Monday, February 15, 2010

15 ŞUBAT

"In the category of small nations without any rights, it is best not to be Kurdish. It is better to be an ethnic Albanian or a Palestinian.... Because they do not fit with the interests of any superpower...and because they happen to be under Turkey's rule, a U.S. ally and NATO member, the Kurds will not have their Madrid conference or their Dayton agreement or Rambouillet talks.... While everyone has been recalling that Ocalan's organization is a terrorist organization, everyone has been forgetting that the Kurdish people of Turkey are the victims of state terrorism...called ethnic cleansing. The same thing that has the United States and Europe up in arms when it is done in the Balkans, leaves them cold when it is done in Turkey."
~ Le Monde, 18 February 1999.


Eleven years ago today Turkey thought its Kurdish problem was solved. It wasn't. Cengiz Çandar, writing in Radikal, doesn't think Turkey's Kurdish problem is solved either:


Oppression and Disappointment in the Southeast


If you make your way to the Southeast often--and not only talk to officials but also particularly have a relationship with the street--if you open up your heart and listen to the region's people, there is a result that you can easily arrive at: the ruling party's regional parliamentarians are not representing the region in Ankara but are representing Ankara and their party in the region.

I've stated this on every occasion when I met with important people in the state and in the government. The AK Party's Southeastern parliamentarians are not representing their regions; they do not convey the pulse of the Southeast to Ankara. Whenever they go to their election districts, they represent Ankara and their party.

Therefore, PM Erdogan's statement, "There are 75 Kurdish parliamentarians in my party," or the AK Party's receiving the greatest amount of votes in the region doesn't mean anything.

Have you ever heard these 75 "Kurdish" parliamentarians open their mouths to say anything about the Kurdish question? Have you ever heard them mention the unbearable oppression in the region in Ankara in front of the public?

A couple of days ago, Diyarbakır's Special Heavy Penalty Court convicted a fifteen-year-old girl called Berivan for "throwing stones at police" in addition to "cheering party slogans" during the events that took place on 9 October in Batman. She was convicted to 13.5 years at the first hearing. Yes, at the very first hearing.

Since she was a minor, the court showed mercy and reduced its punishment to seven years and nine months! At the event [during the protest in Batman], Berivan's face was covered with a scarf but police were determined that the girl with the scarf was Berivan. That girl with the scarf may very well be Berivan; but while there is more solid and concrete evidence for the generals who gathered to overthrow the government, which is a crime against the state, and while they've been released pending trial, have you ever seen any Southeastern AKP parliamentarian object to Berivan's conviction of 13.5 years for stoning police and cheering party slogans?

Do you know that there are over 1,000 children in prison in the Southeast?

In a condition where belief in justice is damaged so deeply, can we talk about the "Democratic Initiative" or the "National Unity and Brotherhood Project"?

In the Southeast there is no justice but oppression!

The other day, one of the members of AKP's executive council told me that in the council meeting PM Erdoğan was informed that people in the Southeast are very happy and very excited about the ongoing events [the "democratic" initiative]. Based on the PM's sources, everything is going well in the Southeast. Whereas the contrary is the case and the "political decision maker" [Erdoğan--i.e. Turkey's "decider guy"] is being deceived or prefers being deceived. Again, another piece of information I received from a similar source: AK Party's executive council is expecting very important incidents about Kandil around Newroz. If there are AKP members that believe this, I'm curious about what planet they're living on. Newroz is only one and a half months away; is there any indicator that thousands of armed people from Kandil will come and surrender?

Well, is there any little indication of a general amnesty to come out for the ones at Kandil? There are only two possibilities left so far. 1) America and Iraqi Kurds will have a joint military operation and finish PKK's military existence--for those who believe this, they are living in a dream. 2) The ones at Kandil disappear unexpectedly.

There are no such situations and there isn't the slightest sign that these will happen.

Meaning, within one and a half months, related to Kandil, it is impossible for any incident to happen, for PKK to disarm. A "climate" for such a thing has been removed in Turkey anyway. In the region [Southeast], in addition to 1,000 children, more than 1,000 people in political groups, including elected mayors, have been arrested.

The PKK members who came from Kandil three months ago are free; mayors have been handcuffed and arrested for having connections with PKK.

There are two ways to make the armed cadres give up on armed struggle:

1. Regarding Kurdish identity, you have to take such unilateral democratic steps that will remove the armed group's masses of supportö and the support will completely be removed. There won't be support of the masses for armed forces.

2. Open up ways for armed groups to become involved with peaceful [without arms] politics.

Until now, regarding the first, there are positive but insufficient steps. Regarding the second, just the contrary is being done. Elected people, who are involved with peaceful politics, are jailed. It is a politics of "to the ones in the cities calling 'go to the mountains'; meanwhile, to the ones in the mountains, 'stay there'" is being made.

