Opinions
A letter from Kurds to the EU
Faik Bulut
faikblt@yahoo.com
27 June 2006
Accession negotiations between Turkey and the European Union are
underway. The talks are concentrating on the Cyprus issue, but they
might also come to a halt as a result of that. Since the process began
the Turkish government has started to see things from a different
perspective and has discovered that it isn’t so easy to avoid its
obligations. In the future there will be many chapters which will be
extremely problematic for Ankara: From the Kurdish and religious
minority problems, asylum and migration to the role of the army and
religion in daily life and even agricultural policies.
As Turkey is now discussing that topic, the negotiations process may
be interrupted. The EU warned the Turkish government a fortnight ago
that there’s a possibility that may happen. It seems that Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan isn’t disappointed about this but he’s
rather surprised about why the EU is behaving like that and wondering
what else they want.
In fact it’s a painful process and decision time for Ankara.
Considering the negotiations to be decisive for them too, some Kurdish
circles sent a joint letter to the EU’s representative in Ankara.
Signed by the Kurdish Culture and Research Foundation (KURT-KAV) in
Istanbul, Party For Rights and Freedom (HAK-PAR), Society of Art and
Culture (Cira) in Diyarbakir, Foundation For Cultural and Social
Services in Turkey in Ankara, Kurdish National Democratic Working
Group based in Diyarbakir, Life Women’s Cooperative (YAKAKOP) in Van,
two cultural magazines, "Bir" and "Dema Nu," in Diyarbakir, and Peri
publications in Istanbul, the letter contains four main points.
The first point in the letter is a complaint about policies of denial,
refusal and assimilation towards the Kurds, which have been in force
since the foundation of the Turkish Republic.
In the second part, those who signed the letter warn the EU about
Turkey’s unwillingness to grant the Kurds more cultural rights,
saying, "As a result of efforts by the EU, Turkey has stepped up
recognition of cultural and democratic rights. However, those steps
aren’t enough. It must also be recognized that although they haven’t
satisfied the Kurds and contributed enough to efforts for peace and
democracy, those steps have been important. However, these positive
steps are seriously and effectively resisted by those who are
influential in the administration of the state as they don’t want to
accept the rights of ethnic groups and minorities other than the
Turks."
In the third section, the concerned Kurdish establishments express
their anxiety, saying, "We’re anxious about what’s going on. Not just
the Kurds but also all wise people in Turkey are anxious. To explain
what’s making us anxious, it’s useful to sum up what’s happened in
Turkey in the last few months:
"The blasts in Semdinli, a district in the southeastern province
Hakkari; the killing of civilians, including children, and the arrest
of hundreds, including children, in riots in Diyarbakir; the attack
against members of the Council of State; Kurds have been threatened
with death and migrated to towns and cities; elected local
administrators have been sentenced and fined, such as 37 mayors from
the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party [DTP] and politicians because
of their comments/statements concerning the Kurdish issue; the arrest
of Kurdish intellectuals and politicians who’ve democratically
resisted the deployment of the army along the borders; terrorist
attacks whose real perpetrators are unknown; the release of retired
members of the military or officers who are still in the army and
supposedly members of the Special Forces who have been accused of
being connected to criminal gangs and involvement in the Council of
State attack.
"It seems that those who want to resolve the problem through violence
and oppression, as was the case in the past, are making great
plans. This may result in death and great destruction and also may
turn the country into hell: Until recently ethnic minorities haven’t
massacred each other. But we’re highly concerned that these racist and
chauvinist policies may to lead an unavoidable conflict between the
Kurds and Turks."
The last section of the letter concentrates on the Kurds’
demands. They are:
1) All legal and illegal barriers to Kurdish culture, art, music and
literature should be abolished.
2) Kurdish language, first of all in the field of education, should be
approved for use in all areas of life, from primary school to
university. Kurdish language should be supported as a language of
education, and the state should allocate money from the budget for
that.
3) First of all, the primary school curriculum, as well that of the
rest of the educational sector, should be revised and assimilationist
and racist elements which are based on policies of refusal and denial
should be excluded.
4) All laws and regulations which impede the use of Kurdish and other
national and local languages on TV and radio should be abolished.
5) The names of more than 10,000 residential areas, such as cities,
and towns and geographic zones/areas (mountains, lakes, plains etc.)
should go back to the original (be it Kurdish, Armenian or Assyrian).
6) The necessary legal reforms need to be made to the right to
assemble for not only for Kurds but also for everybody; all legal
prohibitions on the right to gather should be abolished, and that
right should be guaranteed under the Constitution.
7) Taking into account the multi-ethnicity of Turkey, the Political
Parties Law and all other anti-democratic and oppressive laws should
be revised and amended.
8) The Alevis and other religious minorities should have the right to
express their culture and beliefs, and legal impediments to this
should be abolished.
9) All barriers to freedom of thought should be abolished, and freedom
of thought shouldn’t be a crime.
10) Efforts need to be made to reestablish social peace.
11) The Constitution and the law should be amended to facilitate the
development of a pluralistic, democratic and egalitarian society.