WTI ‹STANBUL SESSION FINAL
PRESS MEETING
Arundhati Roy’s press meeting
in the name of the jury
in 27 June 2005 at 11:00 am will be made
at Armada Otel.
WTI ‹stanbul Session:
LIVE ON AÇIK RADYO
Aç›k Radio is covering the WTI meeting live on 94.9 FM. Aç›k Radio
team is right on the spot, next to the coffee shop at Darphane.
Live coverage is new for Aç›k Radio. Ömer
Madra, the director of Aç›k Radyo, said that
before WTI they had done only one live news
coverage to report from the site of a Greenpeace
demonstration. Although they are not very
experienced at live broadcasting, they did a
wonderful job at WTI.
Ömer Madra said that Aç›k Radyo represents
conscientous journalism. When asked about
the responses to their live coverage, he told
us two stories: “We got two unusual responses.
The first one came from a medical doctor, who
is a regular listener and supporter of Aç›k
Radyo. He called us to say that, on the first
day, at the surgery clinic of the hospital he
works at, everyone, including doctors and
patients, was listening to the talks at WTI.
And the second one is actually a criticism
shared by three of our listeners. They said
they would have loved it if we were doing live
coverage continuously throughout the day.
They were somewhat disappointed in the
SPYNICLE
BENCE WTI
The Volunteer Coordinator, impressed by
the performance of the Chronicle, submits
his indecent proposal to Chronicle’s
coordinator:
The Volunteer Coordinator – Why don’t
we sell the Chronicle for 1 YTL.? We can
get away with some costs.
A volunteer – (jumping onto stage from the
table beneath) With this speed you might
say tomorrow, “Let’s sell a couple of
volunteers”.
***
A volunteer (hearing that Tolga wants to
give a disclaimer to the Chronicle) – I want
to send a disclaimer to God, saying Tolga
needs redaction.
***
Löker (on the weak t-shirt sales) – I demand,
on our next activity, to have at least one
LATE EDITION
WORLD
TRIBUNAL
ON IRAQ
ISTANBUL
SESSION
JUNE 24, 2005, SUNDAY, LATE EDITION
SH
FLA WS
NE
THE CHRONICLE GETS
THE DECISION OF THE JURY!
The Chronicle staff, overcame all the difficulties and managed to get
the final decision text of the jury from the organisation committee, one
day before it went public.
‹STANBUL , JUNE 26, 2005
This circular is published in order to support the WTI ‹stanbul Session, by Metis Publishing.Thanks to DISK for duplication resources. Metis Yay›nlar› Ltd. ‹pek Sok. No. 9 34433 Beyo¤lu ‹stanbul
Our source, who doesn’t want his/her name languages throughout the world. Both
to be disclosed, said the Jury of Conscience leaders will be held to an examination each
sense that we were covering only bits and
took the decision after long hours of year in 20th of March from the word.
pieces from the meeting. At the beginning,
discussions. “They are keeping discussing
that was exactly my suggestion. But then my * Bush will have lessons from his journalist
for 48 hours without an interruption. I don’t
friends convinced me that continuous live friends in Turkey on “Proper, ethical and
understand why, these folks are guilty. Ask
coverage all day long would be too much for impartial journalism.” –Editor’s note: Oh,
anyone in the street, they would tell you
the radio medium. Nevertheless, I think we why.” The source, whose name starts with no! This is too much, it’s a clear violation
need to learn from this criticism.” an M, and then continues with –editor’s of human rights! Poor man!-
cut- said s/he thinks the Jury did their best * George W. Bush shall collect money for
We also talked to Aysenem Andiç from to prevent the final decision text to be one
his bail, carrying a plaque “Forgive me!”.
Aç›k Radyo, who was very excited being of those boring judicial texts, which no one
The amount he must collect is 193 billion
part of WTI. She said she followed the understands anything.
dollars, which equals the cerrent amount
meeting as it was broadcasted live on Aç›k
In the final text, Bush and Blair are, to no spent from the US budget for the occupation
Radio the first day and felt very excited. And of Iraq. According to the calculation made
surprise, declared guilty. However, the
when she got to Darphane on the second day by our arithmomanic reporter, if George W.
punishments due are draconian. Some of
and became actually involved in the event, Bush manages to beg for 15 USD an hour,
them are as such:
she got even more excited. It is Andiç’s first he can collect the totul amount in
live coverage experience. She says she loves * George W. Bush shall withdraw his troops
13,027,500,000 hours. This equals to
even all the hassle of live coverage: “It is, I from Iraq, and then repair all the buildings
512,800,000 days, or 1,487,000 years. Clark
and homes they destroyed by carrying
think, a matter of being engaged in a shared Howell, Paleoanthropologist from Berkeley
stones one by one.
cause. People look very happy here despite University, said to our reporter, “One and
the fact that many of them are already very * Bush and Blair shall memorise writing a half million years are enough for a species
tired by now.” (Ayfle Ç.) and reciting the word “peace” in all the to evolve. So, we still have hope.” (Ertan)
INFORMATION DESK MY DEAR CHRONICLE RAUF
AYDAN
group.
AYDAN
person between 20 and 30 in the fundraising “We love the Chronicle, hope you will love
and support it.”
This edition denotes the end of both the
WTI ‹stanbul Final Session and the
Chronicle. We walked the way with
*** My introduction to the first issue of the
Ayfle Ç., Canay, Çi¤dem, Damla,
Chronicle was starting with these words.
Two guys walking in Darphane: Derya, Dinç, Duygu, Ertan, Gülderen,
Actually, we hit the road with some sort of
Löker, Melise, Nihal, Nil and me. Some
- Man, what is going around here? blind courage, not expecting at all such an
didn’t know each other before, but
- They are setting up a court. Americans interest.
nevertheless enjoyed spending hours to
will come.
The Chronicle aimed to cover the ones the first lights of the morning. It was an
- Ah, yes. behind the stage, to keep the unofficial interesting and teaching experience. We
records of dozens of people who gave their liked the work we do. We became proud
***
labour and time to the organisation of such of it. We made a huge collective working
Two reporters in the press room. One is an activity, and to share it with the experience out of “a circular and nothing
quite confused on the role of the Tribunal: participants of this historical Tribunal. Apart else”.
from making this grade, we overcame the
- These are all in vain. The Tribunal and
challenge of releasing 4 issues in 3 days. We thank you all, for not leaving us alone,
so on..
and helped 500 copies to be circulated each
- Don’t think so. Even holding a record for It was duplicated bilingually (350 in Tirkish,
day without a return.
history is a moral responsibility. 150 in English). All has been circulated each
day. So, in addition to our usual morning Hope to see each other in new tribunals,
- No, this is really meaningless. Besides,
edition, we made a late edition for this last new struggles. Now, let’s leave here in all
we are getting tired for nothing.
day of the Tribunal. our humility.
BABEL FISHES OF A FORM OF LIFE DISCOVERED BOOMERANG TACTICS AGAINST BUSH
‹STANBUL SESSION BEHIND THE STAGE! Women’s Will has been resisting the Iraqi occupation and supporting
the women not only of Iraq but also of other countries in the region.
According to Hana Ibrahim, the best tactic to resist the Bush government
is to turn the “democracy” that it promotes into something that works
against its hegemony. (Nil)