The "negative atmosphere" and the "disappointment" in the region were reflected to Ankara as "information to the state in the governors' meeting". The governors in the East and Southeast told Interior Minister Beşir Atalay that, "initially, the democratic initiative raised expectation and excitement to their peaks in the region. Citizens became very hopeful. When the package ["democratic" initiative's packages] was presented, a serious disappointment took place. The citizens are expecting more concrete steps."

They are right.

For months, we have been saying and writing this. I forgot exactly how many articles I wrote specifically about this issue and specifically in this way. The governors who work in the region mentioned that our people's expectation became lively in March of last year due to Abdullah Gül's statement of "soon there will be good things on the Kurdish question" and with the initiative, their expectation is at its peak.

President Gül said those words to three journalists--of whom I was one--in the plane on the way to Tehran. Since that day, I am among those who've been keeping an eye on the pulse of the region. I spent a remarkable amount of the summer months in the Mardin, Van, Doğubeyazıt, and Kızıltepe regions. On 1 August [2009], I was among the attendees for the Kurdish Workshop. One month later, in September, I traveled 1,000 kilometers between Diyarbakır and Şemdinli.

Today's atmosphere is 180 degrees different from the atmosphere of those days.

It is as much a deep disappointment and negative atmosphere [now] as it was equally positive in those days.

How in the world will "national unity and brotherhood " come about without including our Kurdish citizens who live in the Southeast, who want to join with great enthusiasm and an expectation of an optimistic future?

How will a "national unity and brotherhood" will come about from a region where 1,000 children are currently living lives of misery in prisons?

The Interior Ministry said "İnşallah, soon good things are going to happen" to the governors and wanted them to wait for a while. I wish this problem could be solved with "İnşallahs" and empty promises. This is not a kind of problem that can be solved with "İnşallahs" and "Maşallahs".

And god forbid the potential of the disappointment is so great as to overwhelm the struggle against the junta members in Ankara and Istanbul, and to overwhelm Turkey's successful foreign politics that present Turkey as a "rising regional power".

PM Erdoğan needs to open up his eyes to the ongoing things in the Southeast and, without any delay, he must change track.


Çandar's piece reminds me of something else from history, something that happened four years ago tomorrow--the visit of Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Ankara. Let's recall what was said at the time:


Although they feared that too open an endorsement of Hamas's victory would antagonise both Israel and the international community, Turkish Foreign Ministry officials were privately discussing intensifying behind-the-scenes contacts with Hamas in preparation for more contacts in Palestine. But they advised the Turkish government that it should delay any public contacts with Hamas until it had formed a government. In this way they could argue that they were meeting not with representatives of a group which is included on both the US's and the EU's list of terrorist organisations but with representatives of the democratically elected Palestinian government.


What was said by the AKP government in defense of the Hamas visit?


The Turkish government justified its decision to invite Meshaal, who is based in Damascus, by arguing that Hamas had won free and fair elections in the Palestinian territories. The Turks stressed the importance of having a dialogue with Hamas in order to moderate its position.


The AKP government has not changed its position on this subject as Katil Erdoğan was on Turkish media last week crying for Palestinians again. It should be noted, however, that Katil Erdoğan has yet to shed any tears for the Kurds of Turkey. What's more is that Katil Erdoğan's government continues to carry out mass arrests of Kurdish politicians who were, in fact, members of a legal and peaceful political party in Turkey and who had been overwhelmingly elected to their positions by the people of their constituencies during last year's 29 March elections. While I'm at it, let me reiterate that neither DTP nor BDP have been listed on anyone's "Terrorist" List . . . except perhaps for some super secret List which may have been filed in Gladio's Kozmik Odası.

Since the ruling party has completely ruled out any possibility of a political solution for the Kurdish people, there is only one approach left.

17 comments:

Gordon Taylor said...

Welcome back. Thanks for taking the time to translate this article.

Patrick Mac Manus said...

Thanks for analysis and comments on the Kurdish issue.

Jewish Odysseus said...

Mizgin, when are we gonna get the Rasti lowdown on "Sledgehammer" in Turkey? Does it not appear that the two major forces in Ankara are essentially paralyzing each other, if not ready to annihilate each other? Could this not be a moment of blessed, celestial chaos for the northern Kurds?

Jewish Odysseus said...

Mizgin, what do Joseph Ralston and Soner Cagaptay have in common? [I mean besides the obvious]...They both had adjoining columns in today's Wall Stret Journal. But Uncle Joe wasn't defending the pashas today...he was defending the Pakistani military.

Poor Soner, he really seems like a lost soul now that AKP is taking over.

Chilli said...

http://www.terrorism-illuminati.com/uighur-nationalism-turkey-and-the-cia

Anonymous said...

