FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EU TURKEY AND THE KURDS

FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EU, TURKEY AND THE KURDS
problem, rebellion and external interference. It means the entire Turkish state and
people’s material and moral resources are being exhausted and rolling from one crisis
to another. It means loss of esteem and strength in Europe, the Middle East and the
world!
It is unfortunate that those profiting from the war in Turkey are being allowed to
continue escalating it. There is no limit and boundary for these actions. As much as
80% of incidents that are taking place in Kurdistan do not get reported in the press.
There is bombardment in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) every day. Dust and
smoke raised by US and Turkish planes reach the sky, where it joins with that raised
by Iranian cannon fire. All civilian Kurdish people in the region are forced to live in
fear and panic. What we have here is a grand-scale brutality and intra-state terrorism.
Secret meetings to liquidate the Kurdish freedom movement are continuously being
held. This approach will not only fail to solve the problem, but it will also shed more
blood. Unfortunately, the EU countries do not act on this matter.
The EU Progress report on Turkey was published 2 months ago. The report criticises
Turkey on some matters, but fails to address the conflict in depth. In other words,
Turkey’s failure at democratisation, the army’s hegemony in politics, its disregard for
human rights and freedoms are not considered from the perspective of the inability
to solve the Kurdish question, which is essentially the most basic reason for the these
failings. Also the recently published WEU report addressed the question in a similar
logic, which is essentially concerned with listing the methods how to liquidate the
Kurds. More and similar reports could well be quoted. What we essentially would
like to point out is that the EU’s approach is prejudiced, more so, it regards the matter
within the framework of the demands of the Turkish state. Let me explain: the EU
reports portray the Kurds as bad, and uses all the Turkish Government’s sources as
their data. Due to both the EU and Turkey not having any project, these reports are
full of contradictions. As a result, the EU reports justify the state violence. So much
so, that they justify aerial bombardments and land attacks on the southern Kurdistan,
i.e. northern Iraq. The EU report also consents to extra-judicial executions of Kurds,
because it does not base any of the accusations against Kurds, such as “List of Terror”
on any concrete evidence. The EU report also shows that European states are being
taken hostage by US and Turkish policies. The EU reports tend to impose [conditions]
upon Kurds, even ignoring their democratic rights by telling Kurds what kind
of leaders they should choose for themselves.
However, a more objective approach will not only open the way to a democratic and
peaceful solution to the Kurdish question, but also pave the way to stability in the
region. We think it is time to see that the Kurds, who are divided into four countries
in the Middle East, are the key to democracy. But, as a result of approaching to the
truths from wrong angles due to economic, military, diplomatic and political interests
bring about greater instability, more clashes and wider breaches of human rights.
Unfortunately, the outgoing EU commission’s practices bring about exactly that situ-
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