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Turkish ex-president Kenan Evren: ‘Treat
Kurds as Brothers'
2.3.2007
By Vladimir van Wilgenburg, is a non-Kurdish writer
from Netherlands |
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March 2, 2007
Just as Hilmi Aydogdu, Kenan Evren speaks some wise
words. The arrest of Aydogdu must also be seen in
the light of the coming elections and the resentment
to the DTP.
"There is a Kurdish state today; the invasion of
Kirkuk would not be right", said Kenan Evren, the
7th president and the leader of the military coup in
1980, the daily Sabah wrote yesterday in its lead
story.
“We can say ‘no' as long as we want, but the Kurdish
state has been founded anyway,” said Evren,
assessing the words of Barzani, who stated that
Turks should get used to the idea of an independent
Kurdish state. Turkey might transform into a federal
system in the future, Evren said, adding that this
is not something to be afraid of.
“They say 'Kurds will declare independence.' They
could not! Why they would want separation if you
recognize the same rights for them? We should treat
Kurds as brothers,” the daily quoted Evren as
saying. |
Former President of the Turkish Republic, Kenan
Evren |
Alleging that Turkey did not take the necessary
steps in the past regarding northern Iraq, Evren
said Turkey was lenient at the time when it should
have reacted. “I do not know how to react to Barzani
now,” Evren said. Stating that you have to fight
your enemy if you can't talk to him, he said that is
why Turkey should talk to Barzani. He also supported
the words of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül, saying,
“We should talk even with our enemy.”
Evren also alleged that Turkey would have to
confront the whole world if it invades Kirkuk. “We
have rights on Kirkuk, we should defend them. But I
am against invading Kirkuk,” Evren said. Saying he
would not mind if the Democratic Society Party (DTP)
was represented in Parliament, he added, “If they
can't enter Parliament, what is the reason to found
a party then? We should learn to get on in a
brotherly way.”
According to Evren, it would "soften" the
atmosphere. Said Evren, "Communists, rightists,
Islamicists enter parliament. If parties aren't
going to be represented in parliament, why are they
even formed?"
Federal states
Former President of the Turkish Republic, Kenan
Evren, has announced that he thinks Turkey should
embrace a sort of federalist state system sometime
in the future. According to Evren, who was the 7th
President of Turkey, the states would be comprised
of: Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Adana, Erzurum,
Diyarbakir, Eskisehir, and Trabzon. Also called the
"Evayalet system". This is based on the subdivisions
in the Osman empire, in which provinces have some
sort of autonomy, but are still dependent on the
power centre, in this case Ankara.
The "regional governorship project" of Kenan Evren
which would pave the way for the states is about 24
years old. The decree in 1983 stipulated
establishment of 8 regional governorships and
transferring many authorities of Ankara to
governorships.
The center of the first region is the governorship
of Ankara. The other regions are Istanbul, Izmir,
Konya, Adana, Kayseri, Erzurum and Diyarbakir.
Evren also expressed support for the entry into the
Turkish Parliament of the Kurdish-backed Democratic
Society (DTP) Party, asserting it would "soften" the
atmosphere. Said Evren, "Communists, rightists,
Islamicists enter parliament. If parties aren't
going to be represented in parliament, why are they
even formed?" He also declared that he is willing to
talk with Mehdi Zana about the "eyalet
Evren ended his comments by noting "Kurds and Turks
are made from the same dough. There is no separation
between us. There are even military members who have
been Kurds who have made it as high as top
generals......"
Ertugrul Ozkok got more info
Turkish journalist Ertugrul Ozkok of Hurriyet called
Kenan Evren, and he gave more information to him. It
was former leader Turgut Ozal who first began these
debates about the "state system" being used in
Turkey. " But of course, during the period he was
leading the country, debating this sort of topic
could not be done very freely. None of us could come
out and speak freely, mostly due to fear over heavy
criticism from the press and other political
parties. And due to the fact that everyone
immediately thought of "Kurdistan" when the subject
would arise, the whole matter quickly became taboo.
