Kurdish move not satisfactory, says DTP leader

The ruling government’s Kurdish initiative is unsatisfactory and doomed to fail unless it implements Kurdish-language education rights for the country’s Kurdish population, Ahmet Türk, the leader of the Democratic Society Party, or DTP, has said.

“The government’s project [to end the 25-year terror problem] is not a satisfactory project for the Kurds. It lacks many elements, including a democratic Constitution, education in native languages and public consensus on the issue,” Türk told daily Vatan on Monday.

“We have to be realistic. It would be a mistake to ignore the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, one of the parties in the 25-year conflict, in solutions to the problem,” he said. “When we say this, we are accused of offering some segments of the [the PKK] as an interlocutor. But we don’t say this.”

According to Türk, it is difficult to contribute to the solution of the country’s Kurdish question if both the visible and invisible tips of the iceberg are not taken into account. “You can’t solve the problem if all actors in the conflict are not taken into consideration,” he said.

‘Education in Kurdish language vital’

Türk said granting Kurds the right to receive education in their native language is an essential part of the solution to the problem. Without this, the problem will not be solved, he said.

“Countries provide education in the native language of the children of Turkish families in Europe. During his visit to Germany, the prime minister [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan] said assimilation is a crime against humanity and Turkish children should get educated in their native language,” Türk said. “Now the prime minister refuses the idea of education in native languages in Turkey.”

According to Türk, political parties such as the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, and the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, have no fresh ideas to offer as solutions to the problem and have exploited public nationalist values for political gain. He was also critical of the sensitivities of the Kurdish population living in the country not being considered important compared to the sensitivities of Turkish people.

“You have to be aware of the sensitivities of the Kurdish population with whom you have lived together with for years,” Türk said, adding that a research committee should be established to identify future steps in resolving the issue.

Democratic autonomy

Türk also said the party is demanding the democratic autonomy of the Kurdish population, which has nothing to do with ethnic-oriented identity.

“This implies strengthening local administrations and making decisions in line with the social and cultural needs of the locals,” he said. “It should not only be so in the Kurdish-populated regions, but in other regions, from the Black Sea to central Anatolia.”

He noted that similar policies exist elsewhere in the world. “If the gladio disappeared in Spain and Italy, this is due to the strengthening of the local administrations,” Türk said. “The gladio couldn’t find a place for itself when Italy was divided into 25 small regions.”

Türk also refuted allegations that citizens of İzmir had been called fascist.

“We just said we were exposed to a fascist attack by civilians,” he said. “We just criticized [these people], but some portrayed it as if we had accused the citizens of İzmir.”

A DTP convoy was attacked by civilian groups last week in the Aegean coastal city of İzmir on the grounds that the flag of the outlawed PKK was raised alongside that of the DTP during the party’s İzmir activities.