"Turkey is becoming a cemetery of banned political parties. Closing a group does not resolve the problem."
~ Sırrı Sakık, DTP parliamentarian (Muş).
~ Sırrı Sakık, DTP parliamentarian (Muş).
Members of the Socialist Platform of the Oppressed or ESP hold a banner reads that: 'We are all Kurdish. We are all supporters of DTP' during a demonstration in support of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP in front of the party's Istanbul headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, Nov. 19, 2007. Turkish authorities took steps to ban the country's leading pro-Kurdish political party and expel several of its lawmakers from parliament on charges of separatism. The Democratic Society Party, which won 20 seats in parliament in July, called for autonomy for Kurds living in the country's southeast. (AP Photo/Murad Sezer)
This shouldn't come as a shock to anyone who's been following the news since March 2006, but the Turkish state is now attempting to formally shut down DTP. It shouldn't come as a shock, either, that MHP is leading the way with an attempt to lift the immunity of DTP parliamentarians. Meanwhile, Turkish chief public prosecutors have filed with the Constitutional Court last week to close DTP.
Both IHD and TIHV oppose the proscutors' move, as do the 370 members of the Turkish Peace Parliament, who've made the following observations:
* According to the results report, more than 100 people have died in battle since the middle of October.
* The lynching campaign started against the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) group in parliament has resulted in party buildings being set on fire and even Kurdish work places and homes being marked.
* In the face of the policies which are pulling Turkey into a regional and ethnic civil war, it is the duty of the Turkish Peace Parliament, together with all the other democracy and labour forces in the country, to change the nationalist, chauvinist, and discriminatory atmosphere which is currently dominant in society, and to demilitarise the public.
The attempt to close DTP and impose a strictly military solution to the Kurdish situation in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan is merely the extension of the AKP's refusal to seek a political solution during the Amed Serhildan. It's also indicative of the AKP's close cooperation with Turkey's real rulers, the Paşas. It's a continuation of US policies toward the Kurdish situation, as illustrated by the American appointment of a Lockheed Martin director as the "PKK coordinator" for Turkey--Joseph Ralston--who absolutely rejected any political solution, as well as rejecting PKK's October 2006 unilateral ceasefire.
And, remember, Turkish military operations were intensified this September, immediately following the visit of AKP's Abdullah Gül to military installations in The Southeast.
3 comments:
I think your are over simplifying Ankara's roll here and what rolls exist in Ankara. I am not a supporter of any party in Turkey as I'm not Turkish, and can not vote here. But, I see there are mistakes being made on both sides. And I beg to differ with you on the poisition of AKP, as I said I am not a supporter. But, opponents and those in favour of Kurdish rights fail to see that Turkihs politics develop at a very slow pace. It is however a positive step forward that Erodgan doesn't want to close the DTP. He recently made a statement to this end and we are also seeing now that AKP are even proposing new letters of the alphabet, and while this won't compensate the years of terror that Kurds have suffered, it is a sign that AKP are trying to change something. You have to remember that the last president to attempt such a thing, namely Ozel, well he ended up dead and we don't really know how, although they say it was a natural death.
I think the Kurds I know fail to understand that the pace of change in Turkey is slow, but better it is slow and solid than fast and unstable.
And one thing that has puzzled me is the change of leadership in the DTP. Speaking to a Euro MP last week, he was also puzzled.. he said "Who is this new guy, he has no connections in European parliament", which sadly shouldn't be a prerequisite for gaining ground on the Kurdish issue, but of course it surely can be. But it is tragic when a Euro MP says "that was s tupid move by the Kurdish MPs".
We also heard a member of the DTP finally say today that an act of violence against civilians can be seen as terrorism. He was referring to a landmine attack on a child in the south east.
The DTP first of all need to position themselves into a stronger position politically, then and only then can they start to make moves. but they first need to cement themselves, it would be naive to think that there is another way.
And I really think that you should be a little more realistic in your outlook about how AKP can change things. This party is without a doubt the most pro-European party Turkey has, so for now it really is the best option for the Kurds to have this government in power. I mean what is the alternative?
Just to correct something that I wrote previously. The member of the DTP that I referred to was, according to Bugun newspaper, from Batman. Bengi Yildiz referred to the PKK as terrorist organisation in connection to the killing of a 11 year old child, who was killed in a shooting by the PKK.
Anonymous, I'm going to assume that the Bugün article you refer to is this one, since you don't provide a link.
In that article, what Yıldız says is the direct opposite of what you claim here, namely that PKK "terrorists" killed an 11-year-old by either shooting or landmine (you state both). The interviewer from Bugün asks Yıldız specifically about his "endorsement" of "PKK as 'terrorists'" and Yıldız clearly states that he NEVER said any such thing. He stated that he was making a direct quote from a Turkish indictment, in which the phrase "PKK 'terrorists'" was used. Yıldız himself does not endorse this description. Obviously, it is a vastly incorrect description of PKK. The only terrorists in Turkey belong to the state or are members of the Turkish military.
As for the change in DTP leadership, Ahmet Türk gave up that responsibility because of health problems having to do with his heart. If Selahattin Demirtaş is unknown to ignorant European MPs, it's because Europe has assisted with the genocide of the Kurdish people through its willful disregard of the situation. Europe has purposely looked the other way to avoid seeing this genocide, just as Europe did with the genocide it committed in the last century. Of course, that genocide was a pretty stupid move by Europe--far more stupid than Demirtaş's leadership of DTP.
Demirtaş follows in the footsteps of many other Kurdish activists and politicians by having been an IHD lawyer for a number of years (such as Osman Baydemir). He is perfectly capable of a position of leadership both within DTP and within the TBMM.
If AKP is so pro-European, why hasn't it introduced European law as regards individual political rights? If AKP is so pro-European, why did Gül go and show his ass to the Paşas in The Southeast in September? Neither Erdoğan nor AKP can do anything because neither has any power that is not "on loan" from the REAL RULERS of Turkey--the Paşas.
Seriously.
Why do you think the Paşas suddenly acquiesced in the matter of Gül's presidency? I mean, they forced the dissolution of the government and early elections over this matter. They acquiesced because of a meeting with AKP in Dolmabahçe Palace at the beginning of May. The entire show was arranged in advance and remains that way today.
. . . Just as Turgut Özal arranged Turkish-Islamic Synthesis with the Paşas, who then used THEIR Hezbollah against the Kurdish people. They will revive THEIR Hezbollah soon, just as AKP will reduce the number of DTP parliamentarians in the TBMM instead of abolishing the party altogether.
After all, image is everything.
Right?
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