The prosecutors demanded various sentences totaling 490 years of imprisonment for the returnees except the four minors in the group. Speaking at a press briefing at Makhmour on Monday, Gülbahar Çiçek, one of the 24 militants, said there were no grounds left for them to continue their “peace efforts” in Turkey but that they would continue to do so in the camp.
In October 2009, a group of 34 people affiliated with the PKK surrendered at the Habur border gate, on the Turkish-Iraqi border, as the government was preparing to unveil measures to broaden the democratic rights and freedoms of the country’s citizens. Eight of the group’s members came from the Kandil Mountains, where the PKK has a camp. The rest came from the Makhmour refugee camp in northern Iraq. All were initially released without charges after it was ascertained that they had not been involved in any PKK terrorist activity. However, 30 were later charged with membership in the PKK, disseminating its propaganda or committing crimes on behalf of the terrorist group. Of those 30 militants, 11 were arrested last month in two separate cases and currently jailed, except Şerif Gençdal, who was released on Saturday. All of the remaining 24 returnees, including Gençdal and the four minors, crossed the Iraqi border Monday and returned to the camp they left 10 months ago.
Following their crossing, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin told reporters Monday that he was expecting them to contribute to the peace process. “I wish these friends of ours had stayed here in this country and contributed to this process,” he said.
Illegal curfew in Tunceli
In the meantime, in another blow to government’s efforts to resolve the Kurdish issue and establish an enduring peace in the Southeast, the Birgün daily reported a new military practice in Tunceli province on Tuesday. According to the newspaper, gendarmes had started to impose a curfew in a village in Tunceli’s Ovacık district because of a gendarmerie shooting exercise overnight.
The daily reported yesterday that the military had evacuated an outpost in the village of Yeşilyazı and started to build a new outpost in the region. During that time, the gendarmes stayed in tents and told the villagers not to leave their houses after sunset because they might be killed by crossfire in target practice.
Speaking to the newspaper, Ovacık Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül said the military’s intention in building new outposts was “not to protect the people here but to continue its own existence under the guise of the fight against terrorism.”
