FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EU TURKEY AND THE KURDS

FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EU, TURKEY AND THE KURDS
flict’ passing the one thousand deaths point (by the end of 2007 more than 1200 lives
had been claimed since 2003). 120
The Commission’s 2008 Turkey Progress Report drew more positive conclusions than
the previous year’s report, which had stated that ‘no steps ha[d] been taken to develop
a comprehensive strategy to achieve economic and social development in the region’
121
. The 2008 report noted with apparent approval the government’s May 2008 announcement
that it would increase investment in the development project known
as the South-east Anatolia Project by €10.2 billion between 2008 and 2012, in order
to improve the economic situation in the predominately Kurdish south-east of Turkey
122 . However, it failed to mention allegations that key components of the project,
such as the ılisu Dam, will have negative social and environmental costs, potentially
destroying important Kurdish cultural sites and leaving impoverished Kurds with
inadequate compensation 123 .
The Commission’s report disappointingly failed to reiterate the important message it
sent out in 2007 when it stated that the government of Turkey had failed ‘to create the
conditions required for the Kurdish population to enjoy full rights and freedoms’ 124 .
This failure stems from both the inadequate protections in law and fact for human
rights in Turkey, which have a particularly bad impact on the Kurdish people in the
south-east, who often run foul of laws restricting freedom of expression and association
just by attempting to foster and live according to their culture, as well as the
failure of the government of Turkey to deal with the situation of insecurity in the
south-east in a constructive manner.
The extent of the instability in the Kurdish region is not apparent in the Commission’s
2008 Report, which merely states that PKK attacks ‘continued’ 125 . This fails to draw
attention to the fact that 2007 and 2008 have represented a re-escalation of the conflict
in the south-east to a level unknown since the arrest of Abdullah Öcalan in 1999.
17 October 2007 the Turkish Parliament authorised a military intervention in Kurdistan,
Iraq, with the justification that clashes between the PKK and the Turkish State
security forces had led to an escalation in conflict. Air strikes by the Turkish military
against PKK targets in South Kurdistan began in earnest in the winter of 2007 and
have continued throughout 2008. There have been complaints that the air strikes have
120 Armed Conflicts Report: Turkey (2003-) - www.ploughshares.ca
121 EU Commission Turkey Progress Report, 2007, p. 23
122 European Commission 2008 Progress Report, 5 November 2008, SEC (2008) 2699 p.27
123 Public Statement on 2008 Progress Report – KHRP (November 2008) – p.4
124 EU Commission Turkey Progress Report – page 23
125 European Commission 2008 Progress Report, 5 November 2008, SEC (2008) 2699 p.27
170