, including Armenian and Syrian Orthodox believers, as well

as Roman Catholics, Armenian, Chaldean, Greek and

Syrian Catholics, and Protestants have faced various

forms of discrimination and harassment;

Whereas the closing of the border with Armenia by Turkey

in 1993 remains an obstacle to the development of mutual understanding and confidence, and friendly and

good-neighborly relations between those OSCE participating states;

Whereas the Republic of Turkey has repeatedly rebuffed offers by the Chair-in-Office of the OSCE to dispatch a
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personal representative to Turkey for purposes of assessing developments in that country;

Whereas, despite the fact that a number of Turkish civilian

authorities remain publicly committed to the establishment of rule of law and to respect for human rights, torture, excessive use of force, and other serious human

rights abuses by the security forces continue; and

Whereas the Government of Turkey has failed to meaningfully address these and other human rights concerns

since it first proposed to host the next OSCE summit

and thereby has squandered this opportunity to demonstrate its determination to improve implementation of

Turkey’s OSCE commitments: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that—

3 (1) the privilege and prestige of hosting a sum4 mit of the heads of state or government of the Orga5 nization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

6 (OSCE) should be reserved for participating states

7 that have demonstrated in word and in deed stead8 fast support for Helsinki principles and standards,

9 particularly respect for human rights;

10 (2) the United States should refuse to give con11 sensus to any proposal that Turkey serve as the

12 venue for a summit meeting of the heads of state or

13 government of OSCE countries until the Govern14 ment of Turkey has demonstrably improved imple15 mentation of its freely undertaken OSCE commit-
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1 ments, including action to address those human

2 rights concerns enumerated in the preamble of this

3 resolution;

4 (3) the United States should encourage the de5 velopment of genuine democracy in the Republic of

6 Turkey based on protection of human rights and

7 fundamental freedoms; and

8 (4) the President of the United States should

9 report to Congress not later than April 15, 1998, on

10 any improvement in the actual human rights record

11 in Turkey, including improvements in that country’s

12 implementation of provisions of the Helsinki Final

13 Act and other OSCE documents.

14 SEC. 2. The Clerk of the House of Representatives

15 shall transmit a copy of this concurrent resolution to the

16 President of the United States.

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