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`Kurdish initiative’ – only thing Turkey capable of
16:52 / 08/22/2009

`Can Turkey wish away the Armenians and their past, by denying
historical facts? The answer is no,’ Lebanese `The Daily Star’ reads,
paralleling the similar problems. The daily underlines, that actions
of Turkish Government led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan on “Kurdish
initiative’ give the region a considerable amount of food for
thought.’ The previous Turkish policy is well known: to erase names of
Kurdish villages, to ban the use of Kurdish language in certain
territories and other ideological measures as a part of
`Turkification’ process.
The author supposes that `the old-style policies of ethnic &`cultural
cleansing’ in Palestine, as the obsession with having a Jewish state
has led Israeli officials to introduce measures aimed at erasing the
presence of the Palestinians from their own land.’
`Was it smart of Turkey to reject a recognition of the Kurds, one of
the oldest peoples in the region, and the world’s biggest national
group without a state?’ the daily wonders, adding: `The same goes for
the Israelis’ attempts to eliminate the presence of the Palestinians,
as well as the calls by some to eliminate the Jewish presence in the
Middle East.’
The newspaper refers to the situation in North Africa, speaking of
Berbers as well as Iraq which `provides an example of non-state actors
targeting ethnic and religious groups, such as Kurds, Turkmen and
various Christian sects.’
Author of the article considers that Turkish policy of fierce and
tough nationalism proves all these attempts doomed to fail.
However, optimism of the research can be welcomed, just as Erdogan’s
policy on the Kurdish issue. But recalling Armenian issue and
historical facts, Turkey to date advocated negation ideology and there
was not a hint of free will, sincerity and consciousness. But for this
Turkey undoubtedly needs courage, that Turkish Government obviously
had only up to `Kurdish initiative.’