FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EU TURKEY AND THE KURDS

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FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EU, TURKEY AND THE KURDS Otherwise, what’s left behind is a will, a raw force masquerading as law. Laws are there to be changed, because they are made for man, and men do change. In Turkey too, factors of change manifest their existence sometimes through what is expected and at other times by surprise. When change cuts speed, pessimism descends upon us. When resistance starts accelerating, erroneous observations are made, such as the one that change is changing direction. Circumstances, sensitivities and country specific conditions impact the nature of change. When looked at from this perspective, the process of change in Turkey is moving forward with conflicts. We observe that there is a serious confusion about EU-Turkey relations. We also observe that four or five different mind sets have been emerging from this confusion during the last four or five years. The first: The EU needs Turkey in any case. We don’t need them; they are compelled to have us. There is therefore no need for new initiatives or reforms. They have to accept us as we are. The second: Even if we undertake revolutionary reforms, the EU will not accept us for membership. So, as an alternative we need to develop the Eurasia project. We need to change our direction that way. Among the adherents of this thinking there are right wingers, left wingers, Kurds, Turks and those with other ethnicities. The third: To stand by the U.S. in order to realise the Greater Middle East Project—a project that is sometimes claimed to be supported by Prime Minister Mr Erdoğan. I hope the Prime Minister, who changed his direction once again towards the EU following the change of administration in the US, focuses on the process skilfully from now on. The necessity of this approach has become once more evident when we look at it from the view point of transforming an environment of confrontation to one of lasting peace. What happened in Palestine is a case in point. Neither the Kurds must view themselves as Palestine, nor should the Turkish State display an attitude like that of the state of Israel. When looked at from this point of view, forming the will to solve issues on a democratic platform through dialogue is vitally important. The fourth and last approach: The existence of a intellectual section of society which sincerely wants the EU accession process, which believes in the EU criteria and have internalised them and one which carries the struggle to achieve this on every platform. Many writers and intellectuals continued their struggle against fatal provocations. It is exactly at this point that I need to draw your attention to a certain issue. Although Kurds have been struggling for this very aim for years, they have been too weak to voice this in the Turkish public opinion. This shortcoming should be analysed on a multidimensional footing. There does not exist a mechanism for enabling people to make their voice heard since the existence of these people is denied. 30
FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EU, TURKEY AND THE KURDS We all know the farthest point many media organs can go along the road to democracy and what they understand from a pluralistic approach in Turkey. Taraf newspaper has worked with a certain goal during the one year it was in publication. If your goal is democracy, that is the greatest service you can provide for this country. I believe one of the most basic outputs of the process of change is the contribution this publication has made to Turkish democracy. So far, it has always been the Kurds who talked about the problematic situations in Turkey. And it was them who were left alone. It was almost always the Kurds who were detained, beaten up, harassed and killed. The dynamo of change against anti-democratic initiatives has predominantly been the Kurds. It is for these reasons that different quarters of the society assessing Turkey’s record of democracy are important, meaningful and valuable. I believe that at the very least, the role of this publication, which has reached large masses and which has questioned the approach of ‘people at the service of the state’, in the change of the mind set should not be denied. The glorified state can now be debated. This, in itself bears a conflict in fact. If Taraf newspaper had been a Kurdish publication with real content, it would not have had the chance to survive so far. Kurdish newspapers that have struggled for years against closures now have to fight against not only censorship and closure but against fines as well. Recently, the Kurdish newspaper Gündem, which was published in Turkish, ended its publication in protest of this situation. Azadiya Welat, a Kurdish daily newspaper, continues its work under many difficult circumstances. In Turkey, change was perceived as getting in step with the changing world. This perception entailed achieving universal values. These were the phases of freedom, equality, justice and democracy which found their concrete manifestation in the EU accession process. In short, change in Turkey was related to the creation, building and perhaps a complete reinstating from scratch through institutionalisation of a very belated culture of democracy. The process was not solely consistent of the Copenhagen or the Maastricht criteria or a process of a series of reforms that had so far not been implemented. Or at least, that should not have been the case. The important thing was that the criteria were reflected in the actual implementation in and integral manner and internalised by the country. The goals of change are very important in a country like Turkey which has its own specificities. Factors bringing about change are also themselves the factors determining the road map for change. Change without reason is change without vision. Change without vision is without participation. Social change is collective in nature. It should be shaped from the bottom up like a pyramid, enveloping society. Therefore, the target group of the change that is being expected should be the man in the street. However, even if the issue of democracy is solved, unless the Kurdish issue is solved correctly and in a durable manner, the problem will remain. An issue of democracy that would be solved with the existing mentality is synonymous with an impasse. One should not think of democracy separately from the Kurdish issue and the Kurdish issue from democracy. The Kurdish issue cannot be solved solely through a 24 hour 31
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FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EU TURKEY AND THE KURDS

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