Douglas Adams, the ironic writer of fantastic
literature, solved the language problem with
Babel Fishes in his book Hitchiker’s Guide To
The Galaxy. Name of the fish was referring to
the Babel Tower and the division of one mother
language of humankind after it collapsed. You
were tucking the fish inside your ear and it
was translating all languages spoken in the
universe.
WTI court rooms’ Babel Fishes are Nur, Sungur,
Ahmet, Nevzat, Tanyeli, Deniz and P›nar.
These seven traslators are working in their
small cabinets all day long and doing one of
the hardest works ever- making us understand
each other. We hear their voices but usually
do not see their faces. The only complaint of
the voice of the court is, not having a chance
to prepare as well as they wanted to. because
the texts always arrive late. WTI ‹stanbul
session has another important meaning for
them. This is a good chance to train junior
translators in field and they are really happy
about it. (Damla)
We just discovered that there is some form of
living creature among the cables and cords
behind the stage management desk in the
WTI meeting room. We were amazed to see
that these creatures, almost lost among the
power outlets, jacks and buttons, are in fact
human beings like all of us. Indeed, compared
to myself who is incapable even of TV zapping,
they belong to a stage at the other end of the
evolutionary spectrum. (And I’m afraid they
are very close to the next step, where they
might as well become integrated into the world
of cables.)
Joking aside, one of the invisible heroes of the
WTI meeting room is the stage management
team, which makes possible the smooth flow
of presentations by managing the technical
infrastructure. The management team,
coordinated by Bar›fl, is composed of 25 people;
and all the team members are constantly on
the watch for problems to solve. They say the
most difficult day was the first one, where
there were technical issues to deal.(Damla)
What do you expect from WTI?
WTI primarily has to do with ethics. For me,
it does not need to result in any decrees; its
task is to judge the war criminals, to warn
the people of the world, and to leave a trace
in history. This tribunal will hopefully pave
the way for another one in accordance with
international law.
Many people were struck by your
presentation. Apparently, it is very
difficult to maintain resistance while living
in very difficult conditions under the
occupation. What are the most significant
diffulties that you face in your daily lives in
Iraq?
We refused to be an NGO under American
occupation; we also refused to represent any
specific group. We publish a newspaper; and
our main problem is lack of funding. Our
resistance requires the dissemination of ideas
through printed media; and in that sense, it
is mainly a textual resistance. Besides, we
also organise demonstrations.
Have you ever been arrested?
We always find new ways to make it confusing
for them. They often emphasize the idea of a
“free press”, and that is exactly what we make
use of. They talk about the “freedom” to
organise street demonstrations and we do
use that freedom. They could well use force
to stop us any time, though. That actually
happens a lot of times. For instance, once
when we were demonstrating against the
occupation of Fallujah, they surrounded us
with their tanks. However we were able to
demonstrate despite the tanks, with the help
of the people of the city who joined and
supported us. No one can guarantee this, of
course. There is always the risk of being
attacked by the occupation forces. In many
cases, people were even shot dead. Or you
may hear about a friend who was assasinated.
They prefer not to set foot on our office,
because they do not want to seem repressive.
If ever they do that one day, that would
probably be upon something outrageous, like
a claim that we keep weapons in our office.

