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Turkish Kurdish MP Sabhat Tuncel speaks on
Kurds' struggle in U.S.
29.2.2008
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February 29, 2008
Turkish Congresswoman Sabhat Tuncel, a human rights
activists, a Kurd and member of Turkey’s Parliament
visits the United States between February 27th to
March 6th, 2008
USA, -- Sebahat Tuncel, a Kurdish member of
the Turkish Parliament, spoke about the his people's
struggle for democratic rights in Turkey in a
mostly-full MacMillan 117 Thursday night, before a
crowd which included students and Providence
residents, among them members of the local Kurdish
community. The event was co-sponsored by the Amnesty
International chapters of Brown and Providence.
Marcia Lieberman, coordinator of the Providence
chapter of Amnesty, and Professor of History Engin
Akarli introduced Tuncel. Akarli said that Tuncel's
election to the Turkish Parliament has introduced
women's voices and sensibilities to Turkish
political life,www.ekurd.net
which is often dominated
by a patriarchal system. He added that he hoped that
she might one day be prime minister of Turkey. |
Sebahat Tuncel, a Kurdish member of the Turkish
Parliament, spoke Thursday |
Tuncel currently serves as the vice co-chair and
Istanbul deputy of the Democratic Society Party, a
pro-Kurdish nationalist party. Tuncel said that the
DSP is the fifth pro-Kurdish party to form in Turkey
- its predecessors have all been shut down by the
government of Turkey. Tuncel spoke about the
problems that face Turkey and the Kurdish people in
the country's efforts to further democratize and in
addressing the "Kurdish problem."
"We come from a very long distance, one of the most
beautiful countries of the world - however, also a
country which is encountering very serious
problems," Tuncel said, speaking through an
interpreter. She said that her personal history is
very much related to the current political situation
in Turkey.
The Democratic Society Party faces threats of
closure from the Turkish government, she said.
Hundreds of its members have already been arrested,
while many more are being interrogated for allegedly
belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a
militant Kurdish organization.
The DSP is a small but powerful opposition faction
in the Turkish Parliament, Tuncel said, that pushes
for further democratization of Turkey. Her party
asks that all the people of Turkey, including the
Kurds, be able to express their cultures.
Though Turkey is multicultural, she said, growing
attitudes within the country that emphasize the
concept of a "single nation and single language"
threaten this tradition of multiculturalism. These
monolithic conceptions of the state are a barrier to
democracy, she added.
Tuncel also addressed the "Kurdish question" in
Turkey at length. The discrimination that the
Kurdish population in Turkey faces is a serious
problem, she said, that goes back to the creation of
the Turkish state 85 years ago. Half of the total
Kurdish population worldwide lives in Turkey - about
20 million people,www.ekurd.net
according to Tuncel.
Almost 4,000 Kurdish villages have been evacuated
and tens of thousands of people have been faced with
forced migration, and thousands more have been put
in prisons. And until 1991, the use of the Kurdish
language was forbidden in Turkey.
Tuncel stressed that the characterization of the
Kurdish question as a matter of terrorism wrongly
portrays the issue. "The depiction of the problem as
a terror problem enhances (it) rather than
(bringing) a solution," she said. The PKK is a
consequence of larger issues, she added, and not the
actual problem.
The Kurdish people, she said, want to freely use
their language and express their culture. Tuncel
said her party would like to engage in a cultural
dialogue about these issues. "The solution to the
problem lies in listening to what the Kurdish people
really want," she said.
Tuncel said that Turkey's recent military operations
in Iraqi Kurdistan against the PKK have given rise
to significant tension. Those military operations,
"which (are) supported by the U.S. government, to
which many European countries remain silent, hamper
feelings of fraternity" between the Kurds and the
rest of the Turkish people, she added.
Addressing the issue of the
PKK's demands for a Kurdish state, Tuncel said, "the
Kurdish people in Turkey would like to live with the
Turkish people in the same country." They simply
demand freedom of expression, she said.
At the end of the speech, Tuncel said she is in the
U.S. to demand solidarity. "I believe that
regardless of our geographical location in the
world, as the oppressed people of the world we
should be united, as the oppressors are." She added
that she hopes Americans will speak out against the
cross-border operations that Turkey is conducting in
Iraq.
Tuncel also answered questions after her speech,
several of which were asked in Kurdish.
Azim Clik, a leader of the New England Kurdish
Association, said after the event that the group was
very glad that they brought Tuncel to Providence. He
said that he also believes in the importance of a
peaceful democratic solution to the problems in
Turkey.
Amy Tan '09, a board member of Amnesty
International, said that she believed there's an
obvious interest in the Brown and local community
about the Kurdish issue in Turkey.
Congresswoman Sabhat Tuncel, a human rights
activists, a Kurd and member of Turkey’s Parliament
visits the United States between February 27th to
March 6th, 2008. She is invited by Kurdish
associations, student and human rights organizations
to speak at different universities and institutions
and discuss the relations between the US, Kurds and
Turkey, Finding a peaceful solution to the Kurdish
question, democracy, women, and human rights in
Turkey.
