Turkey back to the dark years?

26 July 2011

The Turkish government has decided to strengthen the special units of police, agents of the "war room" against the Kurdish population.

After its open-door policy turned into a fiasco, the AKP government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has closed the Kurdish page, turning to the practices of 90 years. The Turkish government has decided to strengthen the special units of police, agents of the "war room" against the Kurdish population. 
Erdogan, who today ignores and represses the demands of the Kurdish people, lend themselves to be the savior of the Palestinians. Denying the right to education in Kurdish in his country, he denounced assimilation in Germany and France, arguing that assimilation is a crime against humanity. Kurdish mother tongue is registered as an unknown language at trial. 

The AKP government, in power since 2002, launched its open policy towards the Kurds in 2009. But this opening soon turned into a serious violation of human rights, including the closure of the main Kurdish party DTP, now BDP, and the imprisonment of about 4,000 active members of these parties, except for the arrests of supporters and protesters. The arrestees include mayors, MPs, trade unionists and journalists. 

WHAT LIES BEHIND THE OPENING 

the international community avoids talking about these paradoxes. Instead, the media and Western leaders have long applauded and welcomed the policy, ignoring the violations committed in the name of the opening. Since the launching of the policy of openness, not a single day passes without an arrest of Kurds.

According to a report of the Association of Human Rights (IHD), 4015 people were detained during the first half of 2011, in the Kurdish region only, against 2,430 during the same period of 2010, and among these 1145 people were sent to prison. The report found 16,482 violations of human rights in the first six months of this year, against 13,219 cases in 2010. 

Torture no longer exists in this country, according to Erdogan's speaking of an "advanced democracy," ignoring the 1,010 cases of torture and ill-treatment in six months in the Kurdish region in 2011, against 433 in 2010, recognized by the association. "The main reason for the increasing incidence of torture is the protection the torturers by political and judicial bodies," says the association. 

Turkey is the world's biggest prison for journalists, with more than 60 journalists imprisoned, according to organizations providing support to imprisoned journalists. Most of these journalists are Kurds. 

After the historical success of Kurds in the parliamentary elections of June 12, the a Kurdish deputy was stripped off of his legal mandate and the authorities have refused to release five other members, now in prison, which led the main Kurdish party to boycott BDP parliament. 

RACIST LYNCHING 

On July 14, 13 Turkish soldiers were killed during a military operation against the PKK, which was launched despite the cease-fire unilateral since August 2010. The Prime Minister reacted immediately and announced that there is no question but that of the Kurdish PKK, the Kurdistan Workers' Party. The authorities have pointed to the BDP as responsible for the deaths of soldiers, which has encouraged racist lynchings against the Kurds in the country. Many Kurds were victims of lynchings by racist Turks in many provinces including Istanbul, under the eyes of the police. According to the government, these racist attacks are "reactions of citizens." 

BACK TO THE WAR ROOM 

The authorities have also decided to strengthen security forces in combat zones by special units of police, in other words "Özel Harekat", known for its practice rooms. 

This announcement reminds Kurds of the 1990s when these special units have ravaged the region, committing executions and wild tortur, leading the country into a dark period. Turkey had lost in the mindless violence and room, acting as a tribal state. She had become a bandit country. 

For the Kurds, the government plans to create its "JITEM," the intelligence unit of the gendarmerie, whose existence was denied by officials, but acknowledged by the founders. JITEM is one of the devices in the special war or "war room" against the Kurds. According to Kurdish sources, they are still active in the region, are dressed in guerrilla uniforms. This structure of the state is also accused of the murder of Hrant Dink, Armenian journalist killed Jan. 9, 2007 in Istanbul by an ultra-nationalist.

JITEM was created in 1987 within the gendarmerie. Its existence was revealed in 1993 by major Ahmet Cem Ersever who was killed mysteriously in the same year. 

During those dark years, more than 17 unsolved political murders were committed, 4,000 villages were burned or destroyed, hundreds of children and dozens of Kurdish journalists were killed. Thousands of bodies are still in mass graves waiting to be exhumed. 

This war room was unsuccessful and the PKK has now won the sympathy of millions of people in the four parts of Kurdistan, divided between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. This scenario back to the dark years instead of responding to legitimate demands of the Kurdish people, will be a disaster for everyone and for the future of the country.

MAXIME AZADI-ANF / NEWS DESK

ANF NEWS AGENCY