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Turkey commits a massacre but rejects an
apology
23.1.2012
By Shakhawan Shorsh
— Ekurd.net
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January 23, 2012
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) killed 24
Turkish soldiers in a raid. Turkish forces responded
with a series of attacks, and the attacks continue.
Turkey has been accused of using forbidden weapons
in its attacks on Kurdish partisans. The killing of
the 35 young people aged 13–20 years old is the
latest the Turkish ground and air forces’ killings.
The majority of the people living in the villages on
both sides of the border are poor people and living
under extremely difficult circumstances. Many of
them do not have jobs and live an empty life, while
they watch their families suffer from the lack of
food and necessities. Thus, the men in those
villages have to find a way of life, even if they
risk their lives. Smuggling fuel, cigarettes, or
other things for little money is better than nothing
for some of the people.
Villagers from both sides have close family
relationships. Thus, they a revisiting each other
due to social or economic reasons. These people use
the same mountain route, which is familiar to people
in the region, and the Turkish authority knows this.
When the massacre occurred, Turkey's general staff
said “the area attacked on Wednesday night was
inside northern Iraq and had no civilian population…
the raid was launched following information that
suspected militants were planning to attack Turkish
security bases.” The Turkish Prime Minister (PM)
Racab Tayb Erdogan said, “no one could know the
identity of those people.”
The victims were without weapons, were dressed in
civilian clothes, and they had at least 20 mules.
They used a known route. The PKK partisans may have
use one or two mules at times, but they never use 20
mules, they do not travel without weapons, and they
hardly use this familiar route.
Thus, there is serious doubt about the argument that
the Turkish military could not see the different
between the PKK gorillas and these villagers. The
circumstances around the event create further
suspicion about the Turkish attack and the
intentions behind it. These people had gone to the
other side of the border the day before, and now
there were on their way back. As a survivor, Servet
Encu said "We were on our way back when the jets
began to bomb us."
According to a group of organizations (TBM, TIHV,
IHD, KESK, TTB, CHD, DISK), the airstrike that
killed 35 in the southeast was staged with the
knowledge that the people crossing the border were
smugglers . Turkey calls the attack a technical
mistake, and Erdogan said the incident will be
thoroughly investigated. There is serious doubt that
the military, which is one-sided in the
Turkish-Kurdish conflict, can or will find the truth
behind the attacks. It is not in Turkish interest to
investigate Turkish military policy and tactics or
Turkish hate or racism against the Kurds.
The Turkish-Kurdish conflict is one of the world’s
oldest ethnic conflicts, and it goes back to the
second half of 19thCentury. The Kurdish minority has
been oppressed, and the Kurdish question has been
denied since the establishment of Turkey in 1923.
Turkey has made some small steps toward the
acceptance of the Kurdish people in the last two
decades. However the denial policy of the Kurdish
question still exists.
The vice president, Bulent Arinc, stated that the
government will pay compensations for the 35
victims, but it will not apologize . In reaction,
two Kurdish parliament members attacked the military
and Turkish president for the massacre and demanded
an apology from the government. Erdogan accused the
parliament members of making the issue an ethnic one
and classifying the deaths as Kurdish and stated
that they take orders from the PKK.He said, “Whoever
makes the issue an ethnic one by saying 35 Kurds
were killed, they are trampling all kinds of
humanitarian values…Those who classify the deaths as
Kurdish and Turkish are following the path of the
devil…You cannot even go to the toilet unless your
armed masters loosen your strings…”
There is no doubt that the primary internal
political problem in Turkey is the Kurdish question
as Turkey still denies Kurdish cultural and the
Kurdish people’s political rights. There has been an
internal war between PKK and Turkey that resulted in
tens of thousands of deaths since 1984. There is
quite a big Kurdish community in southeast Turkey
(northern Kurdistan),www.ekurd.net
estimated to around 15 million people. The victims
have been Kurds who were killed by Turkish military.
