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The Kurdish Struggle in Turkey: An
interview with Sebahat Tuncel, MP
23.6.2008
By Jake Hess
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June
23, 2008
Sebahat Tuncel is a Kurdish member of the Turkish
Parliament. A well-known human and women's rights
advocate, she is currently the Vice Co-Chairperson
Responsible for Foreign Affairs and the Istanbul
Deputy of the leftist Democratic Society Party
(DTP), an organization she co-founded. Prior to the
2007 general elections, she was the DTP Women's
Assembly Spokesperson and the Esenler District
Chairperson of the Party of People's Democracy (HADEP),
a forerunner of the DTP.
When I asked him about Tuncel's work, Noam Chomsky
said: "The Kurdish people have struggled
courageously for their elementary human rights, and
have suffered miserably in defense of these rights.
The record in Turkey has been harsh and brutal, and
to our everlasting shame, we bear substantial
responsibility for that. MP Sebahat Tuncel is
carrying that struggle forward with impressive
dedication and courage. We can learn a great deal
from her about the Kurds, about Turkey, about our
role in the world -- and about human dignity." |
Sebahat Tuncel is a Kurdish member of the Turkish
Parliament. Vice Co-Chairperson Responsible for
Foreign Affairs and the Istanbul Deputy of the
leftist Democratic Society Party (DTP) |
Like so many of her colleagues, Tuncel has been
relentlessly persecuted for her brave work. She went
on trial for membership of the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (an armed organization dedicated to Kurdish
independence) in 2006, but was released from custody
after being elected to parliament from her prison
cell in July 2007. Her parliamentary immunity has
since been overturned, however, and the false
charges are once again being brought against her;
she faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. The
Turkish Constitutional Court is currently
considering outlawing the DTP on the basis of its
alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party.
Tuncel has also been targeted for assassination by
‘deep state' gangs, shadowy paramilitary groups
linked to Turkish military and intelligence agencies
that resemble Guatemala's infamous "clandestine
groups."
The following interview was conducted in Lincoln,
Rhode Island. It touches on the background of the
Kurdish issue in Turkey, the role of the major
Turkish political parties in the conflict, and the
DTP's struggle for Kurdish rights. Many thanks to
Gökçe Şimşek for her help with translation.
JH: Many ZNet readers will be familiar with
the Kurdish issue in Turkey, but for those who
aren't, what do you see as the most crucial aspects
of the matter?
Tuncel: The
Kurdish question in Turkey - the atmosphere of
conflict of the last twenty-five to thirty years -
there's considerable background to this. Kurdistan
was divided into two parts by the 1639 Kasr-i Shirin
treaty, and then with the Sevres treaty of 1920, it
was divided into four parts; today, the Kurdish
population lives in four different territories
[Turkey, Syria, Iran, Iraq]. The largest Kurdish
population today lives in Turkey, about twenty
million. Approximately ten million live in Iraq,
about five or six million in Iran, and about two or
three million in Syria.
Kurds participated in the Turkish War of
Independence, but after the establishment of the
Turkish Republic - and more so after the death of
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk - policies of denial and even
execution were increasingly put into practice
against the Kurdish people. There have been many
Kurdish rebellions from then up until the present -
for example Sheik Sait's, Dersim, Kockiri, Agiri -
and these are generally known as religious
rebellions. But in fact they emanated from the
failure of the Turkish government to generate
solutions to the problems encountered by Kurds. Up
until now,www.ekurd.net
the Kurdish people have
rebelled twenty-eight times, and the PKK [Kurdistan
Workers' Party] is known as the twenty-ninth
rebellion.
Historically and currently, the Turkish system has
operated on the conception of a single language,
single state, single culture and nation. This is a
very important dynamic in the emergence of the
conflict. The PKK appeared during the 1970s,
immediately after the 1968 movements, which it was
inspired by. They were first involved in armed
conflict with the Turkish military in 1984; this was
the beginning of an intense period of conflict. As
you know, almost every decade a military coup has
taken place in Turkey, and the head of the 1980
coup, Kenan Evren, has recently confessed that it
was a mistake to ban the Kurdish people from using
their own language or practicing their own culture.
What the Kurdish people want is to use their rights.
They want to freely practice their culture and
freely use their language. They want to [achieve]
their identity rights. However, they also believe
that disarmament is the necessary condition for
taking steps toward resolving the conflict
through democratic means, dialogue and negotiations.
