ISTANBUL - The letters sent by prisoners Islam Erdoğan and Feyaz Tahsuk in Antalya S-Type Prison to the CPT and the ECHR regarding their rights violations were censored.
Most of the letters sent by prisoners Islam Erdoğan and Feyaz Tahsuk in Antalya S-Type Closed Prison to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) were deleted and censored by the prison administration. Feyaz Tahsuk, one of the prisoners, wrote a 4-page letter to the ECHR, touching on the historical past of oppression, violence, exile, censorship, massacre and assimilation policies against the Kurds. Stating that all human and democratic rights of the Kurds were suppressed "with bayonets" on the 1st and 2nd pages of the letter, Tahsuk cited the Ağrı, Dersim and Zilan massacres as examples. Tahsuk stated in his letter that the State of the Republic of Turkey and its governments have always followed the policy of "destruction" against the Kurds, and also included information about the rights granted to the Kurds in the Treaty of Sevres and how their rights were destroyed with the Treaty of Lausanne.
KURDS WERE CONSIDERED 'NOT' IN THE LETTER
It was seen that the third page of Tahsuk's letter, which touched upon the historical processes of the Kurds, was completely destroyed and half of the fourth page was deleted and censored. Half of Tahsuk's fourth page, which is the last page, touched on the current developments regarding the Kurdish issue and said: "While there is an atmosphere of peace and détente in the world, while fundamental rights and freedoms are becoming widespread and modern societies and nations are advancing on permanent grounds, the unresolved Kurdish issue is causing more severe human rights in the region day by day."
The part after the phrase "it creates a basis for violations to occur" was deleted and censored.
CENSORIZED 'REALITY OF WAR'!
The entire back page and half of the front page of the back-and-forth letter written by Islam Erdoğan, one of the prisoners in the same prison, to the CPT was deleted and censored. Erdogan's letter included the reality of war in the world and in the Middle East and said: "The Middle East geography, which is the center of all this chaos, is no different from a powder keg today. Countless people lose their lives due to conflicts that occur every day. Due to migration as a result of wars, not only the lands but also the seas are turning into human cemeteries. As we watch severe economic crises, poverty, epidemics and disasters that threaten our future with doomsday, we almost hear the footsteps of the four horsemen of the apocalypse." The following statement was deleted.
CPT, which conducted inspections in prisons in Turkey a while ago, also visited Antalya S-Type Prison.