|
Turkey: Kurdish MP says we condemn
violence, yet it isn't valued
9.1.2008
|
|
|
|
Gültan Kisanak a pro-Kurdish DTP deputy said: "We
are not considering forming an investigative
commission about the bombing. During our visit to
the governor we could not get any information."
January
9, 2008
Ankara : Gültan Kisanak, MP for the
pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) in
Diyarbakir, said: "There is no end to violence, it
is like a well without a bottom. It is not valid
anymore to say that only governments can apply
violence; if you legitimise policies of violence,
then everyone, small or big, uses violence. We have
been struggling for a year, saying that this road
should not be taken..."
Following the bomb attack in Diyarbakir and recent
controversy over the DTP, Kisanak answered bianet's
questions. |
Gultan Kisanak, pro-Kurdish DTP party deputy |
Is the DTP going to
found a commission to investigate the bombing?
As a party, we have not planned to form a commission
at this stage.
Why not?
In order to investigate these kinds of events
properly in this country, democracy is needed. When
we MPs went to Diyarbakir, we could not get proper
information on the event from the city's officials.
So if we founded a commission, what could we achieve
realistically? We think that first of all that this
country has to go beyond the criminal or police
dimensions of the case and step away from violence.
Look at what has happened in this country in the
last year,www.ekurd.net
the country's mentality
and the criminal events that have emerged...The Law
on Police Duties and Authorities was passed,
security forces are not prosecuted seriously, people
are being shot for not obeying the order to stop...
You say that this is the inevitable result of
government policies...
The case for the Kurdish issue is the same. If you
spread the mentality of "hitting, breaking, and
using more planes" among the people, then there will
be a parallel development of criminal events. I
don't want to say "This would not have happened if
there were no war politics", but we cannot ignore
this reality.
Today (8 January) Prime Minister Erdogan referred to
the DTP in a group meeting in parliament, saying,
"If the PKK is a political organisation, why do we
need you?"
After the attack on the police station, it was us
who showed our most humane feelings first, condemned
the event and said that this society needed to be
pulled back from violent approaches. But the Justice
and Development Party (AKP) wants something else
from us. They think that a front has been
established in this country. It sees itself, the EU,
the USA and all other parts of society on one side,
and us and other powers it has defined on another
front. Of course we do not want to be approached
with this front mentality. They want to use us in
order to isolate the PKK. This is what we find
wrong.www.ekurd.net
This Kurdish question is
not a problem of security. However, the AKP is
saying: "There is a PKK problem. If everyone sides
against the PKK, the issue will be solved." After
years of policies of destruction and denial, you
have not developed any new policy. This is not a
skill. If you carry out the 29th operation today,
tomorrow the 30th will have to come. The Kurdish
question has to be solved.
Those who do not take part in creating fronts and
who seek a democratic solution to the Kurdish
question want to hear more from you that "We condemn
violence on all sides."
This criticism would be valid if we did not offer
solutions to the Kurdish question or did not
publicly oppose violence. But we always express our
reactions.
How do you interpret the articles on the bombing
published on the Internet website of the HPG [Hezen
Parasitna Gel, the People's Defense Forces]?
We were not concerned with anyone else's reactions
when we condemned the violence. This is not valued.
Are we going to do politics always with an eye on
what others are saying? If there are people in this
country who want to work towards a solution, they
should appreciate this approach. We are interested
in whether the events are violations of human
rights. That is important in itself. We went to
Diyarbakir and shared the pain of our people.
bianet org
**
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, a
large Turkey's 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
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 