Thursday, June 2, 2011

TURKEY - Tension mounts in Kurdistan

"Resolving the Kurdish issue is of course the sine qua non of a genuine democratization of Turkey," said Sahin Alpay, a columnist from daily Zaman, close to the government. "Significant progress has been made in this area. Now the Kurdish identity is no longer denied. The autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, whose political and economic ties with Ankara have been strengthened, supporting the process that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) abandoned their arms and become a political player.

imprisoned PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan, as well as military leaders of the PKK who are in the Kandil Mountains [in Iraqi Kurdistan ] express their willingness to move towards an agreement for a peaceful solution. The PKK has declared in November 2010 a cease-fire between [scheduled until 15 June].

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has admitted that his government is conducting informal talks with Ocalan. And even the Republican People's Party [CHP Kemalist opposition] is showing signs of its willingness to support reforms in favor of a solution to the Kurdish issue and supports talks with Ocalan.

The Kurds want to include that the new Constitution [scheduled for after the elections] respects the ethnic pluralism of Turkey that the Kurdish language to be recognized and that the PKK militants an amnesty. Reforms in this direction, since they strengthen the unity of the country should obtain the agreement of the Turks.

"" Except, "says Sahin Alpay," in the context of elections on 12 June, certain events cause anxiety. Thus, despite the cease-fire, the army opened fire on PKK militants [since late March, police and military operations have killed 25 PKK fighters and two civilians near 1500 Kurds have been arrested since April 19].

Then, the PKK guerrillas fired [May 6, "in retaliation for the terror exercised by the police on the people", said the PKK] to the Prime Minister's convoy and killed a policeman. This suggests that there are two camps in people whose ideology and interests lead them to sabotage the process going in the direction of peace.

"Sahin Alpay denounces the attempt of the pro-Kurdish party, the Party for Peace and democracy [BDP, close to the PKK], placing the Kurds of Turkey under his tutelage. "It is clear that the vast majority of Kurds did not support the ideology and its ethnic Kurdish nationalist BDP or the policy of this party is to defend the peace by supporting the PKK violence.

"Hasan Cemal in Milliyetconsidère however, that Turkish Kurds feel very close to the PKK." The mistake is to believe that we can build a wall between the PKK and the Kurdish question. This might have been possible in the years 1980 and 1990, but missed the opportunity. Indeed, the PKK is an organization which has taken root among the Kurdish masses.

This is the party which now gives the Kurdish movement direction. The error of Prime Minister Erdogan is to have said during this election campaign that "the Kurdish issue was over." Is it about electioneering or does he really mean what he said? "In this context, Rusen Cakir critical Vatan those who refuse to see reality in a certain symbiosis between the Kurds of Turkey and the PKK trying to explain it by resorting to the conspiracy theory.

"The funerals of PKK militants killed by the army recently took place in Diyarbakir [May 4] in the presence of tens of thousands of people. We clearly see on the pictures taken on that occasion the determination of tens of thousands of men and women, young and elderly, and the reasons that pushed them to be there.

If you continue to look for conspiracies behind this mobilization is that you do not understand. "

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