Finnish expert on Kurds deported from Turkey
Kristiina Koivunen
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Dr. Kristiina Koivunen an expert on the Kurdish question, and an outspoken advocate of the Kurdish cause was arrested on Friday in the southeastern part of Turkey. She was flown back to Finland on Sunday.
The apparent reason for the arrest and deportation was that Koivunen had violated a ban on her entering the country.
According to the Finnish Ambassador to Turkey, Maria Serenius, Koivunen was stopped at the airport of the city of Van, as she was about to board a plane there.
Ambassador Serenius did not know why Koivunen had been denied entry into Turkey.
"I have been in contact with the Turkish Foreign Ministry, and they have been in contact with Van", Serenius said. "I also spoke with Koivunen by telephone. She is doing quite well."
An unnamed representative of the Van police said on Friday evening that Koivunen had been arrested for violating the ban on entering the country. The police source said that Koivunen was to have spent Friday night at a police guest house.
From Van she was flown to Istanbul, where she was put on a direct flight to Helsinki.
Koivunen says that she was banned from entering Turkey in August, for reasons of state security. "This is a very severe action, and in my opinion, it reflects a worsening of the situation in Turkey", Koivunen commented.
Kristiina Koivunen, who wrote her doctoral thesis on the health situation of Kurds, has been outspokenly critical of Turkey’s treatment of its Kurdish minority in several magazine articles and in two books. She has travelled regularly to Turkey’s Kurdish areas since 1997.
The Finnish News Agency STT reported that Koivunen had travelled to Turkey in November without any problems.
She said on Sunday that she plans to find out if she has the right to appeal the ban order. She also says that recently-passed tougher anti-terrorism legislation is reflected in the overall atmosphere in Turkey, which she says has become more conservative than before.
"A power struggle is underway, between supporters and opponents of EU membership, and the opponents are in a stronger position now."
Koivunen said that the Turkish officials behaved in an appropriate manner toward her. She would have liked to have stayed in Istanbul to clarify the situation, but she was not given any possibility to do so.
As she sees it, Turkish legislation is still far from being compatible with that of the EU.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 18.12.2006 - TODAY |
 Finnish expert on Kurds deported from Turkey |
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