Osman Murat Ulke, chairperson of the now banned Izmir War Resisters’ Association (ISKD), was detained in Izmir on 7 October 1996, more than one year after he declared that as a pacifist he would not perform any military service. Since then four trials have been opened against him in two military courts on various charges relating to his refusal to perform military service. So far he has been sentenced to 11 months’ imprisonment. Amnesty International is concerned that Turkey’s system of conscription makes no provision for conscientious objection, and that Osman Murat Ulke is a prisoner of conscience and should be released immediately and unconditionally.
