MORE CULTURAL RIGHTS FOR KURDS ARGUES THINK TANK

Hurriyet
March 6 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – Former soldiers and diplomats say recognition of the Kurdish
social and cultural identity and constructive relations with northern
Iraq should be cornerstones of a strategy to end domestic terrorism
and secure the unity of the Turkish state

The genuine recognition of Kurdish cultural identity is a means to
stop terrorism by the PKK, according to a group of former soldiers
and diplomats. They have also called for positive engagement with
the Kurdish administration in northern Iraq.

Bilge Adamlar Stratejik AraÅ~_tırmalar Merkezi, or BÄ°LGESAM, (Wise
Men’s Center for Strategic Studies) a think tank formed by retired
soldiers, ambassadors and academics, released a report yesterday on
Turkey’s current situation and future challenges.

Penned by retired Ambassador Ä°lter Turkmen, a former minister
of foreign affairs, the report identified the Kurdish problem as
Turkey’s main challenge. "For years, there has been an avoidance of
a realistic prognosis to the problem and a continuing belief that
the only problem is PKK terrorism supported from outside," read the
report. "Total or near total elimination of terrorism necessitates
an immediate implementation of a series of economic, social, cultural
and psychological measures based on a political vision."

While identifying the unity of the state as the main element of that
vision, the report emphasized that the implementation of regional
economic and social projects did not contradict with the unitary
nature of the state.

Resolution of the Kurdish problem within the unity of the state depends
on genuine recognition of the problem, according to the report, which
called for the elimination of the obstacles in implementing Kurdish
language use. "Although the legal framework has changed forbidding
the use of Kurdish, the ban continues as far as implementation is
concerned," read the report.

The think tank report endorsed Salim DerviÅ~_oglu, former commander of
maritime forces, and Sönmez Köksal, former chief of Intelligence,
who called for the following: Administrative rules preventing the
use of Kurdish outside of official meetings or talks should end.

Where there is such a demand there should be Kurdish language courses.

Kurdish Institutes should be allowed to operate.

The report also argued for the merit of having ethnic parties in the
parliament with the implication that it will be wrong to close the
pro Kurdish Democrtatic Society Party.

Relations with Northern Iraq

The report emphasized that it would be unrealistic to ignore the entity
in northern Iraq while dealing with the domestic Kurdish problem. "It
should not come as a surprise that the emergence near our border of a
half-independent Kurdish administration with rich natural resources
will have an effect on developments in Turkey," read the report,
calling for a more constructive, rather than confrontational,
relationship with the Kurdish administration in northern Iraq.

As long as PKK terrorism continues it will be rather difficult to
avoid tension in relations and it would be unrealistic to expect a
massive military intervention in the Kurdish Regional Administration
to finish off the PKK, the report said. "For this reason, relations
with the region should be pursued on two tracks, cooperation and
security," read the report.

"It is not easy to foresee whether the entity in northern Iraq will
achieve independence. Independence looks quiet difficult. But it
will be more autonomous," said Turkmen at the press conference to
introduce the report. "Many countries are starting to have relations
with northern Iraq. Several countries, Iran among them, have a
consulate in Arbil, whereas Turkey has no diplomatic representation
in that city. It is clear that Turkey has still not determined a
clear strategy," he said.

On the issue of the Armenian claims of genocide, the report calls for
the creation of an environment in which the problem can be pushed to
the background over time.

Turkmen said Armenians will not stop their claims of genocide and there
is no possibility for the Turkish side to directly or indirectly accept
those claims. While the report called for concrete development on the
process of reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia before April,
it also called for avoiding parallelism between history and the state,
instead focusing on more pluralism in history.

Ex soldiers, diplomats on board

Although BÄ°LGESAM brings together a group of former soldiers and
ambassadors with prominent academics, Dr. Atillan Sandıklı, the
president of the think tank, himself a former soldier, emphasized the
independence of the organization. Salim DerviÅ~_oglu, the president
of the advisory board, also a former soldier, said BÄ°LGESAM was not
close to any political party and that it did not act on the behest
of any institution. Sandıklı said, businessmen were sponsoring the
activities of BÄ°LGESAM.

BÄ°LGESAM Advisory Board

Former Commander of Maritime forces Admiral Salim DerviÅ~_oglu

Former Foreign Minister, retired ambassador Ä°lter Turkmen

Former Interior Minister and Governor Kutlu AktaÅ~_

Retired Commander General Oktar Ataman

Retired vice admiral Sabahattin Ergin

Honorary president of Court of Appeals Professor Sami Selcuk

Former undersecretary of the ministry of foreign affairs and retired
ambassador Ozdem Sanberk

Former director of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT)
and retired ambassador Sönmez Köksal

Former Undersectretary for State Planning Organization Professor
Orhan Guvenen

Retired ambassador Guner Oztek

Retired ambassador Yaman BaÅ~_kut

Professor Nur Vergin

Professor Ä°lter Turan

Professor Ersin Onulduran

ProfessorAli Karaosmanoglu

Professor Celik Kurdoglu