Suitable grounds should be created for this. Today,
the Democratic Society Party [known by its Turkish
initials, DTP] - even though it is small - is in
parliament, and this is a great opportunity to talk
about these questions, to initiate dialogue, but
this option is not being evaluated or taken into
consideration [by the Turkish government].
To take steps toward a solution to the problem, you
must first define the problem correctly. The
depiction of the problem as a terrorist problem only
aggravates the conflict and the problems. The
projects for solutions have to be presented to and
discussed with civil society organizations,
intellectuals and democratic public opinion. And the
government has to take part. We believe that the PKK
can be disarmed, but again, suitable grounds should
be created for this by the government. Today, many
hundreds of thousands of [Kurds] are in prison.
Young people are still joining the guerrilla forces,www.ekurd.net
and there is still a lot
to be done in the area of civil liberties and
individual liberties.
Today, it is not like the 1990s. During the 1990s
the existence of the Kurdish people - the fact that
Kurdish people live in Turkey - was denied. Today,
it is accepted, but there are no positive steps are
being taken toward a solution to the problem. There
are certain efforts by left-wing intellectuals and
small political parties, but more influential
figures and parties - such as the [ruling] Justice
and Development Party [known by its Turkish initials
AKP] and [Kemalist] Republican People's Party - are
generating deadlock rather than solutions.
JH: In the years immediately following the
PKK's 1999 ceasefire, there seemed to be some
progress toward resolving the conflict peacefully.
The Turkish government, partially influenced by the
EU accession process, made some improvements in its
respect for Kurdish human and cultural rights, and
in his famous trip to Diyarbakir, Prime Minister
Erdogan recognized that the Kurdish issue must be
resolved politically, rather than through force. But
then the reform process slowed, Kurdish armed groups
re-emerged, military conflict escalated and the
optimism dissipated. In your view, what accounts for
this?
Tuncel: Today,
we're facing a situation in which double authority
exists in Turkey. On the one hand, there is the
government, and on the other, the military, which is
behind the curtain. But in fact, the military
tutelage over Turkish politics still exists. This is
mainly the reason the coups take place every ten
years. The last coup -- which took place in 1980 --
was headed by Kenan Evren, and although he was a
general - a military officer -- he became president,
the head of state.
There was a strong conviction in international
public opinion, as well, that the Justice and
Development Party would take comprehensive steps
toward enhancing individual rights and liberties and
improving the human rights record of the country;
even left-wing intellectuals and democratic
intellectuals in Turkey and civil society
organizations supported this view. However, the AKP
government ended up defending the status quo, and
the situation of the double authority disappeared.
They also acquired crucial posts in the state and
bureaucracy, and the government was militarized, in
a way.
This was influenced by the AKP's ambitions to
introduce a Turkish/Muslim synthesis of the country
and the transfer of the country into a moderate
Muslim country. In a very short period of time, a
consensus was achieved between the AKP government
and the military. As you know, in the massacre in
Malatya, in the murder of Hrant Dink (a non-Muslim
journalist), paramilitary organizations within the
state, and certain gangs, were encouraged during
this time. In fact, the AKP government lacks
sincerity. The discourse is, ‘we want everyone to
live freely in the country,' but the actual practice
is, ‘I want my own freedoms, and I don't care about
the rest.'
The DTP has been in parliament for seven or eight
months, but during this time, Prime Minister Erdogan
has never been involved in dialogue with us. We are
the representatives of a considerable population,
and these people elected us to parliament, but the
AKP government consistently refuses to negotiate
with us or to introduce a dialogue with us.
And furthermore, significant polarization is created
within society by the AKP government. The initiation
of the cross-border operations [into Northern Iraq]
and also the generation of tension between the women
who wear headscarves and women who don't, also
creates polarization.
JH: Discuss the major parties some more. Do
you think any of them could be a vehicle for
democratizing the country, or do you think more
fundamental systemic changes are necessary?
Tuncel: I do not
think the existing political parties in Turkey will
come up with a willingness to solve the Kurdish
problem. This is because all the mainstream
political parties - the AKP, the Republican People's
Party, the Nationalist Movement Party - base their
policies of the denial of the rights of the Kurdish
people, and they most recently voted ‘yes' for the
cross-border operations in parliament. The policies
of the AKP are the most dangerous, because on the
one hand it presents a picture of itself as wanting
a solution to the Kurdish problem, but on the other
hand it has tried to repress the Kurdish movement
through different means, such as military means.
It is also true that the military tutelage of
politics should be abolished; the military should
deal with security affairs, and nothing more. We
also need brave politicians who can take steps for
the solution of the problem. As you will remember,
Turgut Ozal took brave steps toward a solution,
including the mention of a federation if necessary,
but he died or was killed; there are still rumors
going on.
