Even if the cousin did not denounce the author's father, the fact remains that the father also made shoes for the
PKK or at least allowed them to be made in his workshop. Thus, the father's behaviour would doubtless have
justified the opening of a criminal investigation against him since he had, as the owner of the workshop, given
his support to a terrorist movement. In fact, the father has never been bothered on these grounds by the national
authorities.
4.5
Moreover, the author stated that his cousin had been sentenced to five years' imprisonment and that he
had informed the police that the author had made the shoes. However, the author has never produced an extract
from the judgement in question, which, if it had really existed, could have proved that he had been his cousin's
accomplice.
4.6
With regard to the future persecutions to which the author would allegedly risk being exposed on
returning to his country, the State party informs the Committee that, following the request of the ODR dated
3 April 1998, the Swiss embassy in Ankara made inquiries regarding the situation of the author in Turkey. By
letter of 21 April 1998 the embassy confirmed that the police had no political file on the author and no record
of his having committed a criminal offence, that he was not wanted by the police or the armed special police
at the national or local level and was not prohibited from holding a passport.
4.7
On the basis of this recent information, the author could surely no longer seriously maintain that the
letter from the Office of the Public Prosecutor in Gazantiep was authentic. The Swiss authorities were,
moreover, convinced that the document was a forgery. Firstly, it was an internal official letter which would
normally not be intended, at least in this form, to be handed over to the wanted person. Secondly, the quality
of the paper used and the absence of any of the official indications that generally appear on this type of
document according to the specialized service of the ODR, led to the conclusion that the author had had the
document forged by friends or relatives.
4.8.
The author also made contradictory statements regarding the dates and duration of his alleged arrests
in 1994. He firstly stated that the two arrests had taken place in August 1994, and subsequently in September
and October 1994; that they had lasted, respectively, three days and one day, and then only one day. It is
therefore quite likely that the dental damage suffered by the author was caused by some other incident than that
indicated by him, for example an accident at work. The dental certificate in no way confirms the statements
by the author with regard to the cause of the damage. Moreover, it can be seen from the communication that
the author did not leave Turkey because of these events, which leads one to suppose that there is no causal link
between them and the grounds for the future persecution which the author claims he will suffer if he returns
to his country.
Counsel's comments
5.1
Counsel reiterates the explanations he had already provided regarding the contradictions in the author's
statements referred to by the State party. As for the document from the prosecutor of Gazantiep, the State party
seems to suggest that the author asked his relatives to produce a false document. The author asked his father
to send him evidence, not to forge a document. He does not know how his father obtained the document but
there is nothing to indicate that the document is a forgery. In a telephone conversation on 23 December 1996,
the father told counsel that he had had to go to the police station several times in order to obtain the document.
5.2
As for the argument that the author was unlikely to place himself at risk again, counsel claims that
many Kurds in Turkey are suspected by the police of collaborating with the PKK, in spite of which they
continue to work for the organization.
112
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