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Turkey's Roboski Kurdish massacre was not
a "mistake": Mersin deputy
17.1.2012 |
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BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) Mersin deputy
Ertuğrul Kürkçü. ANF photo.
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There
is an intention to drive a wedge between the Kurdish
people and the struggle for freedom, says Mersin MP
January
17, 2012
BERLIN, — BDP (Peace and Democracy Party)
Mersin deputy Ertuğrul Kürkçü is in Europe for a
round of meetings. We publish extracts of an
interview he gave to Perwer Yaş of ANF Turkish
service.
What is your opinion on the reaction Kurds and
democrats had after the massacre in the village of
Roboski?
- In my opinion, this massacre verbally drew a
stronger reaction than I expected. CHP (Republican
People’s Party) focused on the way of the event, not
its essence. They admitted that there was a mistake
in the military operation. In other words, they
agree to the military operation, meaning an
"effective" operation. The problem is that these
kind of massacres are and will continue to be
inevitable as long as military operations of these
kind are approved. These are operation aimed at
total destruction and intimidation. An intimidation
operation against civilians will no doubt take place
in line with the destruction operation against
guerrilla forces. CHP is wrong in presuming that
this operation is not part of the intimidation
operation against civilians.
However, the investigation at the scene, the
testimonies of the people and denounces about the
event tell us that the villagers were trapped and
gathered from the other side of the border before
the bombing took place. We cannot speak of mistaken
intelligence since all the intelligence provided was
used in this operation.
Do you think the press was actually given inputs for
distorting the reality and truth of the massacre ?
- The interesting fact is that the pro-Fethullah [a
powerful religious lobby] press criticises the
government in this occasion. Zaman, Yeni Şafak and
Taraf papers wrote remarkable criticism which
astonished me. The AKP government was criticised
strongly from its own side. As to the reactions from
the democratic sections of the society, they were
much stronger than I had expected. However, in
general, the media reluctantly worked to assess
reactions and analyse facts.
What is remarkable is that the reality of the
massacre was not published in the press for a long
time in the first day, with many contradictory
reports. In this sense, we can say that the media
continued to play a negative role. I think the media
are under the severe control of the government and
the army.
You are a member of the parliamentary investigation
commission. How will you work?
- We will go to the village of Roboski to start with
and in line with the information the villagers
release, we will interview the Gendarmerie, the
commanding officer and district governorship in
Uludere, Şırnak, Diyarbakır and then the Gendarmerie
General Command, Presidency of General Staff,
Security Directorate and Interior Minister in
Ankara. This commission is formed by members from
all parties; four members from AKP, two from CHP and
one from BDP.
Do you believe that the truth of what really
happened would be established?
- I have some hope that we will establish facts
because I can see that the AKP members of the
commission, themselves Kurds, are eager to establish
the truth. Still, we will see how much the Prime
Minister and the government would discourage this
desire.
You said that Roboski massacre was a planned action.
Could this plan be a part of a wider plan?
- There is an intention to drive a wedge between the
Kurdish people and the struggle for freedom; this is
what I see when I look at the Roboski massacre, KCK
arrests, the bombing of Kandil area, the
intimidation and threatening against BDP, the
demands for the arrest of deputies, the police
attacks on demonstrations and the pressures on the
press. This intention also aims at pushing the
Kurdish people towards conservative ideologies, to
make political leaders unable to act and to make
them look as if they were guilty and with no good
reputation.
In this sense, I consider the Roboski massacre to be
within the scope of the plan to intimidate people.
Trying to explain this event in another way will in
fact mean to be unfamiliar with what armed forces do
in this country. The difference between guerrillas
and civilians is known by everyone. It is therefore
not possible to speak of a mistake in this bombing.
You have witnessed the last 40 years of history in
Turkey and followed the Kurdish movement closely for
many years. Do you think the current situation is
heavier than that of 12 September 1980 military coup
or the 1990’s period?
- Yes, the current situation is no doubt heavier
than that of those periods because the resistance is
much greater and based on more international
grounds. The struggle goes beyond the borders and
the public participation in this struggle is much
greater and constant. Being this the case, the
consequence is that the effort by the establishment
to crash this struggle is also greater than it was
earlier periods. However, the common thing of all
these operations,www.ekurd.net
past and present, is the mentality that is inherited
from the U.S., a mentality aiming at destroying the
enemy. The U.S. operations are taking place
overseas, not within its boundaries. As for the
situation in the region there has been intelligence
sharing between U.S., Iraq and Turkey since 2007.
The agreement signed means the U.S. is supposed to
share all intelligence it gathers with Turkey and
Iraq.
Following the Roboski massacre, the PKK has for the
first time in its 30 years long history, directed
its reactions towards the U.S. Do you find this
decision proper? Should the reaction of Kurds be
directed towards the U.S.?
