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PKK Calls for a democratic solution to
Kurdish issue in Turkey
6.12.2007
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The
KONGRA-GEL released an official declaration
reiterating their desire for negotiations with the
Turkish government.
December
6, 2007
The Kurdistan issue is one of the most deeply rooted
issues in the Middle East. Although this problem has
social, political and national roots, it is yet to
be afforded an accurate and just approach by all
concerned powers. This deficient situation is not
bringing peace and stability. Instead, despite the
Kurdish people’s wishes, the problem is being
treated as a mere security and terrorism issue among
two or three powers within the global arena, and is
also being made a tool for political gains.
On the 5th of November during G. W. Bush’s meeting
with R. T. Erdogan in the USA, the representatives
of the Kurdish people’s struggle for freedom, the
PKK, were declared a joint enemy and an organization
that needed to be quashed, and yet no reference was
made about how to resolve the actual problem which
resulted in the founding of the PKK. As for the EU,
its recent approval of the annihilation operations
that the Turkish state wants to carry out has done
nothing but encourage more Kurdish massacres. This
kind of approach has been adopted for a long time
and yet it is extremely clear and evident that it
has not yielded a potential solution or even hinted
towards a solution.
In this atmosphere there have been calls, especially
from the Turkish side, for our movement to declare a
unilateral ceasefire. On the one hand there are
rigorous efforts to demolish the achievements of the
Kurdish people’s thirty-year struggle for freedom,
which has given them an organized and
institutionalized movement. On the other hand
however, there are messages conveyed through certain
channels that the state is trying to resolve this
problem peacefully.www.ekurd.net
The Turkish Prime
Minister R.T. Erdogan makes ambiguous and therefore
unreliable statements to the public that there is a
project regarding this matter. As a reply to certain
statements made by the Prime Minister in August 2005
and October 2006, our organisation declared
unlimited ceasefires, which in both cases were
answered by military attacks, giving rise to serious
doubts as to the sincerity of the Turkish state. In
the present circumstances it should be accepted that
the Kurdish people cannot have trust without seeing
practical steps taken. Primarily there should be
clarity regarding which forces support a real
solution and which forces are merely using this
rhetoric to pacify the Kurdish people and our
movement with a view to complete nullification.
Even with all of this, instead of efforts to
deescalate the situation, plans on how to attack,
isolate and nullify our organisation are constantly
being drawn up and presented to the public. The
Turkish state is, with increasing intensity,
attacking the Kurdish people’s military, political
and social cohesion and principles.
To this end, the quarters who are calling for us to
declare a ceasefire will do more good by ensuring
that the Turkish state accept the terms of the
ceasefire our movement declared back in October
2006. If the Turkish state accepts the ceasefire of
October 2006 then no guns will be firing and the
sought-after atmosphere will be achieved. As a
result of this a project by which the use of guns
can be completely nullified can be easily achieved.
We believe that this political project can be
introduced through the democratic autonomy which the
DTP also recently suggested. A permanent voluntary
unity can be achieved through the acceptance of a
democratically autonomous Kurdistan within a unified
democratic Turkey.
The details of this
proposal can be found within the following articles:
1- The recognition of Kurdish identity, and the
constitutional protection of all identities under
the citizenship of Turkey as a super-ordinate
identity.
2- The removal of all obstacles constraining the
development of the Kurdish language and culture; the
recognition of the right to an education in the
mother tongue; the acceptance of Kurdish as the
joint official language of the Kurdistan area;
respect for the cultural rights of ethnic
minorities.
3- The recognition of the right to free association
based around freedom of thought and expression, and
the removal of all inequalities not least of gender.
4- The development of a social project for
compromise between the two peoples, through
forgiveness, to achieve peace and freedom by freeing
all political prisoners including Abdullah Ocalan
and ensuring the swift assimilation of political
prisoners into legitimate social status.
5- The retreat of all forces of the war from
Kurdistan; the abolishment of the village guard
system; the development of an economic and social
project to facilitate Kurds’ return to their
villages.
6- A rearrangement of the law to strengthen and
widen the powers of local government.
7- And parallel to the above-mentioned articles, a
timetable agreed by both sides for the inclusion of
guerrillas into a democratic social set-up through
the abandonment of arms.
Resolving the Kurdish problem without altering the
borders would be possible on this basis. Creating a
democratic environment in which the Kurdish people
are able to live freely is what is important. This
project will in effect lay the foundations for the
most sustainable resolution which will not only
reinforce the basis for free alliance but also merge
both sides’ gains.www.ekurd.net
The freedom and
existence of the Kurdish people is not a threat to
the development of any people or state. Our people
want only the natural rights they, as a people, are
entitled to; this is possible solely through the
democratization of the sovereign forces over
Kurdistan. Therefore, the resolution of the Kurdish
problem will also serve to build consistency and
democracy in the region.
