Denmark: Turkey given report about Kurds
01 January 1997
On February 2 the Danish television station, TV2, revealed that the Danish police intelligence service, Politiets Efterretningstjeneste (PET), had written a 140 page report on meetings of the Kurdish parliament in exile which took place in Copenhagen in March 1996. The report, which according to TV2 was a transcript of all of the debates at the meetings, ended up with the Turkish authorities.
TV2 informed the newly appointed Minister of Justice, Mr. Frank Jensen, on January 31, but he did not comment on it until February 3 after consulting with the head of PET, Ms. Birgitte Stampe. He then issued an unusual press statement in which he said that, according to normal practice, PET never commented on specific events, but "in this particular situation the PET chief and I [Frank Jensen] have agreed to deviate from this usual practice".
He then said that PET had told him that it had not bugged the meeting, that it had not made a report and that it had not given information from the meeting to the Turkish authorities. The minister called on the television station to produce its documentation and supporting material. TV2 stood by its story but would not disclose more details because it would endanger its sources, it said. The television station added that it was aware of the difficulties of covering intelligence matters in the news and that one could never completely exclude the possibility of misinformation.
Danish-Turkish relations became an issue in July 1996 when a Danish citizen of Kurdish origin, Mr Kemal Koc, was arrested in Ankara, Turkey, because of his involvement in legal Kurdish political activities in Denmark. He was held in prison for more than five weeks and was tortured (see Statewatch Vol. 6, no. 5 for a more detailed report).
Since his return to Denmark Kemel has undergone treatment for his injuries and the internationally renowned centre for victims of torture, RTC, issued a report in which they unequivocally confirmed that he was tortured. On the basis of this report the Danish government has taken the unusual step of lodging a state-to-state-case with the European Human Rights Commission against Turkey.
Kemal Koc's case remains unresolved despite a number of court hearings. These have been farcical, with judges taking less than five-ten minutes to postpone them. Danish representatives from political parties and human rights organizations have been present at each court session.
On a visit to Turkey in November 1996 the Danish MP, Mr. Soren Sondergaard (Enhedslisten/Red-Green Alliance), attended a court hearing. As he was about to leave Turkey he was detained by the police, taken to the State Security Court and fined for entering the country. He was then ordered to leave and never return.
It appears that he should not have been allowed to enter Turkey in the first place since he, and at least four other prominent critics of Turkish human rights abuses, are listed as persona non grata in the country - which they did not know. Mr Sondergaard was "blacklisted" because he hosted a meeting of members of the Kurdish parliament in exile in March 1996 in the Danish parliament. The Turkish embassy tried to stop the meeting by putting pressure on the chairman of the Danish Parliament, Mr Erling Olsen, but without success.
The extradition of Sondergaard in November created a diplomatic incident between Denmark and Turkey and has now led to a decision in Parliament to sharpen Danish policy toward Turkey.
TV2-Nyhederne 2.2.97; Ministry of Justice press release 3.2.97. and Danish newspapers.