- I think the reactions are directed where it is
necessary to direct them. Although Turkish
nationalists think that the U.S. supports the PKK,
the U.S. has never supported the PKK. Indeed it has
played an important role in capturing the Kurdish
people leader and delivering him to Turkey. It
declared the PKK a ‘terrorist’ organisation and
prevented it to be organised and run activities in
its own territory. Indeed the U.S. has gone further
than the EU in this respect. Being this the case,
the PKK couldn’t have remained silent in this
situation. And one other point I observe is that
Turkey is becoming stronger since the U.S. withdrew
from Iraq and left northern Kurdistan to Turkey’s
vassalage.
Do you think the withdrawal of U.S. will serve
Turkey’s purpose?
- Turkey wants to have a say in northern Kurdistan
with the support of the U.S. In this sense it would
be inevitable for Kurds to direct their reaction
against the U.S. which is seen as the power
protecting the policy of destruction towards Kurds.
Is it possible to have a single movement against the
U.S.?
- There is a need to seal an alliance between
Turkey’s workers and the people of Kurdistan. Both
sides have experiences share. Foretasting this
issue, the AKP government has launched the KCK
operations and included the Turkish left in these
operations. The best answer to be given to this
attack is the Democratic Congress of Peoples.
Deputy Leyla Zana’s house has been recently raided
within the scope of KCK operations. Do you think the
wave of pressure against BDP will continue?
- These attacks are not anonymous and they are
turning into a revenge action on some people
including Leyla Zana who is an important symbol of
the struggle of the Kurdish people.
In which way is the process progressing? What is the
final plan of the AKP?
- Rather than doing politics on the basis of this
idea, we need to look at the purpose of the
pressure. The AKP wants to get to the 2014 local
elections continuing is suppression of the Kurdish
freedom struggle. It aims to win the large part of
local governments and to bring Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
to the presidency of the Republic. This is the
craziest project by the AKP and it aims to deprive
Kurds of the right they gained, to eliminate the
Kurdish movement, to enslave Kurds once again and to
build an empire above all these injustices. Against
this plan, I believe it is necessary to build a a
resistance across the country. We have enough power,
energy and time to practice this resistance. And I
believe that we will get the best of the elections
in 2014 and reverse the plan made for those
elections by the AKP.
Turkey is trying to fill the gap of the new order
left from the U.S. and it is therefore supported by
the U.S. for this purpose. However, masses have
reacted against this new order. The reaction in the
Arab countries results from the desire of region’s
peoples to play a role in this new order.
In my opinion, the U.S. considers Kurds as a
destabilising factor and it is trying different
tactics with Kurds in the different countries. For
example it takes a position against the Kurdish
freedom struggle in Turkey, but it is not taking a
direct position against the Kurdish movement in
Iran. It is also of importance what kind of an
attitude Turkey will adopt in the region.
The falling of the Syrian government wouldn’t be a
surprise as this kind of regimes could face
unexpected ends at an unexpected time. However,
relations between Turkey and Syria will not get
better as long as the Assad regime exists.
Do you think the withdrawal of U.S. will serve
Turkey’s purpose?
- Turkey wants to have a say in northern Kurdistan
with the support of the U.S. In this sense it would
be inevitable for Kurds to direct their reaction
against the U.S. which is seen as the power
protecting the policy of destruction towards Kurds.
Is it possible to have a single movement against the
U.S.?
- There is a need to seal an alliance between
Turkey’s workers and the people of Kurdistan. Both
sides have experiences share. Foretasting this
issue, the AKP government has launched the KCK
operations and included the Turkish left in these
operations. The best answer to be given to this
attack is the Democratic Congress of Peoples.
Deputy Leyla Zana’s house has been recently raided
within the scope of KCK operations. Do you think the
wave of pressure against BDP will continue?
- These attacks are not anonymous and they are
turning into a revenge action on some people
including Leyla Zana who is an important symbol of
the struggle of the Kurdish people.
In which way is the process progressing? What is the
final plan of the AKP?
- Rather than doing politics on the basis of this
idea, we need to look at the purpose of the
pressure. The AKP wants to get to the 2014 local
elections continuing is suppression of the Kurdish
freedom struggle. It aims to win the large part of
local governments and to bring Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
to the presidency of the Republic. This is the
craziest project by the AKP and it aims to deprive
Kurds of the right they gained, to eliminate the
Kurdish movement, to enslave Kurds once again and to
build an empire above all these injustices. Against
this plan, I believe it is necessary to build a a
resistance across the country. We have enough power,
energy and time to practice this resistance. And I
believe that we will get the best of the elections
in 2014 and reverse the plan made for those
elections by the AKP.
Turkey is trying to fill the gap of the new order
left from the U.S. and it is therefore supported by
the U.S. for this purpose. However, masses have
reacted against this new order. The reaction in the
Arab countries results from the desire of region’s
peoples to play a role in this new order.
In my opinion, the U.S. considers Kurds as a
destabilising factor and it is trying different
tactics with Kurds in the different countries. For
example it takes a position against the Kurdish
freedom struggle in Turkey, but it is not taking a
direct position against the Kurdish movement in
Iran. It is also of importance what kind of an
attitude Turkey will adopt in the region.
The falling of the Syrian government wouldn’t be a
surprise as this kind of regimes could face
unexpected ends at an unexpected time. However,
relations between Turkey and Syria will not get
better as long as the Assad regime exists.
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