Wherever you are, Miz, we are thinking of you and hoping that you keep well.

gordon

Anonymous said...

To better understand the events in northern Kurdistan and the region your blog is a must. I really miss your analyses. Please keep well.

srusht

KULKA said...

Hawre gyan,
i found your blog and i am going to read it carefully, although i know it will give me a lot of sorrow, but thank you for your articles - and i am sure we will win our struggle.
i also want to say that any time i found any petition for Kurds, for Kurdistan i always sign and i always give the links to any website that i am a member of. Kateky xosh bo to, xuahafiz.

Jewish Odysseus said...

Some good news from Kurdistan:

[Israelnationalnews.com]

Kurdish Rebels Kill 4 Turkish Soldiers in Night Raid

Reported:21:50 PM - May/01/10
Kurdish resistance fighters raided a Turkish military outpost Friday night in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan, killing at least four soldiers and wounding seven others in the largest Kurdish attack in several months. Turkish authorities have reported that the commander of the outpost near the town of Nazimiye in Tunceli province was killed in the strike.

Anonymous said...

Heval, we have been patiently waiting for your news. Please keep safe and well.

srusht

Anonymous said...

Mizgin, I've been worrying...I hope you're well whereever you are...

Az..: if you get to read this comment please send me a line and let me know if 'all ok.' S.E.

Turkish E.T. said...

what kind of a person would joyously greet the killing of 4 soldiers, no matter whose soldier the belong to?

"Jewish Odysseus said... Some good news from Kurdistan:
[Israelnationalnews.com]
Kurdish Rebels Kill 4 Turkish Soldiers in Night Raid..."

This is the type of clueless westerners this blog attract. Comfortable in their Florida or Netherlands home with their happy 2 kids they have the civilized discomfort to promote terrorism elsewhere in the world.

As if killing of 4 soldiers is a sign of any political or social achievement.

Ridicilous.

Hevallo said...

Mizgin, where are you?

Girlfriend, get in touch or just even post..........people are worried about you!

This is not like you, or not like your online persona anyway so please just post something!!

Yours in solidarity,

Hevallo

Jewish Odysseus said...

If this doesn't cheer up Mizgin, nothing will:

"Netanyahu: Full Backing to Commandos
The Prime Minister said he gave “full backing” to the Navy commandos, who had expected to face assorted peace activists anticipating to present themselves as innocent peaceniks and instead faced attempted murder by armed and trained Muslim leaders of the flotilla.

***The death toll on the flotilla reached 19, most of them from Turkey***, and several Navy commandoes were wounded, one of them seriously after being thrown more than 10 feet from the ship’s bridge to the deck blow. (IsraelNationalNews.com)

Jewish Odysseus said...

Can it be that our heroine has been AGAIN targeted by the Kurds’ nemesis? Hey, I’m sure the destruction of the vehicle by shots from a fighter aircraft was just an accident...:

[snip]

It should be recalled that the Supreme Administrative Court (Danistay) applies the criterion of `objective liability of the authorities'. On the basis of that criterion, which has been applied by the administrative courts since 1965, the authorities are liable according to the principle that the burden of difficulties facing a nation should be shared by all citizens. It is not necessary to prove fault on the part of the Government's agents. It is sufficient to prove that damage has occurred as a result of the act complained of. The fact that the act in question has been committed by the authorities or by a third party does not prevent compensation from being awarded.

For example, where a vehicle was destroyed by shots fired by fighter aircraft, the Supreme Administrative Court, in its Mizgin Yilmaz v. Ministry of Defence judgment of 21 March 1995 (E. no. 1994/5656, K. no. 1995/1262), found that `even if the authorities have not been negligent, the plaintiff must be awarded compensation in accordance with the principle that all citizens must share equally the burden of any constraints arising from tasks assumed by the State in the public interest and that such compensation is a necessary consequence of the 'social' nature of the State ... Semdinli District Court's finding of damage and the expert report ordered by the administrative court show that the amount of compensation sought by the applicant is reasonable'. [snip]

http://graduateinstitute.ch/faculty/clapham/hrdoc/docs/echrakdivarcase.txt

Anonymous said...

Dear Rasti.First i want to congratulate you for your honest fight.I read this blog long time now and though here i have take some important and serious informations.I'd like to ask you,if is possible,a small favor.After the attack at Beleze you had publish the video of the turkish officer where he said lots about of what happen that day and also many informations about the drug dealing,etc.Also you had written in English the dialogues of this video.Can you please help me?

Mithridates said...

It seems that the PKK has recently escalated attacks against the TSK so they can be attributed to Israel. A brilliant tactic. Many Turks are blinded by their hate for Israel. It would be an accomplishment for the PKK for TSK to break relations with the IDF. Israeli intelligence and weapons have claimed the lives of many Kurdish guerrillas.