The Kurdish people have presented their will for
stopping this war and finding a democratic solution
to the problem. If the Turkish people can do the
same thing then the government of Turkey will feel
compelled to take certain steps.
JH: Talk a little about the Democratic
Society Party's ideology. Additionally, do you have
links with civil society organizations and social
movements in the country, and if so, what is the
nature of those links?
Tuncel: The
party considers itself a left-wing mass party which
defends individual rights and liberties and the free
self-expression of all communities and cultures in
Turkey. We also attribute primary importance to the
liberation of women in Turkish and Kurdish society,
and defends gender equality. It is said in our
program that the Kurdish question, together with the
gender equality question, constitute the most
important topics in the action we take. It is also
important for us that ecological balance is
observed. In our view, the domination of man over
man is generated by the domination of man over
nature. So it is a three-fold approach in our
program.
We emerged as a consequence of the fifteen or
sixteen years of the Kurdish struggle for freedom,
and therefore the Kurdish question stands at the
center of our politics. However, the party is always
in close dialogue and establishes alliances from
time to time with the democratic and left-wing
circles in Turkey. We have close contact with
several social organizations, such as Human Rights
Watch, Amnesty International, and several women's
organizations in Turkey.
JH: Pro-Kurdish parties, including the DTP,
face tremendous difficulties in organizing. The DTP,
after all, is a reincarnation of several other
parties which were shut down by the state. Your
members have been arrested and persecuted, and now
you're facing closure by the government. Exactly
what type of pressure are you facing from the state
now, and how are you fighting back? Do you have any
support in the judiciary or any other official
institutions?
Tuncel: We do
not have an independent judiciary in Turkey; there's
a great amount of political influence in judicial
affairs, and the case of the DTP and threat of
closure is a political affair, it's not a legal one.
The party can be shut down, there is such a risk.
Many provincial officials of the DTP are being
arrested, for the reason that they have made some
[controversial] speeches. We're following certain
necessary procedures during the case, but because
this is a political trial, the outcome will be
determined by high politics in Turkey, not by the
judiciary.
JH: The DTP is trying to open a bureau in
Washington, DC. What are your hopes for that
project, and your visit to the US more generally?
Tuncel: We also
have a bureau in Brussels, and the establishment of
a second one in Washington, DC will help improve our
diplomatic contact. The bureau in Brussels is not
really enough. We're hoping to be in direct touch
with [members of Congress]. We're checking with
people to see if conditions will be ok for that.
JH: What role do you think the Kurdish
Diaspora has to play in the resolution of the
Kurdish issue in Turkey? What links, if any, does
the DTP have with Kurdish movements outside of
Turkey? And what can you say about the relevance of
international solidarity more generally?
Tuncel: In fact,
the oppressors of the world are really united.
Today, the United States, Israel, and several
countries -- and also the autonomous government of
Northern Iraq -- are supporting the Turkish invasion
of northern Iraq. They're acting for their regional
and economic interests. It is important that
oppressed people are united, since only in this way
can we block the imperial plans of the great powers
in the region. In the final analysis, I think the
creation of a world where the oppressed and
oppressive do not exist, the oppressed people of the
world should be united in solidarity.
It is important that international solidarity be
established in support of the right of all
communities in the world to use their own culture
and own identity. Only [when such solidarity exists]
can oppressed people put pressure on their own
governments.
There's a certain handicap here: the Kurdish people
are bound by the rules and regulations of the
territories they inhabit. So we can only establish a
limited alliance with Kurdish people living in other
territories. However, these people share same the
same traditions, they come from similar cultures;
they understand each other. So, slowly, a national
culture is being born.
If we elaborate the issue in terms of the right to
self-determination of the people, then the Kurdish
people in Turkey have elaborated this principle by
putting forward the democratic autonomy project, but
the Kurdish people living in Iran, Iraq and Syria
have come up with different solutions for their
problems.
JH: Is there anything else you would like to
add?
Tuncel: It is
important for us to keep in touch with human rights
advocates and people in Turkey and around the world
who advocate for the Kurdish people's right to
self-determination. It is important that the
question is viewed not as a terror problem, because
the Kurdish people are very sincere in their demand
for a peaceful and democratic solution to the
problem. It is important to exert international
pressure on the Turkish government, and to let them
know that not everyone defends the war. Thank you.
Copyright, respective author or news agency, ZNET |
zcommunications.org
**
Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in
Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to 25 million ethnic Kurds, a
large Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media.
The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and
2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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