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Mixed signals from Kurdish conference in
Istanbul
15.3.2006
By Cengiz Candar
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The Kurdish conference
in Istanbul over the weekend was first of its kind
and important. Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals,
some political personalities including Kurdish
academics from the diaspora, Turkish citizens all,
gathered for nearly 20 hours and in an open-minded
fashion discussed the most burning issues of Turkish
politics under wide-ranging topics.
It was anything but mere rhetoric. There were a
number of important points raised. Everybody left
the two-day meeting deeply satisfied with the
performance. Its official title was "Turkey's
Kurdish Question: The Quest for Democratic and
Civilian Solutions (I)." That suggested that this
was will be a starter for a sequence of conferences
to follow.
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had
made a remarkable opening last August, declaring in
Diyarbakir that he acknowledges "the Kurdish
question." As one could predict, with no follow-up.
For such a sensitive and volatile issue as the
Kurdish question itself, Erdogan's bold initiative
if not followed, as was the case, could cause deep
disappointment in the public of Turkey's southeast
and could have a boomerang effect that would
jeopardize Turkey's and the Turkish government's
effort for stability in the country. Thus, such a
conference was a significant move to fill the vacuum
created by the immature step of Turkey's
officialdom.
Never before had the citizens of Turkey in a such a
collegial mood and positive atmosphere focused
jointly on the Kurdish question not considering
mainly, as has always been the case, within the
realm of politics and within the framework of its
aspects of security and terrorism.
There were around 60 panelists, both Turks and
Kurds, and a significant number of women. The
Kurdish women were mainly young professionals from
the region, while the Turkish women were renowned
academics of Turkey's universities. There were nine
sub-headings under which the panelists made their
contributions. Around 400 hundred participants
followed the proceedings breathlessly.
The lacking element was the members of the political
party representatives, including the governing party
and those representatives of Turkish military and
security organizations who are confronting the issue
every day. We hear similar discussions held in the
war academies with nothing substantial. It was
interesting to note that those who need a fresh new
outlook to seemingly the most intractable issue of
Turkey's political and social life were the same
people who opted to ignore the Istanbul conference.
This might be the most discouraging signal that
could come out of, otherwise, a very successful
conference. But, the most encouraging signal was
both the Turkish side who have been for long dubbed
as "Kurdophiles" and the majority of the Kurdish
voice in the conference, against violence as an
instrument to seek any sort of resolution to the
Kurdish question. In this respect, the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) would find no legitimacy from
both Turkish and Kurdish civil society for its path
of escalating violence in order to implement its
political program.
An unconditional cessation of hostilities and an
unconditional unilateral disarmament on the PKK's
part had become the consensus of the overwhelming
majority of the conference participants. There were
a rich variety of views professed concerning the
multiplicity of the problems that are the byproducts
of the Kurdish question. Most liberal views such as
that Turkey should officially become a bilingual
republic were expressed. But, nearly everybody
united on the premise that the quest for resolving
the Kurdish question should be through nonviolent
means.
Were there any concrete proposals or a concrete
formula for the resolution of the Kurdish question?
The conference had not been designed to produce a
magic -- that most probably means an impossible --
formula. The conference was not more than to be a
starter for a series of serious intellectual work.
For this end, it was successful.
Nonetheless, it also revealed that the profound
shortcomings in the Kurdish political sphere, as
well as the incapacity of the Turkish political
system to overcome the difficult obstacles on the
road of resolution.
The Istanbul conference produced mixed signals.
Intellectuals can produce food for thought.
Implementation is politicians' endeavor. When it
comes to resolving the Kurdish question Turkey's
intellectual capacity is fine. We are,
unfortunately, far away from saying the same thing
about Turkey's political authority.
thenewanatolian.com
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