Premier says not all Kurds in Turkey terrorists

NTV television, Istanbul
11 Apr 05

[Studio announcer] Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that
the concept of Kurds must not be confused with the PKK [Kurdistan
Workers’ Party]. Speaking in Norway, Erdogan also touched on the
Armenian genocide claims. NTV reporter Nermin Yurteri will inform us
now on the details:

[On-screen reporter Yurteri] Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan conveyed
important messages to Turkish citizens who live in Norway. He said
that we must not confuse the concept of Kurds with the concept of the
PKK and noted that seeing all Turkey’s Kurdish citizens as terrorists
would be wrong. He asserted: Let us not be tricked. The Western
countries are exploiting that. Stressing that citizenship of the
republic is the supra-identity in Turkey, he noted: We will not adopt
a nationalist approach based on regional racism and religion.

Erdogan drew attention to the country’s indivisible integrity, saying:
However, there are elements which make an effort to divide our
country. Various elements in the West are trying to achieve that. If a
desire exists to sacrifice the EU for that purpose, then I am sorry to
say that we do not have such a problem. [Passage omitted]

Erdogan focused on the claims related to human rights violations. He
hinted that Turkey was confronted with a double-standard policy on the
matter. He noted: “We have organized courses in Kurdish and launched
broadcasts in Kurdish. However, no one must expect us to allow the
terrorist organization’s [PKK] banners to be carried in the
country. [Passage omitted]