Is Turkey safe for Kurds?
Saturday, 14 January 2012
The Kurdish Globe
By Mehmed Sabri Akgönül
Investigations continue, but the damage is irreversible
The Roboski massacre will not be the last mass killing as Turkey moves forward with its new war strategy against the PKK.
On 28 December 2011, Turkish Military Forces (TSK) used F16's, killing 35 Kurdish villagers who were allegedly smuggling gas and tea from Iraqi Kurdistan. They were returning to Roboski village linked to Qilaban (in Turkish Uludere), in the district of Shirnak, close to the Iraqi border.
The Diyarbakir chief prosecutor's office launched an investigation, and on 8 January 2012, Gendarmerie Col. Hussein Onur Guney, Deputy Commander of the Gulyazı (in Kurdish Bujeh) Border Regiment, was removed from his post by the Turkish Interior Ministry. This is yet to be announced formally.
Turkish military authorities claimed that the road was bombed because it was known as the Kurdistan Workers, Party's (PKK) transit road, and frequently used by its fighters. According to the Justice and Development Party's (AKP) high-level officers, it is an "operational accident" and "intelligence failure."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded to reporters, questions on the event by saying smugglers used to cross the border in small groups but this time they were in a large group, which he said strengthened the Turkish military unit's suspicion that a group of PKK guerillas was trying to enter Turkey. However, there seems no clear reason in his speech to think that this bloody event was a mistake or an accident.
The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) replied harshly and claimed that this was an intentional mass murder. BDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtas particularly emphasized that what took place in Qilaban was a horrifying massacre, adding that "now, one more massacre is added to the Turkish history of massacres."
Ahmet Turk, another prominent figure in Kurdish politics, called the incident "genocide."
Recalling the remarks of Erdogan, who said that a government that kills its own people loses its legitimacy with respect to embattled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, Demirtas said that "If this massacre had taken place in other countries, he [Erdogan] would be all over the place, talking about the massacre; had this happened in Syria he would have pointed his finger at Al-Assad."
Demirtas said that AKP government, the Turkish President, and Chief of the Turkish General Staff are responsible for this massacre. "They are the ones who ordered the massacre. Those who issue fatwa [a religious edict] calling for war against the Kurds, those who say we take revenge are responsible. The Turkish military forces, explanation is nothing but a confession to the crime," he added. "Enough is enough. For 80 years we have been experiencing massacres, violence and shedding tears, nothing else. Kurdish people will be liberated. We have no other options."
Speaking about the air strike, Erdogan announced plans to continue full steam ahead in the fight against PKK. He said that PKK militants will be rendered ineffective wherever they are, "be it in the mountains, in the country or across the border." He said they plan to draft a law that would classify Molotov cocktails, a fixture at Kurdish anti-government demonstrations, as weapons.
The leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, also visited to the district of Qilaban. "Thirty-five people lost their lives in an undeserved manner. This is not an incident that could easily be forgiven. We are going to pursue this in Parliament as well as in other places," he said. He criticized the AKP government and also called on the AKP to apologize.
The leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli, also spoke on the issue and defended the air strike against the Kurdish civilians, arguing that the Turkish army must act even at the slightest suspicion of a threat. "If there is a 1% chance that those sneaking over the border will hurt Turkish soldiers, then the government must take immediate action. This is what they have done in the latest incident," he told.
There were also many mass demonstrations against the Roboski massacre with the participation of thousands of Kurds. Many protestors, including high school and college students, faced off with Turkish police, and more than 100 people were taken into custody during demonstrations in Diyarbakir, Urfa and Hakkari. During protests, police in Diyarbakir killed two young persons.
Following an extended, on-the-spot investigation in Qilaban, eight NGOs, including the Human Rights Association and the Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MAZLUM-DER), released a report. "Our delegation has concluded that the incident is an extrajudicial execution and mass massacre in terms of the number of persons killed," it stated. In the report, HaciEncu, who survived the bombing, recorded that they were blocked by the Turkish soldiers and bombed by the war crafts. The report quoted eye-witnesses as saying the group had not been warned to stop before the bombardment.
According to this report, Turkish security forces were aware of this go-return for border trade since villagers always use the same road. The delegation also pointed out that the ambulances were prevented from getting to the scene by security forces, which also caused deaths. There is strong evidence that some injured victims died from freezing or from lack of medical interference due to late medical assistance. The statement ended with an emphasis that the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations and the European Council should urgently send a delegation to investigate the event.
Twelve Bar Associations of Kurdish-majority cities also released a joint report about the strike in Qilaban."There is strong evidence that the attack was done intentionally and was not accidental," the report said. Statements by spokespersons of the AKP increased concern that the incident will not be investigated properly.
