Kemal Burkay, General Secretary of
Socialist Party of Kurdistan
We have ever plead for a pacific solution to the Kurdish question. However, the Turkish regim had never admit for the Kurds to lead political actions, even in a pacific way. Their freedoms to think, to express, to organize had been repressed. The Turkish state considered like an offence every Kurdish revendications, and forbid even any debate about that question. It bans all our associations, it forbid and punish any initiatives like that, considered as "separatist action that could divide tne country and the Nation".
The national budget of Turkey is only of 3.000 dollars by person and its economy is in crisis. However, it spent more than 100 milliards of dollars for financing its war against the Kurdish people.
(...) Since many years, the Turkish regim wants to get rid of the Kurdish question by denying their revendications of their rights and their freedoms, by intimidating the population, by trying to forbid Kurdish language and culture, by assimilating the Kurds by force.
Turkey invaded Northern-Chypria and has created a state de facto for the 100.000 Turks who constitue 1/5 of the population of the island. Federation is not enough, it ask a confederation for the Turks setting in the island (...) While the Turkish state refuses to recognize any right for a people that is majoritary to 90 % in its territory ; what is that logic ?
(...) According to us, it is possible to find a solution to the Kurdish question without calling into question the borders. The Kurdish people can live with the else Anatolian people in Turkey, Iran, Irak and Syria with the respect of right and equality. It could be realize in a federative or autonomist system, according to the will of Kurds in each of these countries and according to the different situations. There are many examples in the world : some European countries are administrated in a federal structure and it is the same thing in United-States, Canada, Russia and India.
Since the beginning, we have plead for liberalism. We think that this solution suits to the different ethnies of Turkey.
The Northern-Kurdistan includes 1/3 of the population and 1/3 of the surface of Turkey in its present borders. The two people can live together inside a democratic federation. It could resolve the problem, put an end to the immense sorrow of both people and set peace in the country. Turkey might develop more quickly and to enter into the way of democracy.
(...) The Kurds are actually the majority of the Anatolian population in the East and South-East, according to the official terms, I mean the Northern-Kurdistan. The borders of the Kurdish administration would include these regions. Moreover the basic rights (culture, courses in their mother language, media ...) would be of course recognized to Turks who live in Kurdistan and to Kurds who live in the Western part, as the else minorities.
However, we are aware that it is not possible to achieve without many preliminary steps a permanent and definitive solution. In first dialogue and marks of good will are necessaries. The Socialist Party of Kurdistan, with the else organisations of Northern-Kurdistan recalls since many years that it is ready to debate.
According to us, Turkey should do the following actions :
To put an end to any operations in Kurdistan. Until now, the Turkish state pretexted its operations by the actions of PKK. Today, the PKK has stop its armed struggle, then there is no reason for which Turkey continues to use arms.
Turkey is candidate to the European Union and should totally change ; the resolution of the Kurdish question is a step of that process. The appliance of the Copenhague criterions, though they are not suffcient for satisfying the Kurdz’ claims, could allow to go forward and guarantee the peace.
Since the summit of Helsinki, in December 1999, months has passed and the Turkish government did not show any will to really prepare these changements.
(...) Chauvinism, and even racism are still extremely vivid. The regim, pretexting to defend the union of the country and the nation, has contributed to develop these hateful feelings.
(...) Turkey is a member of the United Nations, but it never applied the principes of the Universal Declaration of Human’s Rights. According to OTAN, Turkey would be a democratic regim, but its adhesion did not prevent three military putsch supported by the United-States and by other countries of the Atlantic Alliance. As a member of the Council of Europa, Turkey fills not its charges.
Turkey is entered in the OSCE without any change. There has been no amelioration concerning Human’s rights and torture continues.
(...) Since the summit of Helsinki, that has opened to it the gates of Europa, there has been no amelioration concerning the Kurds. Their situation is even becoming worse in many cases, like the freedom of Kurdish media, some reviews published in Istanbul has been banned on the Kurdish territory.
(...) We, Kurdish people, are very attached to the adhesion of Turkey in the Europen Union, but we think that the present situation, torture, oppression, massives abuses of Human’s rights and the racist and chauvisnit ideology that prevail, must not allow it.
(...) We wish that the democratic forces démocrates could realize the necessaries progresses with international support.
(...) Since many centuries, the Kurds have ever fought for their freedom, they will continue to do it, nobody should doubt of that !