There is nothing wrong in this reality, according to
Erdogan who refuses the Kurdishness of the victims
in the name of citizenship and threatens those who
make this ethnic classification. He denies the
Turkish-Kurdish conflict and refuses to face the
Kurdish question. He still doesn’t like the word
Kurd and does not like any mention or reference to
the word, even if dozens of them are killed by the
state. Erdogan ignores the ethnic cleavage inside
the country, and accuses human right activists and
Kurdish representatives of supporting terrorism and,
consequently, opening the way for punishment. Not
surprisingly, turkey has arrested hundreds of human
right activists, journalists, and intellectuals in
last few months.
Erdogan also does not trust the Kurdish Parliament
members and openly accuses them of PKK relations.
When the earthquake occurred in the Van province in
October 2011,some TV channels publicly wished for
more natural destruction of other Kurdish cities.
They regard Kurds in the Kurdish territory as
supporters of PKK. This shows the distrust and
suspicion of the Kurds from the individual Turkish
citizens to the highest level of the government.
Turkish authority and Turkish ethno-nationalists
cannot accept Kurds who demand Kurdish rights and
defends Kurdishness. There is still hate and racism
against the Kurdish community.
Erdogan´s words, “you cannot even go to the toilet
unless your armed masters loosen your strings…”
arecruel and demoralizing. This sort of expression
is known among criminals and gangs, but when the
head of the state uses such words, it shows how deep
the leader can sink, which is quite alarming.
Erdogan tried to show the Western world that he
loves human rights and democracy, and he illustrated
by his pressing the Syrian dictator, Bashar Al-asad,
to respect the wishes and rights of the Syrian
people. The picture that Erdogan is creating is a
picture of an impatient and irrational person who
can hardly tolerate different opinion.
Turkish leader sac knowledge that the killing was a
mistake, but they will not apologize to the families
of the victims because they do not think the act was
criminal. Turkish leaders may argue that the victims
were breaking the law because they were smugglers.
Is the killing of 35 innocent young smugglers not a
criminal act? Dose Turkey not break international
law when it attacks people outside the Turkish
border? (By the way, Turkey killed seven Iraqi
Kurdish villagers in the Qandil area in the spring
of 2011, but Turkey has never taken responsibility
for the killing.)
Acknowledgment and compensation are given because
the military has done something terrible and wrong.
Refusing to apologize is refusing to express guilt
and is insulting to the victims’ families. This
means that Turkey does not promise to prevent
further killings of innocent Kurds. An apology to
its own people is not shameful. On the contrary, in
this way, the government is trying to gain
forgiveness and take the necessary steps toward
reconciliation. Refusing to apologize is a rejection
of the Kurdish community. The Turkish authority is
pushing the Kurds further away, and the Kurds feel
like defenseless foreigners in the country.
Further more, has Turkey ever asked why these
villagers are so poor? Has Erdogan ever asked what
these villagers need and how the state can help
these people move toward a better life? Is it not
Turkey that is responsible for these villagers’
security, economic growth, and welfare? Turkey has
marginalized the Kurdish people in all of its
political and economic decisions. Turkey has failed
to make the life of these people better as it does
not have any development programs for the border
areas. Instead, Turkey has sanctioned them and put
them under harsh observation. The only help that
Turkey has given to its people is making them into
village guards (knowing as “Jash” among the Kurds)
for a small salary and drawing them into the war
against their own Kurdish brothers.
Finally, Turkish leaders must find the answers
within themselves and accept that Turkey massacred
innocent, young Kurdish boys and men. That was a
criminal act committed against the country’s own
people. Refusing to apologize to the Kurdish people
in Turkey is an affront to these people and their
rights. Turkey has a responsibility toward the
Kurdish community inside Turkey. Turkey has failed
to live up to this responsibility.
Sources:
Turkey admits 35 civilian deaths near Kurdish
village: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16352388
PM Erdoğan slams BDP's ethnicity-oriented approach
to airstrike killings: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-267476-pm-erdogan-slams-bdps-ethnicity-oriented-approach-to-airstrike-killings.html
Tyrkiet nægter at sige undskyld men betaler
erstatning efter massakre: Ressource: http://politiken.dk/udland/ECE1496523/tyrkiet-naegter-at-sige-undskyld-men-betaler-erstatning-efter-massakre/
Shakhawan Shorsh, a freelance writer from Iraqi
Kurdistan, you can visit Shorsh's website at:
www.kadirshorsh.com
Copyright © 2012 Ekurd.net. All rights reserved
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