Ali Bayram, vice president of the Shirnak Bar Association and lawyer for the cases of the 35 dead Kurdish civilians, said to The Kurdish Globe the investigation is in its early stage and the testimonies of three relatives of killed villagers have been taken. "Qilaban residents did not consider this incident an operational mistake. They described it as an intended massacre. Turkish military troops in the region are known to kill people, and troops are usually aware of the crossing of the border due to trade," he added. Bayram stated that only the Gendarmerie Colonel has been dismissed so far, and he thinks it will remain limited to dismissal.
"Because the people responsible for the massacre are public servants, they have the public armor. I have doubts -- the government's investigation will not be effective. But if our struggle of internal law does not bring results, we will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights," he told the Globe.
Ali Bayram also touched on to the delegation that the Kurdistan Regional Government aid to the families of the victims. He expressed that the visit of condolences from Kurdistan Region has awakened a sense of protection for the people of Qilaban. "The visit of condolence and the help of the KRG are very important to provide the common feelings and to share this painful event via nationalist feelings. We must not let the massacre be forgotten, and we must stick to it until the end for the prosecution of those responsible," Bayram said to the Globe.
This Kurdish massacre by the Turkish state cannot be understood independently from the politics of the Turkish state on the Kurds, and it is a new war strategy in their fight against the PKK. The goal of this new strategy is based on two pillars: military destruction and political pressure. Not leaving any space for the PKK in the mountains of Kurdistan and by bombing everything moving in the area where PKK has taken up position, the Turkish state aims to defeat the PKK as a military force. The second goal is to restrict all political opportunities of Kurdish legal politics by preventing Kurdish legal figures from conducting active politics in Turkey. In order to accomplish this, they implemented the Kurdistan Communities' Union (KCK) operations, which are identified by Turkish deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay as a government project.
The architects of the new war strategy and its defenders state that they "will wipe out the terror" and "this time this will be the solution." They repeatedly say that they are working intensively to "exterminate" the PKK militants one by one or in groups with war crafts through "point shooting." They assert political pressure and detentions on Kurdish politicians, activists, journalists and academics who claim to be supporters of the PKK. They are inculcating that apart from this government policy there is no other way to solve the Kurdish issue. As Prime Minister Erdogan proclaimed in his latest speeches, they will not give up that policy. Without doubt, if this policy continues to be implemented, the Roboski massacre will not be the last one, and living in Kurdistan--which has become a wide military and political operation area for the Kurds--will continue to be risky for Kurds.
Source http://www.kurdishglobe.net/display-article.html?id=CF1E56636B2E87D3B2387C6F7C2024EC
The Kurdish Globe
By Mehmed Sabri Akgönül
Investigations continue, but the damage is irreversible
The Roboski massacre will not be the last mass killing as Turkey moves forward with its new war strategy against the PKK.
On 28 December 2011, Turkish Military Forces (TSK) used F16's, killing 35 Kurdish villagers who were allegedly smuggling gas and tea from Iraqi Kurdistan. They were returning to Roboski village linked to Qilaban (in Turkish Uludere), in the district of Shirnak, close to the Iraqi border.
The Diyarbakir chief prosecutor's office launched an investigation, and on 8 January 2012, Gendarmerie Col. Hussein Onur Guney, Deputy Commander of the Gulyazı (in Kurdish Bujeh) Border Regiment, was removed from his post by the Turkish Interior Ministry. This is yet to be announced formally.
Turkish military authorities claimed that the road was bombed because it was known as the Kurdistan Workers, Party's (PKK) transit road, and frequently used by its fighters. According to the Justice and Development Party's (AKP) high-level officers, it is an "operational accident" and "intelligence failure."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded to reporters, questions on the event by saying smugglers used to cross the border in small groups but this time they were in a large group, which he said strengthened the Turkish military unit's suspicion that a group of PKK guerillas was trying to enter Turkey. However, there seems no clear reason in his speech to think that this bloody event was a mistake or an accident.
The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) replied harshly and claimed that this was an intentional mass murder. BDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtas particularly emphasized that what took place in Qilaban was a horrifying massacre, adding that "now, one more massacre is added to the Turkish history of massacres."
Ahmet Turk, another prominent figure in Kurdish politics, called the incident "genocide."
Recalling the remarks of Erdogan, who said that a government that kills its own people loses its legitimacy with respect to embattled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, Demirtas said that "If this massacre had taken place in other countries, he [Erdogan] would be all over the place, talking about the massacre; had this happened in Syria he would have pointed his finger at Al-Assad."
Demirtas said that AKP government, the Turkish President, and Chief of the Turkish General Staff are responsible for this massacre. "They are the ones who ordered the massacre. Those who issue fatwa [a religious edict] calling for war against the Kurds, those who say we take revenge are responsible. The Turkish military forces, explanation is nothing but a confession to the crime," he added. "Enough is enough. For 80 years we have been experiencing massacres, violence and shedding tears, nothing else. Kurdish people will be liberated. We have no other options."