Sebahat Tuncel was elected to the Turkish Parliament
in 2007, by 300 000 votes from Istanbul city. This
is the highest number of votes any candidate has in
parliamentary elections during the history of the
republic of Turkey. Kurds and Turks have voted for
her.
Tuncel is a well-known Kurdish, human and women’s
rights advocate, she is engaged in intellectual
endeavor and shares her experience with various
non-governmental organizations including the UNDP
and Amnesty International in addition to her
parliamentary activities.
MP Tuncel was born in Malatya, eastern Turkey in
1975. She graduated from the Cartography and Land
Surveying Department of Mersin University. Tuncel
stepped into political life in 1998 via the Women’s
Branch in the Party of People’s Democracy (HADEP)
and assumed office as Esenler District Chairperson
for two subsequent periods.
Tuncel is one of the founders of the Democratic
Society Party (DTP). Prior to her election to the
parliament she held the title of DTP Women’s
Assembly Spokesperson. Tuncel is currently the Vice
Co-chairperson and Istanbul Deputy of Democratic
Society Party. DTP has 21 elected members in the
Parliament of Turkey and 54 elected Kurdish mayors
including the big city of Diyarbaki
**
Program:
February 28th, 2008
(Thursday) at 5:00 pm: Lecture at Brown University,
Providence, RI. Sponsored by New England Kurdish
Association (NEKA)
As you all know a Kurdish Congresswoman will be
coming to Brown University in Rhode Island on the
28th of February. We have changed the room of the
lecture due to the capacity amount. The new room is
called MacMillan Room 117, Brown University. We
would like to invite all of you to attend this
lecture on the 28th. MP Sebahat Tuncel will be
giving a speech on the recent Kurdish issues. Her
topic is based on "The Struggle for Democratic
Rights and Liberties in Turkey, the Kurdish
Perspective". She will also discuss relations
between USA, Turkey, and the Kurds.
After the Lecture there will be a banquet Party at a
hall in Johnston about 10 minutes away from Brown
University. Location: Entertainment Center, 200
George Waterman Ave
Johnston, RI 02919. Time : 8pm to 12 Minight. The
Banquet is sponsored by NEKA. Free Dinner with the
Congresswoman as well as Private Question and Answer
period. We would also like to thank the Amnesty
International Chapter for their cooperation and help
in planning this event.
**
February 29th, 2008
(Friday) at 6:00 PM: CUNY University, New York, NY.
Sponsored by American Kurdish Association (AKA)
“The Condition of Struggle for Democratic Rights and
Liberties in Turkey”
An Evening with Sebahat Tuncel
Kurdish member of the Turkish Parliament
Lecture followed by cocktail
Friday, February 29, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Graduate Center, University of New York
The process of democratization in Turkey is a
deeply- rooted and ceaseless controversy. From the
assassination of Hrant Dink, to recent military
operations to Iraqi Kurdistan, rising attacks on
Kurdish politicians and Turkey’s strategic role in
American occupation in Iraq, various issues
regarding the democratization of Turkey are also on
the agenda of the US public and the world as well.
On February 29, 2008, Sebahat Tuncel will deliver a
lecture at The Graduate Center; The City University
of New York entitled “The Condition of Struggle for
Democratic Rights and Liberties in Turkey” at 6.00
pm. In her talk, Sebahat Tuncel will focus on the
conditions of struggle for democratic rights and
liberties in Turkey.
Sebahat Tuncel was born in 1975. She graduated from
the Mersin University. Tuncel stepped into political
life in 1998 via the Women’s Branch in the Party of
People’s Democracy (HADEP) and assumed office as
Esenler District Chairperson for two subsequent
periods.Tuncel is one of the founders of the
Democratic Society Party (DTP). Prior to her
election as Istanbul Deputy at the 2007 General
Elections, she held the title of DTP Women’s
Assembly Spokesperson. She is the youngest woman to
serve in Turkish parliament and the first person in
Turkish history to be elected to parliament from
prison, where she was hold for her struggle for
democratic rights and liberties in Turkey as a
Kurdish woman. Tuncel is currently the Vice
Co-chairperson and Istanbul Deputy of Democratic
Society Party. As a well-known human and women’s
rights advocate, she is engaged in intellectual
endeavor and shares her experience with various
non-governmental organizations including the UNDP
and Amnesty International in addition to her
parliamentary activities.
*This evening sponsored by Middle Eastern Student
Association (MESO)
*Cocktail sponsored by American Kurdish Association
(AKA)
Location: The Robert E. Gilleece Student Lounge,
5414
The Graduate Center, the City University of New York
365 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10016-430
**
March 2nd, 2008 (Sunday): Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD. Sponsored by Forgotten
Social Histories Community at John Hopkins
University
MP Tuncel will be a Keynote speaker at a Conference
organized by Forgotten Social Histories Community at
John Hopkins University in Baltimore on Sunday,
March 2nd.
Location:Arellano Theater, in Levering Hall,
Homewood Campus, JHU, 3400, North Charles St,
Baltimore. Johns Hopkins University.
Conference Program:
From 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Opening Comments, Social Histories Group
Presentation on IWD, Social Histories Group
Sebahat Tuncel (Keynote Speaker-deputy of Turkish
Parliament)
browndailyherald com | News wire
**
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
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