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Febuary 1, 2009
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The role of Europe in promoting democratic changes
Kurdishaspect.com - By Amed Dichle
Dear Guests,
Before beginning to my speech, I would like to commemorate respectfully our colleague, writer, thinker and also one of the hosts of this conference Harold Pinter.
In my speech I’ll have another view on the subject “THE ROLE OF EUROPE IN PROMOTING DEMOCRATIC CHANGES”. Thereby I’ll focus on the ‘Freedom of Press’ and democratisation itself.
Please allow me to make an initial statement.
AKP government has never seen the Accession process to the European Union as a strategic ambition. AKP instead considered it as a tactical manoeuvre opportunity. That is why when AKP thought it is in its interests, it pushed reforms forwards, when not it decelerated reform process and sometimes as it was the case in the last two years, it forgot the reform process completely. Now, when the local elections come close, AKP government remembered again EU Accession process and democratisation, which doesn’t seem to be honest, fair minded and stable since democracy can not be compatible with nationalist, racist and religious slogans. In my opinion, difficulties that Kurdish media is facing in Turkey , also politics that Turkish state is leading against Kurdish Media will draw a very serious and understandable picture of that, where Turkey on his journey of accession to the European Union is situated.
Despite of wars and intern conflicts in Kurdistan, Middle East and in different part of our world, it is evident that 21st century is in the same time a century of progress in Democracy and Human Rights. It is a shame for humanity that in this century a people consisting of millions individuals is still considered as without identity. At this point, in spite of values of this era, as a member of a people whose language, culture and identity is denied, as a journalist of this people I would like to point to the violence and oppression that Kurdish media is facing.
Kurdish Media begun with the newspaper ‘ Kurdistan ’ which was published for the first time on the 22nd April 1898 by Miqtat Mithat and Bedirxan. Despite of more than hundred years passed by, violence and terror of denier, monist and racist states against Kurdish media and its labours still continues in our days. In the last 15 years only in Turkey including writers and journalists as Hafız Akdemir, Musa Anter, Hüseyin Deniz, Ferhat Tepe and dozens of journalists, labours of newspapers and newspaper distributors are murdered. Between 1992 and 1994, 19 friends and colleague of ours lost their life as a result of assassinations by Turkish Contra-Guerrilla organisation. First time in the history a Prime Minister ordered bombing of a Central Building of a Newspaper, namely Ozgur Ulke. The Building is totally destroyed and journalist Ersin Yildiz lost his life. Also official notices distributed which ordered to mute journalists.
Even today censorship in Turkey practised in a very strict and a very rude way. Particularly against Kurdish Media a very strict politic is pursued. Print of Kurdish Media’s publications is one by one halted; their magazines are closed down, their television channels are declared illegal by the state censorship. For instance between 4th August 2006 and 27th December 2008 the print of 22 Kurdish Newspaper is halted 49 times. Yes, these are happened in Turkey governed by AKP, and they continue to happen. This picture shows how Kurdish Media and the opinions about Kurdish Question are oppressed in Turkey . Kurds are forced to issue almost each day a new Newspaper. They now have difficulties to name their Newspapers. Gundem which is published in Turkish and Azadiya Welat which is published in Kurdish are two Kurdish daily newspapers facing a in the whole world unprecedented censorship. Because they printed W, Q and X letters they are closed down several times. I suppose such a tyrannous practise of a similar oppression is not seen anywhere else in the world. On the one hand Turkish state is using all opportunities and instruments to mute Kurdish Media, on other hand it always tried to mute first multilingual Kurdish satellite television MED TV, then MEDYA TV and now our television channel ROJ TV, which were and are forced to broadcast in exile. It is still trying to mute our television Channel.
Let me please make some others statements. From outside AKP government looks partly like a ‘reformist’ government, but today the same government is developed into a wholly war and denier government. After general election on the 22nd July 2007 it forgot all its promises. It betrayed Kurdish votes it became. As a result of secret and open agreements with army generals, it said ‘yes’ to the militarist politics. It gave all authority which army needed for air assaults and land offensive against South of Kurdistan, and encouraged cruel attacks against Kurdish people.
10th November 2008 Turkish defense minister Vecdî Gonul has here in the heart of European Union in Brussels advocated openly one of the greatest crimes against humanity, namely genocide of Turkish state against Armenian, Pontus-Greeks and Assyrian people. In the same days, during a trip to cities of North Kurdistan , Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has threatened Kurds with deportation and genocide, saying ‘love it or leave it’.
It is Erdogan, who in Germany sad ‘asimilation is a crime against humanity’, it is the same Erdogan who says daily ‘one homeland, one people, one language and one state’. If really he considers assimilation as a crime against humanity, why is mayor of Sur because of his project of ‘multilingual municipality’ removed from his duty?
