Dianne Wampler  04/21/2008 02:53:33 PM  From  DB/Inbox:  Dianne Wampler

Cable 
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UNCLAS    SENSITIVE     ADANA 00015

SIPDIS
CX:
    ACTION: POL
    INFO:   DAO MGT PA FCS RAO AMB DCM ECON PMA TSR CONS

DISSEMINATION: POL /1
CHARGE: PROG

VZCZCAYO212
RR RUEHAK
DE RUEHDA #0015 1091309
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181309Z APR 08
FM AMCONSUL ADANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4648
INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1191
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0128
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1252

UNCLAS ADANA 000015 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TU PGOV PHUM PREL
SUBJECT: TURKEY:  COURT TO TRY THREE CHILDREN FOR SINGING KURDISH 
SONG 
 
REF: A) ANKARA 050: B) ANKARA 719 
 
¶1. (SBU)  SUMMARY:  A Diyarbakir court has accepted an 
indictment against three local teenagers accused of spreading 
PKK propaganda by singing a Kurdish song at a music festival in 
San Francisco last October.  The offending song, "Ey Rakip," is 
the national anthem of the Kurdistan Regional Government in 
Iraq.    The trial is scheduled to begin in June.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  As reported in ref a, in January a Diyarbakir 
prosecutor opened an investigation into the performance of the 
Children's Choir of Diyarbakir's Yenisehir Municipality.  The 
choir group sang a number of songs at the San Francisco 
International Music Festival in October 2007, including the 
Kurdish the song titled "Ey Raqip" (Hey Enemy), the lyrics of 
which were penned in 1938 by poet Yunis Rauf, (AKA Dildar), an 
Iranian Kurd.  While the song is the national anthem of the 
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), it is also generally 
popular among all Kurds and was adopted by the short-lived 
Kurdish Republic of Mahabad in 1946. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  The court has agreed to accept the indictment of the 
prosecutor, Ahmet Karaca, against three members of the choir, 
Servan Yilmaz (aged 15), Gokhan Ok (17) and Veysel Pamuk (15). 
There is no explanation currently as to why charges have not 
been filed against the 11 other children, or the choir 
directors.  The indictment charges that the children knowingly 
"accepted singing the terrorist organization's [PKK] marching 
song" and concludes the youngsters are therefore guilty of 
spreading PKK propaganda, which is illegal under Turkey's 
anti-terror law and penal codes.    Karaca requested that the 
children be tried in a secret session of the court, apparently a 
procedure that protects minors from public reaction to their 
testimony.  According to the children's lawyer, Baran Pamuk, 
violation of article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law charge can carry 
a prison sentence of up to five years.  The trial will commence 
on June 19, 2008. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  COMMENT:  Turkish prosecutors' continued neuralgia 
towards expressions of Kurdish identity undercut the GOT's 
recent pledges to relax restrictions on Kurdish language 
broadcasting (ref b).  And it goes without saying that this case 
has all the hallmarks of a public-relations fiasco for Turkey in 
the international media.  END COMMENT. 
 
GREEN