NO HASSLE WITH WTI

We had a little chat with the security officers
in front of the Darphane-i Amire gate. One
of the officers said, not until he arrived at
Darphane that he had an opportunity to be
informed about WTI. Right away, he
power. Since the invasion of Iraq, I’ve had
sleepless nights whenever I watched the
news. This Tribunal will increase the
awareness of those who stay ignorant
towards the issue.’ When we asked whether

THEY WRITE THE HISTORY IN A DIFFERENT WAY
A documentary film crew followed the WTI
to write a history in a different way for the
next generations. Zeynep D. and Enis thought
of a WTI documentary when they chat. Alisa,
Alp, Aykan, Çiçek, Gülengül, Hakan, Hande,
Sevgi and Zeynep A. had joined them with
volunteer support. We’ve talked with Zeynep
D. And Gülengül when they gave a break.
How did the project start?
Zeynep D: We were already in the WTI project
and thought of making a documentary on
WTI. Then we’ve talked to Alisa from ASA
and decided to edit New York and ‹stanbul
sessions together. We started shooting the
preparation, communicatiuon and meeting
processes two months ago. We don’t have a
budget but we don’t have any expenses except
casettes. We’re all volunteers.
What do you think will be the effects of
‹stanbul session?
Gülengül: It couldn’t prevent the invasion and
it won’t effect politics, but it showed that
inquired about the content of the
organisation and he says: ‘Just then, I feel
glad to be a part of such an event. This way
it was hard to work with us, he said: ‘Nobody
here has hassled with us. This morning,
they came to say thank you for our support.
young generation can do something without or the other, someone should express his Not even a single crisis occurred with neither
material expectations. People above reaction against such violent actions. None the guests nor the organisation staff.
middle age have a desperate mood like of us has the courage to do this though, Personally, I feel very happy to be here.’
“What will change in the end?”. We decided because the opposite side has the ultimate (Ayfle Ç.)
to say our word mlistening to our heart instead
of doing nothing just because of the conviction
that nothing will change. Some people say PORTRAITS FROM VOLUNTEERS
“What can you do? You are not powerful
enough.” But WTI came to life here with 160
volunteers’ help from 70 countries. By what
we shoot and you write, it is being
documented.
Zeynep: The slogan “Another world is
possible,” may also be a desperate one,
because you can read it as “It’s possible but
we can’t do it.” We have to think of doing
something now instead of thinking another
world to be realised in the long term. This is
the final session but for our generation it is a
first step to talking some things: It gathered
us together to imagine something. Recording
a different version of history is another
important issue. (Nil)

CAPTURING TO EASE THE PAIN

During his daily rush, we had an opportunity to chat with
Attila, WTI’s documentary photographer. He said he is trying
to capture not only coming people, but the energy around:
“Activists know such actions don’t have great immediate
outcomes, but they can open great doors. Therefore, I don’t
account for whether the war stops.”
“If you leave the powers alone, they do everything in evil,
and there is no extent to this. If you show your reaction, the
evil they do will decline. It is said that one million people
died from the beginning of the occupation. If the activists in
the world didn’t show any reaction, now this might have
amounted to two million. You might ask what the diiference
is. The pain in the number ‘1’ is the difference. I’m trying to
ease this pain.” (Nil)
THE CHRONIC VOLUNTEER THE CLERK OF
Hasan Tahsin Y›lmaz is one of many
volunteers of WTI. His career as a volunteer
THE PRIVATE COURT
Löker has been one of the wellknown
is not limited to WTI, though. When we ask
figures of the WTI preparation process.
him what he does other than volunteering for
Transferred from Ankara, Löker, our
WTI, he says “I volunteer for other non-
activist and director friend lost his
governmental organisations.” He adds that it
volunteer position in Greenpeace through
is different to work for WTI: “Here the difference
being fired. Since then he dedicated himself
is that we are writing history. This is not only
to the WTI. He internalised his tasks in such
a momentary political action. WTI is going to
a way that he says “I am a clerk in a private
leave a trace in history. We know that the
people or the governments we are dealing court”, when asked about his job. Embracing
with are very powerful, but we too are getting this position in a passionate way Löker is set
more powerful everyday. The energy, the to commence a campaign to organise a new
feeling we all share here, is the proof for that.” tribunal.