It may seem strange for Europeans that still when Kurdish deputies of Turkish Parliament spoke some Kurdish words, these words are written down into the official protocol as an unknown language. Three months before it was written down as unknown language, and since one month instead of Kurdish words, three points are taken into the protocol. Is there any bigger insult, any bigger denying against a people, against a nation imaginable?
That is why, in face of closer coming local elections, we naturally doubt all steps made by AKP. TRT 6 begun without to have its name broadcasting, this is why Kurdish community, its political and intellectual dynamics didn’t find TRT 6 as a credible and sincere step. This is a maneuver of AKP, which has severe difficulties facing intern and extern public opinion, and in the same time can’t find a durable and peaceful solution to the Kurdish question.
Dear participants,
I would like to point to the oppression against Kurdish television channel ROJ TV, for which I work. I would clearly state that ROJ TV is an objective sign of practicing the right of Kurdish people, to have access to news and information in its own language. Now what Turkish state tries to hinder is the right of a nation to have access to the information in its own language. ROJ TV renders very valuable services in order to protect and develop Kurdish culture, to create a visual Kurdish national archive and to protect from diminishing Kurdish dialects and also to protect and develop Assyrian languages. In addition to this ROJ TV is a solely laic Institution for faith communities such as Alevits, Yezidis and Christians which suffer under the oppression of dominant political Islam, where they can express themselves freely.
For the preparation of Turkey and Kurds for EU, it is doubtless that ROJ TV is the broadest communication and news source. Millions of people have heard EU-criteria for the first time from ROJ TV. ROJ TV is an important channel that communicates steps on the way reaching peace and democracy to the community and which also strengthens these steps. ROJ TV is the television channel which most broadcasts discussions in this conference.
On one hand Turkish State don’t recognize the rights of Kurds and other ethnic minorities in Turkey , on the other hand it tries to mute and determine them beyond its borders. These efforts of Turkey contrivance totally values of our era and are in conflict with them. Turkish State ’s approach is anti-democratic and outdated.
I have unfortunately to state that some member states of EU are supporting this anti democratic and outdated approach of Turkish State . This situation is not compatible with democratic values of EU. Germany has banned our television channel ROJ TV, and this is a very clear example of this very contradiction. Germany had earlier banned Ozgur Polîtika (daily newspaper) and News Agency Mesopotamia.
The attack against ROJ TV in Germany is part of a wider campaign against press freedom and the Kurdish Media. Mostly Kurdish, ROJ TV has an audience of millions of Kurdish viewers who consider this as an attack against their language, culture, songs, history, values and future aspirations and are following the events with concern.
The German Interior Minister’s ‘justifications’ for the decision against Roj TV mirror the Turkish States attacks of freedom of expression. These spurious grounds have been several times refuted by the High Secretariat of Broadcasting in Denmark . It has been stated forcefully that ROJ TV did not and does not abuse broadcasting codes and regulations. The German Interior Minister has already stated that the decision to ban was not juridical but rather political. From this, we see very clearly that the European states such as Germany are not sincere in pursuing the required reforms by Turkey as laid out by the Copenhagen Criteria.
Kurds, who escaped oppression of Turkey and other states in the region and was obliged to flee to European countries, had benefited from the juridical system and democracy of these countries. In order to defend their cultural existence, they established very important institutions. These institutions are not only for democratic rights of Kurds, but also for European Democracy’s progress important signs. Unfortunately, first of all Germany and France, some members of European Union criminalize Kurdish Institutions mainly for their own economic, military and political interests. These practices were legitimated by ‘anti-terror-laws’ and are criminalization of Kurds. These practices have limited rights and freedom of Kurds living in Europe . We observe that these practices have changed into durable policies. These policies of EU encourage Turkey and other states in the region and tragically let Kurdish people stay alone in front of their oppression.
Kurdish people has the impression that oppressions practiced by Turkey and other states in the region are supported by EU. And naturally this situation decreases credibility and sustains disillusion among Kurdish people.
The European countries should abandon this policy of aiding Turkey in its denial and assimilationist policies and rather help Turkey to comply with European laws by ensuring compliance with the Copenhagen Criteria. The United States of America and the EU should forcefully encourage Turkey to undertake steps for solving the Kurdish Question in a democratic and durable way. Every support that is given to the racist and denial policies of the Turkish state will mean the encouragement of war and more unnecessary deaths. Unfortunately this is the situation at this moment. We hope that this given situation will change. We hope that the day will come, in which the rights of the Kurdish language, of the Kurdish media, of the Kurdish identity and the right of Kurdish people to decide its own future will come. If we all work together for this aim, in the words of the newly elected US President, “Yes, we can!”
Thank you very much to have given your intention to my speech
Courtesy of Mezopotamian Development Society
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