Turkey's leading human rights activist, Akin Birdal, walked out of jail Saturday after serving a 10-month sentence for "inciting racial hatred" in appeals for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish conflict in the country.
"Being free is, of course, very nice. But to feel as a human, your thoughts should be also free," Birdal said after being greeted with flowers at the gate of Ankara's Ulucanlar prison by several dozen people.
"As a citizen of this country I will continue to struggle for democracy and human rights at any platform, anywhere, at any time," said the 1999 winner of Amnesty International's human rights prize and the former head of Turkey's leading rights group, the Human Rights Association (IHD).
Birdal, 52, was jailed in June 1999 for "inciting racial hatred" in comments made in 1995 and 1996 calling for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish conflict in Turkey that has claimed 36,500 lives.
He was granted a six-month release on health grounds in September 1999, and retuned to jail in March.
Turkey, a candidate for European Union membership, came under severe criticism from the EU, the United States and international human rights groups for Birdal's conviction on the grounds that it violated freedom of expression.
"The road to democratization and human rights in Turkey will take some victims. I am proud to be one of them," Birdal said. "I hope I will be the last person to be imprisoned for his thoughts and for revealing them."
The activist stressed that abolition of legal regulations obstructing freedom of thought and expression would clear the major blocks on Turkey's path to EU membership.
"Turkey can win respect on the international arena only with adherence to democracy and human rights," Birdal said.
He also criticized as "inadequate" a recently revealed government plan to boost public services and improve economic development in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, ravaged by 15-year clashes between Turkish troops and the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
"These measures do not meet the expectations of the local people, because what they want at first place is peace, human rights and freedoms," Birdal told reporters at a press conference on Saturday.
The activist had previously served a year in jail for activities deemed supportive of the PKK.
He was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in May 1998 after the alleged confession of a former PKK leader published in Turkish newspapers linked the IHD to the PKK.
In December last year, a state security court handed down jail terms ranging from 10 months to more than 19 years against 10 men for organizing and carrying out the attack on Birdal – ANKARA (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
