FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EU TURKEY AND THE KURDS

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FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EU, TURKEY AND THE KURDS the Turkish government knows that, and I hope that the incoming US administration knows that. You can’t really bomb the physical manifestations of an idea, you can only bomb innocent civilians from the skies, and I think it is about time that we did call a halt to this type of policy. We’ve seen the results in Gaza; let’s not see it repeated again this winter and spring in the hills of northern Iraq. I’d like to say one or two other things about the wider political situation. I’ll state for the record now that I don’t believe for one moment that either President Gül or indeed Prime Minister Erdoğan is particularly enthusiastic about those cross border operations. In many ways in the last year they were played out as part of a chess game between the nationalist military elites in Turkey and the AKP government. And I think if anything in fact the failure of those cross border operations, the recent attacks of the PKK on Turkish soil, has if anything, dented the pride and standing of Turkish military forces, so that there is a new debate going on in Turkey, amongst not only civil society, not only amongst the Democratic Society Party (DTP), not only amongst the usual suspects, but in Turkish media and among business elites about the appropriate strategy to deal with the Kurdish conflict, and I think there’s a renewed understanding that it cannot be dealt with by military means alone. I think that actually the AKP, President and Prime Minister may have an opportunity, once these local elections are out of the way, once the grandstanding is out of the way, once the short term political calculations are out of the way, they may well have an opportunity to once again reconfirm their commitment to the EU accession process, once again reconfirm their commitment to a constitutional reform process in turkey and also once again, and for once to start looking at the Kurdish problem in a realistic way. There are small elements of hope in the sense that Turkey has begun conflict resolution on behalf of other countries and there are talks between Syria and Israel, indirect talks, in the situation in Gaza, in the situation in Afghanistan, and I think amongst policy makers and indeed amongst probably the prime minister there is a growing understanding that if you really want lasting peace, if you really want democratic reform at home, you have to tackle the big political issues. And I agree with one of the comments recently of the panel that the European Union has to do that as well, it can’t talk about accession gradualism, it has to make sure, especially in this year of change, in the Obama year of change, that we fundamentally grasp the issues. And so, I think, with the elections out of the way and with this conflict that is going on in Turkey between nationalists and military elites on the one hand and democratic forces on the other, although there’s much pessimism, these are if you like the underlying tensions in Turkish society that are at last coming to the fore, at last being fought out in constitutional courts on the streets of Turkey and its not a time now for Kurdish and Turkish diplomats and democrats to fall out, its time to join forces and to push for real change in Turkey. I think we have to make sure the European Parliament does everything it can. We have to make sure that the European Union presses the Turkish Prime Minister to do 118
FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EU, TURKEY AND THE KURDS everything he can. What has been missing is that this Prime Minister may go to the streets of Diyarbakır as he did in 2005 and make a speech. And he thinks a speech is in some sense a political strategy for peace. It is not. What the Turkish government has to do is not simply embark upon constitutional reform; it has to discover a viable mechanism for a platform for dialogue and peace. And that’s where I think not only the EU can help, but the new US administration can help. And also partners, close partners like the UK, which is a strong supporter of Turkey, it has its strategic interests in Iraq, it also has a strategic interest in the EU, it has the experience of Northern Ireland and peacemaking there, which was an incredibly complex and difficult situation and it has the experience of devolution in places like Wales and Scotland. These types of EU member states shouldn’t just stand on the sidelines worried about whether anchor is going to take umbrage them, they’re getting interfered with what are deemed as internal problems. They should come to the fore and make sure that there experiences are communicated to the Turkish government and support progressive developments within Turkey because the reality is the Kurdish problem is an international problem, it will be an international problem for the Obama administration as it seeks to disengage from Iraq, that has huge consequences for the KRG and if there is going to be long term stability both for that regional government and for the state of Iraq, America must get this issue right this time. I think there’s a coincidence of geopolitical factors at the moment with the new administration appointing new envoys in Palestine, George Mitchell and Richard Holbrooke to Pakistan and Afghanistan, to start thinking about this region seriously, to start appointing envoys who understand this region seriously, and to being to put together a viable strategy for not simply change but for democracy, that’s why I’m a little more hopeful than one might think when one looks at the situation in Turkey. I hope that these local elections will not result in violence and I hope that somehow when parties emerge from them they have a strong democratic mandate and I hope that this Turkish administration will once again, once it emerges, recommit itself to a process of reform and to open it’s handout to it’s Kurdish citizens and to all those Kurdish democrats to represent their citizens. And I think it must begin to do what every peace process in Europe and beyond has done when it really does talk about democratic change and a platform for dialogue, and that is talk to all the parties in this conflict, not only the PKK but also the KRG, and it’s only if that happens that we’ll have any chance of sitting here in this conference room one year from now with a sense of optimism. Let’s seize the day, lets seize the chance with this new administration, let’s press all the buzzers we possibly can and send the message out from this particular conference, that once again people want a peaceful resolution to this conference, that the members of the EU Parliament that support this conference and the wonderful work that so many people do are not in vain, we hope and wish you success, and I look forward to the rest of the contributions of the panel. Thank you for letting me say a few words on the subject. 119
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FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EU TURKEY AND THE KURDS

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