Speaking about the air strike, Erdogan announced plans to continue full steam ahead in the fight against PKK. He said that PKK militants will be rendered ineffective wherever they are, "be it in the mountains, in the country or across the border." He said they plan to draft a law that would classify Molotov cocktails, a fixture at Kurdish anti-government demonstrations, as weapons.
The leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, also visited to the district of Qilaban. "Thirty-five people lost their lives in an undeserved manner. This is not an incident that could easily be forgiven. We are going to pursue this in Parliament as well as in other places," he said. He criticized the AKP government and also called on the AKP to apologize.
The leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli, also spoke on the issue and defended the air strike against the Kurdish civilians, arguing that the Turkish army must act even at the slightest suspicion of a threat. "If there is a 1% chance that those sneaking over the border will hurt Turkish soldiers, then the government must take immediate action. This is what they have done in the latest incident," he told.
There were also many mass demonstrations against the Roboski massacre with the participation of thousands of Kurds. Many protestors, including high school and college students, faced off with Turkish police, and more than 100 people were taken into custody during demonstrations in Diyarbakir, Urfa and Hakkari. During protests, police in Diyarbakir killed two young persons.
Following an extended, on-the-spot investigation in Qilaban, eight NGOs, including the Human Rights Association and the Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MAZLUM-DER), released a report. "Our delegation has concluded that the incident is an extrajudicial execution and mass massacre in terms of the number of persons killed," it stated. In the report, HaciEncu, who survived the bombing, recorded that they were blocked by the Turkish soldiers and bombed by the war crafts. The report quoted eye-witnesses as saying the group had not been warned to stop before the bombardment.
According to this report, Turkish security forces were aware of this go-return for border trade since villagers always use the same road. The delegation also pointed out that the ambulances were prevented from getting to the scene by security forces, which also caused deaths. There is strong evidence that some injured victims died from freezing or from lack of medical interference due to late medical assistance. The statement ended with an emphasis that the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations and the European Council should urgently send a delegation to investigate the event.
Twelve Bar Associations of Kurdish-majority cities also released a joint report about the strike in Qilaban."There is strong evidence that the attack was done intentionally and was not accidental," the report said. Statements by spokespersons of the AKP increased concern that the incident will not be investigated properly.
Ali Bayram, vice president of the Shirnak Bar Association and lawyer for the cases of the 35 dead Kurdish civilians, said to The Kurdish Globe the investigation is in its early stage and the testimonies of three relatives of killed villagers have been taken. "Qilaban residents did not consider this incident an operational mistake. They described it as an intended massacre. Turkish military troops in the region are known to kill people, and troops are usually aware of the crossing of the border due to trade," he added. Bayram stated that only the Gendarmerie Colonel has been dismissed so far, and he thinks it will remain limited to dismissal.
"Because the people responsible for the massacre are public servants, they have the public armor. I have doubts -- the government's investigation will not be effective. But if our struggle of internal law does not bring results, we will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights," he told the Globe.
Ali Bayram also touched on to the delegation that the Kurdistan Regional Government aid to the families of the victims. He expressed that the visit of condolences from Kurdistan Region has awakened a sense of protection for the people of Qilaban. "The visit of condolence and the help of the KRG are very important to provide the common feelings and to share this painful event via nationalist feelings. We must not let the massacre be forgotten, and we must stick to it until the end for the prosecution of those responsible," Bayram said to the Globe.
This Kurdish massacre by the Turkish state cannot be understood independently from the politics of the Turkish state on the Kurds, and it is a new war strategy in their fight against the PKK. The goal of this new strategy is based on two pillars: military destruction and political pressure. Not leaving any space for the PKK in the mountains of Kurdistan and by bombing everything moving in the area where PKK has taken up position, the Turkish state aims to defeat the PKK as a military force. The second goal is to restrict all political opportunities of Kurdish legal politics by preventing Kurdish legal figures from conducting active politics in Turkey. In order to accomplish this, they implemented the Kurdistan Communities' Union (KCK) operations, which are identified by Turkish deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay as a government project.
The architects of the new war strategy and its defenders state that they "will wipe out the terror" and "this time this will be the solution." They repeatedly say that they are working intensively to "exterminate" the PKK militants one by one or in groups with war crafts through "point shooting." They assert political pressure and detentions on Kurdish politicians, activists, journalists and academics who claim to be supporters of the PKK. They are inculcating that apart from this government policy there is no other way to solve the Kurdish issue. As Prime Minister Erdogan proclaimed in his latest speeches, they will not give up that policy. Without doubt, if this policy continues to be implemented, the Roboski massacre will not be the last one, and living in Kurdistan--which has become a wide military and political operation area for the Kurds--will continue to be risky for Kurds.
Source http://www.kurdishglobe.net/display-article.html?id=CF1E56636B2E87D3B2387C6F7C2024EC
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