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Islamic Human Rights Commission
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2nd December 2003
Campaign Update: Prisoners of Faith – Campaign for amnesty for Nureddin Sirin, Turkey
Background & suggested action
Campaigners are requested to email / write to / fax the Turkish Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs in their country requesting they advocate for an amnesty for Turkish journalist Nureddin Sirin.
Sirin received a twenty month prison sentence was received after the publication in June 1997 of an article titled “One has to side with the oppressed even if they are atheists” in which he presented his view on the “Kurdish question” and recognised the Kurdish peoples cultural identity.
In October 1997 Nureddin Sirin was sentenced to 17 and a half years in prison for helping organise a Quds Day (Jerusalem Day rally) in the Sincan province with then mayor Bekir Yildiz. He was charged with being a member of the Lebanese Hizbullah and supplying pictures to the rally in support of Palestine. The Turkish Secret Service testified that he was not a member of Hizbullah. The pictures he supplied to the rally were pictures found in any journalistic library.
Model letters
(a) model letter to Recep Tayyep Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey
Your name
Your email
Your address
Date
Recep Tayyep Erdogan
Prime Minister of Turkey
Fax: 0090 312 419 58 96
Email: receptayyip.erdogan@basbakanlik.gov.tr
Dear Prime Minister,
Detention of Nureddin Sirin
I write regarding the continued detention of journalist Nureddin Sirin.
Nureddin Sirin’s imprisonment was a travesty of justice perpetrated by different administrations I urge you to take a firm moral stand in this case by strenuously advocating for and ensuring an amnesty for Nureddin Sirin.
You were also imprisoned for your beliefs. I am sure you must see the need for your administration more than any other, to take immediate action in this case and those of all the other unjustly held prisoners.
Yours sincerely,
Your name
(b) Model letter to Ministers for Foreign Affairs (general)
To find the address of your Minister for Foreign Affairs go to: http://www.usip.org/library/formin.html
Your name
Your email
Your address
Date
Name of Minister
Address of Minister
Dear [NAME of MINISTER],
re: Nureddin Sirin, journalist imprisoned in Turkey
I write regarding the continued detention of journalist Nureddin Sirin.
I urge your office to strenuously advocate for an amnesty for Nureddin Sirin, whose case is a travesty of justice. He was imprisoned for his views on the ‘Kurdish question’ and on Palestine. His views are perfectly acceptable critiques of Turkish policy and certainly no reason for his imprisonment. Other charges against him including membership of an illegal organisation were even discredited by the Turkish Secret Service.
Now more than ever it is imperative that the international community is seen to side with justice in its dealings with Turkey. Ensuring that Nureddin Sirin gets an amnesty is a must if the international community is serious in tackling the various crises that confront world society.
Yours sincerely,
Your name
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Islamic Human Rights Commission
PO Box 598
Wembley
HA9 7XH
United Kingdom
Telephone (+44) 20 8904 4222
Fax (+44) 20 8904 5183
Email: info@ihrc.org
Web: www.ihrc.org
