VZCZCXRO3954
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDA #0024 1720913
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 200913Z JUN 08
FM AMCONSUL ADANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4658
INFO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0130
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1200
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1262

UNCLAS ADANA 000024 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL TU IZ
SUBJECT: TURKEY:  COURT ACQUITS THREE CHILDREN INDICTED FOR SINGING 
KURDISH SONG 
 
REF: A) ANKARA 050; B) ANKARA 719; C) Adana 15 
 
¶1.  (U) The Diyarbakir Heavy Criminal Court on June 19 acquitted 
three teenagers, who were accused of "making propaganda for a 
terrorist organisation or its aims" under the anti-terrorism 
law.  The prosecution was brought after the children, who are 
all members of the Diyarbakir Yenisehir Municipality Children's 
Choir, sang a Kurdish language anthem Ey Raqip (Hey Rival) at a 
world music festival in San Francisco in October, 2007. The 
choir sang songs in a total of nine different languages 
including a Turkish patriotic song (Ganakkale Marsi). Six other 
members of the choir who are under 15 years of age are being 
prosecuted for the same offence at a Children's Court.  They are 
also expected to be acquitted at their hearing July 3. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The court agreed to acquit at the request of the 
prosecutor.  The children's lawyer, Baran Pamuk, told us he was 
happy with the acquittal, but noted that the court found that 
the children did not knowingly commit a crime, leaving 
unanswered whether singing the song in fact constituted a crime. 
 Pamuk said he fears that the adult choir instructor, Duygu Vzge 
Bayar (who was named in the original indictment) will be 
prosecuted upon her return to Turkey. 
 
Comment 
------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Since the suit was filed in January, the political 
context has evolved: Turkey's relations with Iraq (including the 
Kurdish administration in the North) have improved considerably; 
the Turkish parliament has mandated Kurdish-language 
broadcasting on the state television network and it has modified 
article 301, a statute frequently used to limit political 
speech.  These factors, in addition to a minor outcry in the 
international human rights community led by Amnesty 
International, probably influenced the court's decision. 
 
GREEN