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Kurds need Obama’s support to gain rights
in Turkey
15.6.2012
By Delovan Barwari, President of the American Kurdish
Council
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Ekurd.net |
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June 15, 2012
President Barack Obama’s leadership and bravery
for supporting the aspiration of the people of
Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria for overthrowing the
dictatorial regimes, as the Arab Spring unfolded, is
certainly commendable. Yet his silence about
Turkey’s tyrannical policies on its sizable Kurdish
minorities, over 20 million, is a contradiction not
only to the former, but also to the very principles
that our nation was built upon.
The United States of America was founded on the
basis of freedom. Our founding fathers struggled to
defeat tyranny and injustice, which laid the
foundation for a democratic and plural society that
we are enjoying today. Thereby, as a nation, we must
uphold the very same principles that we once fought
for and condemn oppression anywhere it may be.
Since the partitioning and annexation of Kurdistan
into Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria after World War I,
Kurds have been subject to genocide, forced
assimilation policies, violent repression and denial
of basic human rights and their identity at the
hands of the aforementioned countries.
On the one hand, in recent years, Turkey has made a
number of superficial reforms to meet the Copenhagen
criteria, a set of preconditions for entering the
European Union. On the other hand, it has
intensified its repressive policies against the
Kurds in Southeast Turkey. Since 2011, as many as
7,000 Kurdish politicians, activists, academics,
journalists and ordinary citizens have been arrested
for peacefully demanding equality and basic human
rights. Moreover, on March 24, a Turkish court
sentenced Leyla Zana, a prominent Kurdish lawmaker
and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, to 10 years in
prison for expressing her belief. African-Americans
resisted centuries of oppression in the eras of
slavery and segregations, which ultimately led to
the emergence of the civil rights movement to gain
their rights; African nations struggled to rid
themselves from subjugation under colonialism;
Nelson Mandela, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, waged a
liberation movement to eradicate the apartheid
system of segregation in South Africa. As an
American president of African decent, Obama should
be able to perceive tyranny in the lens of an
oppressed nation. By this means, he is obliged to
uphold the essence of the American spirit, and
understand the fundamental causes of the Kurdish
resistance against despotism and authoritarianism.
Dignified leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
and Nelson Mandela were once criticized as
extremists. Today, they are internationally
respected icons for human rights. Moreover, the
NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference were characterized as radical
organizations and encountered attacks for
challenging the tripartite system of dominations in
the United States. Today, Turkey is using similar
tactics to arrest prominent Kurdish leaders and to
eradicate Kurdish organizations that are peacefully
struggling for democracy, peace and human rights,
closing every door to a peaceful solution.
We are living in an era where dictatorship,
oppression and racism have no room. Globalization
and advancements in technology have helped transcend
the ideals of democracy and human rights across the
globe. Moreover, social movements such as the Arab
Spring illuminate that autocracy and oppression are
no longer sustainable: Every human wants to live in
harmony and with dignity. By the same token,www.ekurd.net
the Kurdish struggle is an outcome of the extreme
injustices that Kurds continue to experience, which
is a natural response by humankind. With that in
mind, the only viable solution is the full
recognition of Kurdish rights and adherence to
democratic principles.
Turkey is a NATO member and a strategic ally of the
United States. Its repressive policies are
contradictory to United States’ founding principles.
In September 2010, a constitutional referendum on
numerous amendments passed with 58 percent in favor
of bringing changes according to European Union
standards. Currently, Turkey is in the midst of
drafting a new constitution. Therefore, it is
critical for President Obama to exert pressure on
Turkey to draft an inclusive constitution that
acknowledges the Kurdish demands and respects the
inalienable rights of Kurds living in Kurdistan of
Turkey.
Without a doubt, today, the world is more than ever
interconnected and interdependent. Hence, resolving
the Kurdish question in Turkey will positively
influence the Kurdish predicament in the other parts
of Kurdistan and it is considerably instrumental in
achieving peace and stability throughout the Middle
East.
In the words of Martin Luther King, “Injustice
anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
By Delovan Barwari is a San Diego resident and president of
the American Kurdish Council and a regular
contributing writer for Ekurd.net. First published
at www.utsandiego.com
Copyright © 2012 ekurd.net
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