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Turkey: DTP-Kurdish politician responds to
military chief
3.10.2007 |
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The
pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DPT) on Monday
responded to a statement by Chief of General Staff
Gen. Yaşar Büyükanit calling for legal measures to
stop the DTP, which is represented in Parliament.
October
3, 2007
Ankara, -- In a speech Monday morning at the
Istanbul Military Academy, Gen. Büyükanit recalled
statements from DTP members refusing to acknowledge
publicly that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is
a terrorist organization, saying: “These statements
are grave, and precautions should be taken against
them.” Hours later, the head of the DTP’s
parliamentary group, Ahmet Türk, responded in a
speech at a parliamentary reception, claiming that
his party was being made a target.
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Ahmet Türk, the head of pro-Kurdish Democratic
Society Party (L),
Turkish General Yasar Buyukanit (R) |
“We are faced with a mentality that does not call
the terrorist organization ‘terrorist,’ that defines
members of the terrorist organization as ‘our
brothers’ and that refers to the Turkish Armed
Forces [TSK] as ‘separatists,’” asserted Büyükanit.
“A solution within the law absolutely has to be
found,” the military chief stressed, calling for
legal action to be taken against the DTP.
In his reaction later that evening, Türk asserted:
“We are being turned into targets for thinking
differently. We are the ones who make an effort to
put an end to violence and clashes, but they are
trying to make us seem like the ones responsible. We
have turned into a party that is being made a
target, as if we are the reason for all of this
[separatist violence].”
Both Türk’s later statement and Büyükanit’s earlier
speech made their mark at the evening reception in
Parliament yesterday. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan appeared to disagree with the top general.
He said he hadn’t seen the complete text of the
general’s speech, but added: “Those who are in
Parliament have come here through a legal process.
They come here by legal, not illegal, means. If
there is any situation that is outside the law, then
the judiciary will take the necessary action. Has
the Supreme Election Board made any negative
decision [about the DTP’s participation in
Parliament]? No.”
In response to a question about what course of
action his party would take in regard to possible
moves to lift the legislative immunity of the DTP
deputies, Erdogan said it did not make sense to
announce a stance for a still-hypothetical
situation. Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader
Devlet Bahçeli also responded to questions from the
press concerning the statements made by the DTP,
saying, “These people [DTP members] don’t know what
they are saying,” and accusing them of not having
remained loyal to their parliamentary oaths.
todayszaman.com
**
Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in
Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media.
The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and
2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan ( Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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