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Kurdish PKK leader: We will not withdraw
our autonomy demand
12.1.2011 |
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January 12, 2011
QANDIL MOUNTAINS, Turkey-Iraqi Kurdistan
frontier, — The acting leader of the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) and the President of the KCK's
Executive Council Murat Karayilan says they will not
withdraw their demand for Democratic Autonomy under
any circumstances.
Speaking to ANF Turkish Service Karayilan said the
"Democratic Autonomy" proposal of Kurdish
organizations can be debated and reformed but there
is no way that Kurdish people will step back and
accept another solution.
Karayilan underlined the fact that Democratic
Autonomy Project does not include maximum demands
for Kurdish people and is an acceptable solution
project for Kurdish people.
"If you don't want to assimilate us, if you want to
protect Kurdish language and culture you should
recognise a separate statue (for Kurdish people)"
Karayilan said. |

Murad Karayilan, acting leader of the PKK, speaks
during a news conference at Qandil mountains near
the Iraqi-Turkish border. Sep 30, 2010 Photo:
Reuters |
Karayilan said Kurdish
Question can not be solved with the "individual
rights" perspective. "Collective rights of Kurdish
people must be recognised" he added.
"Nobody offered us any
solution project for Kurdish Question until now.
Why? Because they don't want to solve the problem.
They didn't give up assimilation politics. They
should have a project and perspective"
Underlining Turkey's need for a constitutional
reform Karayilan said the centralized government
practice must be abandoned and it's not possible to
govern the country from Ankara.
Karayilan also said that Democratic Autonomy Project
will help democratization of the Turkish Republic
and the state actors.
He insisted that Kurds don't demand a separate state
but they want to live in a democratic state where
Kurds, Turks and other ethnic groups can enjoy their
cultural rights.
Karayilan harshly criticized the Turkish government,
especially Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan for his remarks which defends Turkey's
official "one language, one nation, one flag and one
homeland".
He said the move for Democratic Autonomy showed the
real face of Erdogan, who says he favors rights of
Kurdish people.
Speaking on the upcoming trial of the Kurdish
politicians in Diyarbakir, Karayilan said the judges
should let the defendants make their defense
speeches in Kurdish.
Since it was established in 1984, the PKK has been fighting the Turkish state,
which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to establish a Kurdish
state in the south east of the country.
But now its aim is the creation an autonomous region and more cultural rights
for ethnic Kurds who constitute the greatest minority in Turkey, numbering more
than 20 million.
PKK's demands included releasing PKK detainees, lifting the ban on education in
Kurdish, paving the way for an autonomous democrat Kurdish system within Turkey,
reducing pressure on the detained PKK president, stopping military action
against the Kurdish party and recomposing the Turkish constitution.
PKK demanded to stop military and political operations and to release
Kurdish politicians who are unjustly detained. The organization also requested
to enable imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan's active participation in the
process.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish
politicians say the measures fall short of their
expectations.
The PKK is considered as 'terrorist' organization by
Ankara, U.S., the PKK continues to be on the
blacklist list in EU despite court ruling which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its
political wing on the European Union's terror list.
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author or news agency, firatnews.com | ekurd.net |
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