We call upon all democratic forces in Turkey, all
quarters who want peace and support the brotherhood
of the people, democratic intellectuals and writers
to take ownership of their responsibilities towards
a resolution to the Kurdish problem through peaceful
democratic means. Standing up against the
terrorizing and race-orientated policies of the
Turkish state against the Kurds is currently a
fundamental duty of being democratic. The AKP
Party’s false, deceptive and religiously motivated
approach and their manipulation of the Kurds through
this is not a solution to the problem and is also a
line of policy that could lead to bloodshed. We call
on all democratic quarters to stand before the AKP
party’s dangerous policies and strive towards the
development of a solution to the problem through the
brotherhood of the people.
We call upon the Turkish state and the AKP
government to abandon the denial and eradication
policy, which, despite being implemented for the
past 84 years, has not produced any solutions. We
invite them to discuss our presented project so as
to resolve the problem through free alliance based
on recognition of the will of the Kurdish people.
The government of the Turkish Republic must not
search outside for the solution but inside of Turkey
and through peaceful dialogue with the legitimate
representatives of the Kurdish people. The state
must accept this as a problem of Turkey and assess
it on this basis.
Kurdistan may have been divided into four parts
against its will but the latest developments have
demonstrated once again that the fate of the Kurds
is very much tied. In light of this, therefore, all
Kurdistan powers, especially the Kurdistan Regional
Government, must take ownership of their
responsibilities by working towards a peaceful
solution. It must be known that the futures of all
parts of Kurdistan are connected to a peaceful
resolution to the Kurdish problem.
International forces, primarily the U.S, declaring
the Kurdish freedom movement as an enemy is not
going to solve the problem.
The source of the problem, contrary to the Turkish
state’s claims, is not our movement but the state’s
denial policy. A democratic solution to the Kurdish
problem is an important contribution to security,
peace and stability in the region and to world
peace. From this perspective we wish to state that
we are open and willing to discuss a fair solution
with international and regional powers in the event
of their presenting such plans. The revival of the
hopes for a solution without Mr. Ocalan and the PKK
will only waste valuable time and cause to deepen
the issue; the dismissal of powers that represent
the will of the Kurdish people will not be deemed
acceptable by the Kurdish people.
As representation of the Kurdish side we have
developed and provided all necessary propositions
and comparable suggestions for resolution but have
been answered with a persistently driven concept of
eradication through armed force; we will naturally
resist this with great will and determination. The
people of Kurdistan, irrelevant of which part they
are from, want to resolve the issue through peaceful
dialogue, not violence. We value the efforts of all
powers in the region who support democracy,www.ekurd.net
peace and consistency in
working towards a solution to this problem. The
governing states and international forces in
Kurdistan must relinquish the view of the Kurdish
problem being a factor of instability, a view which
leads to their develop of strategies to suppress it
through two/three-party alliances. They must develop
a conference platform wherein all parties are
represented, based on objectives of regional
collaboration, brotherhood between people,
stability, trust and a general aim for resolution.
The realization of the above objectives will
strengthen the foundation for a sustainable
solution.
Instead of steps that would serve to create
stability and resolution, the creation of tension
and contradiction between Kurdish political forces
and the development of policies which cause internal
fighting is most certainly an ill-intentioned
approach. No friend of the Kurdish people supports
this line of politics. The period of Kurds fighting
amongst each other has passed; Kurdish political
forces must now not give that period a chance of
revival. All Kurdistan powers should adopt an
attitude of national-democratic unity and accept
patriotism as their minimum prerequisite for
success. At this juncture in history, taking optimum
advantage of opportunities for the success of our
people’s struggle for freedom depends on the
materialization of this political stance. Therefore
it is vital that no Kurdish power leads a policy
which would entertain the denial and eradication
policy. They must focus their priorities on the
unity and solidarity of the Kurds.
The patriotic people of Kurdistan, be it women,
children, young or old must demonstrate awareness
and compassion towards maintaining a
national-democratic line of unity throughout this
period. Furthermore, they must stand firm against
all attitudes attempting to frustrate this.
This Kurdish problem is nearer to a resolution than
ever before. Sovereign states that identify a
resolution as a threat to their interests are in a
state of anxiety and panic. They are attempting
every manner of tactic to contain the situation. The
denial and eradication policy being implemented
within the concept of weakening and eliminating the
Kurdish people and their will is destined to fail.
Any attempt aiming at elimination will bring about
not resolution, peace and stability but impasse,
fighting and instability.
It should be well noted that the national-democratic
dynamics and rich experience in resistance the Kurds
have attained through the rationalization of the PKK
leadership is strong enough to continue to
demonstrate a desire and will for struggle for many
years to come. Our people, friends and powers
concerned should have no doubts regarding this.
Therefore the sole true method for a conclusive
solution is through dialogue, not elimination
through violence. The alternative is that a
catastrophic period of fighting and chaos will ensue
from which everyone will lose.
We, as a movement, do not wish for such a phase to
develop and with this declaration, as a reply to
calls made to us by concerned powers and so that a
period of peaceful democratic solution may develop,
henceforth officially declare and state that we are
open to discussion for a resolution. We call upon
all powers to take ownership of their
responsibilities and make efforts towards a
democratic-peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem.
Source: The Presidency of Kongra-Gel (Kurdish
People’s Congress) | The Presidency of Executive
Council of KCK (Democratic Community of Kurdistan
**
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,
large Kurdish community 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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