As far as I am concerned though, I have always
thought that a state system would be very helpful
for Turkey. Not because of any sort of ethnic or
cultural divisions. Just because of how I believe it
would help regional dynamism.
Think about if there were eight states in our
country. This would mean eight regional leaders.
This would mean eight different parliaments. It
would mean that various services would be controlled
locally. And most importantly, it would mean the
economy would be opened up to regional competition.
Can you imagine the regional competition between
states to get a car factory to invest in their
state, as opposed to the other? Yes, I very much
believe in this sort of competition, and this sort
of dynamism.
But also, one of the most important reasons I back
this state system idea is because of the idea of
"opening up political competition." Think about
eight state leaders competing against eachother in
Turkey. They would compete not only for their
regions, but in order to become prime minister. And
in this race, regions whose leaders had proved
themselves most worthy would go on to become the
county's prime minister. Which would relieve us of
having to rely on leaders that political parties put
forth.
But are there disadvantages to this theoretical
state system? Of course. This system would clearly
work to the advantage of richer regions. The desire
to have taxes sent to poorer regions may decrease in
residents of the richer regions. But this could be
balanced out by national education policies, and
examples of national pride as motivators.
There is no one who can say that today in the US, a
national feeling does not exist. There is no doubt
that the American flag is the country's most
prominent symbol. So we really should think about
debating the ideas that Evren has put forth, without
terrorizing their backers, and without falling sway
to compexes over what might come. We must not allow
this state idea to become the hostage of the
"Kurdish state" fear. Because Turkey desperately
needs to discuss this state system idea.It might
even be that a state system would be just the road
we were looking for, which will bring us to
solutions for a number of our problems.
Support?
Let's see if Kenan Evren gets support. It's strange
that a former general who led the September 12 coup
in Turkey, supports a sort of federalist system and
a legal Kurdish party who is vilified in the Turkish
media. It would be logical that military coup
supporters aren't very supportive of more Kurdish
rights or democracy.
In the current nationalist mood among Turks and also
Kurds, this kind of statements are a beacon of hope
for Kurds and a good contribution to the
Turkish-Kurdish dialogue. One shouldn't only look to
negative developments in Turkey, but also positive
ones.
Republican People’s Party (CHP) Istanbul deputy
Berhan Şimşek expressed anger at Evren’s comments,
saying, “Nothing else could be expected from the
mentality of Sept. 12.” “The Kurds are our brothers
now. Nobody but Evren could have proposed a federal
system. At one point, Erdogan implied a similar
view. It is interesting to see that the Sept. 12
campaign, the basis of Islamist groupings in Turkey,
has something common with their views.”
Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) Malatya deputy Süleyman
Saribaş said a federative structure could only be
acceptable as a regional development model. Head of
the nationalistic Grand Unity Party (BBP) Muhsin
Yazicioglu accused Evren of protecting the interests
of the terrorist organization and linked his
statements to efforts that he said were underway in
northern Iraq to set up “a new state of Israel”
there.
Leader of the pro-Kurdish DTP Ahmet Türk expressed
optimism concerning Evren’s words. “It is very
positive that somebody who actually staged a coup is
saying these things. It looks like Kenan Evren has
finally seen the right path for resolving the
issue.”
Selim Sadak, a former Kurdish parliamentarian who
had to serve jail time on charges of separatism,
regretfully said: “Turkey is lagging even behind
Kenan Evren. If it is up to Kenan Evren to defend
us, I don’t what we’ll do.”
Sources: Sabah, Today's Zaman, Turkish Daily News,
Hurriyet - Ozkok, Haberler.
Some other news: Zana, Dicle, Dogan and Sakak joined
the DTP.
Vladimir van Wilgenburg, is a non-Kurdish writer
from Netherlands
http://vladimirkurdistan.blogspot.com
** 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 as many as 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.
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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