Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RWISTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi
turkish daily IH'WS - Fehnlar' I/I.. )()t)IJ .
.Ramadan, Newroz, the election triangle
and Cizre in southeastern Anatolia
elections. Observers point out what the PKK
Turkey will enter into an important phase in. Marc~. The !mport~nt period that will do is not certain, but suspect that it will
begins with the Ramadan Feast of the MuslIms, wIll contmue wIth the Newroz attack polling booths at which the armed
Feast of the Kurds and will finally end with the March 27 local elections which forces will cast their votes in order to ensure
Th th1i . 1 ak 1 that the government does not have the
will effect both the Kurds and the Turks. ese ee Important events wil tep ace chance to change the election results. One
within one week of each other. The widespread belief held by the public is that the local fact is that the PKK has forbidden all politielections
will not be held in a complete. safe enl'ironment. There are reports already cal parties from taking part in the elections.
which predict that both the state and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) wi11 All parties except the Welfare Party (RP)
exert pressure on each other during the elections. The first example of such pressure. and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)
was experienced in Cizre. Cizre is a district that is mostly influenced by the PKK and have obeyed this order. For this reason parfor
this reason the state is attaching special importance to this district and taking similar ties are having difficulty in finding and
measures ill other settlements. The most obvious element of such measures is that sub- endorsing mayoral candidates in the region
urbs are beinu evacuated and village guards are being seftled there. The communities as the candidaies will be the fIrst targets.
which are for~ed out of their settlements during these operations are also missing out on Cizre is a battlefield
their opportunity to vote. It is reported that about 1.5 million people in south and south- As the date for the local elections draws
eastern Anatolia are being forced to migrate. closer, the fighting in Cizre, a district of
.By Sinan YI maz Everybody in the region is curious about the
Sirnak province, between the security forces
and the PKK militants intensifIes. As armed
Turkish Daily News PKK's attitude toward the local elections. conflicts are taking place almost everyday,
AN KARA- The excitement and the tension
of the March 27 local elections have
The PKK has not expressed any opinions
about the elections as yet. There are reports
the inhabitants
forced to flee.
of the region are being
already begun. In the western part of the that it will make a statement on Feh. 15 There are reports which claim that up to
country, almost all parties' canôidates are about the local elections. It is feared that if 2,000 families have left the district as a
being announced and election campaigns
have started. However, there is nobody in
the PKK calls for non-participation in the
local elections, there will be a reduction in
result of pressure from the security forces.
Some are going back to the villages they
south ànd southeastern Anatolia who has the number of votes in the region and the came from while others are foing to Adana,
announced his or her candidature for the PKK will use this as a referendum to argue Mardin, Iskenderun and stanbul. Also
mayoral elections as yet. With the exception
of one or two; almost every candidate's
its case.
This has proven to be the least favored
among
guards
the reports
are being
is the claim that village
settled in the dwellings
name is being kept secret. Following the option so far: DEP leader Hatip Dicle's vacated by the villagers. The governme~t
outlawed Kurôistan Workers' Party's boy- remark: "We may reach a ¥sto~~ decision wants the chief villag~ guard and RP candlcott,
the political parties are keeping the and riot take part lU the electIOns IS one ele- date Kamil Atak to be elected as the mayor
names of !heir candidates secret for security ment that adds weight to this theory. One for Cizre. .
reasons. The pro-Kurdish Democracy Party other possible outcome is that the PKK. The other issue is that those villagers who
(DEP) is also reluctant to announce Its can- regards the results of an election which it leave their villages will be unable to vote
didates for fear of reprisals. has boycotted to be to its advantage. In because they are not on the voting reg!sters
The other cornmon element among the short, the PKK will try in any case to use of the cities they move to. One other mterparties
is that they all feel thatthe March' the election results as its referendum. esting thing is that the village guards who
elections will not be held in a safe environ- Almost everybody seems to agree that the move into the empty houses will not be able
ment. The source of this suspicion is the results of the local elections will be in the to vote either. It would not be an exaggeraprediction
that both the government and the
PKK will'apply pressure on each other dur-
PKK's favor. The PKK is aiming to win at
least 200 local government posts in the
. tion to say though that village guards who
are not on the electoral roll will be made to
ing the elections. . . Southeast. As the PKK makes these caIcu- vote. This would be regarded as an act of
1t is riecessary to point out though that the'
communities living in this region do not
lations, the government is making preparations
to ensure that the elections take place.
. interferencein
authorities.
the election process by the
want such pressure or election nggin~. Both As a result of amendménts made earlier, The reason for the security forces
seem impossible to avoid. For one thing, the members of the Armed Forces will be able labelling Cizre as a ~pe.cial.zone .is that
government is afraid that the PKK will sup- to vote at the local elections with their Cizre is one of the dlstncts lU which the
port the Democracy Party's mayoral candi- weapons in their hands. Certain sections of PKK is very effeCtive. The number of peoôates
and use the election as a referendum to
bring them onto the international political
the community are critical of this ~ecision,
saying the shadow of weapons Will be on
pIe living in the surrounding villages, CizTe
and the Sirnak province is said to be around
platform to argue for the Kurdish cause. the ballot boxes, but the government author- 100,000 (including the ones who have
The other worry is that the PKK will ities say that this measure is necessary for moved out) even though the population in
argue that the election results are invalid security reasons, As a precautionary mea- the' areahasdecreased in the past one-and.a~
because of the pressure the government has sure, the authorities say, the ballot boxes half months due to the large numbers of
exerted on the candidates of the Democracy will be taken by helicopter to a safe place people leaving the area, The fact that village
Party and will again try to use thisas ammu- for counting. Recent newspayer reports say guards are assisting the security forces III
nition against Turkey at the international that some 150,000 additiona soldiers have exerting pressure on the villages means that
level and boycott the election results. been sent to the region in preparation for the there is a contradiction. The village guards
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