Altan Tan exposed government's policy towards Kurds
Altan Tan exposed government's policy towards Kurds
Remarking that the AKP government and some of the sections and communities under it have come to the same point in the solution of the Kurdish problem, BDP Diyarbakýr MP Altan Tan said the followings; "At first, I was wanted to be made a political actor in the policy of deceiving Kurds but neither me nor my conscience accepted this offer.I couldn't just sit at home and watch what was going on. Maintaining my own identity and hiding my opposition against the Kurdish politics, I joined the side of Kurdish political struggle. I gave support to the fair right demands of Kurds and this situation maddened those standing against the Kurdish politics. Therefore, they are now trying to purge me in some way. The government and its supporters tell that they give the best effort for the solution of the Kurdish problem but they in fact say 'Yes' to individual rights and 'No' to collective rights. In other words, Kurds are allowed to speak Kurdish among each other and sing their songs in Kurdish but they cannot have education in mother-tongue and they can't presume to democratic autonomy, regional government, state system and federation model. This is the summary of the government's attitude."
Marking that a new strategy was determined for Kurds following the Diyarbakýr visit of the term's Chief of General Staff Ilker Basbug, Tan expressed the five steps of this strategy as follows;
The first step was to sever the connections of the PKK with legal Kurdish politics, DTP and the following BDP. With this design, three thousand people were detained and arrested at the first phase, which was followed by the arrest of two thousand people in the election process. In other words, a civilian staff of about five thousand unarmed people within the Kurdish politics were deactivated. The first target was to weaken the power of the Kurdish politicians and parties in the city.
The second step was the activation of all kinds of measures to isolate the PKK, the armed wing of the Kurdish politics, from its financial and military supports through the support of international powers.
The third step was an intense religion-propaganda of sects and communities who asserted that the PKK and the Kurdish political movement are terrorists, non religious and zoroastrian. The statements of the Prime Minister in the election period that 'Kurds demand azan to be read in Kurdish' crowned this propaganda. This was an operation to make the Kurdish political movement and party disreputable.
The forth step was to acquire the economically week circles of the public through all possibilities of the state and relief funds of governorships, sects and communities.
The fifth step was the attempt to gather some liberal, social democrat or conservative individuals that were open up to fair demands of Kurds and could be effective in the region. These people were deterred from supporting the Kurdish political movement through various political, positional and bureaucratic ways.
Translation: Berna Ozgencil
Marking that a new strategy was determined for Kurds following the Diyarbakýr visit of the term's Chief of General Staff Ilker Basbug, Tan expressed the five steps of this strategy as follows;
The first step was to sever the connections of the PKK with legal Kurdish politics, DTP and the following BDP. With this design, three thousand people were detained and arrested at the first phase, which was followed by the arrest of two thousand people in the election process. In other words, a civilian staff of about five thousand unarmed people within the Kurdish politics were deactivated. The first target was to weaken the power of the Kurdish politicians and parties in the city.
The second step was the activation of all kinds of measures to isolate the PKK, the armed wing of the Kurdish politics, from its financial and military supports through the support of international powers.
The third step was an intense religion-propaganda of sects and communities who asserted that the PKK and the Kurdish political movement are terrorists, non religious and zoroastrian. The statements of the Prime Minister in the election period that 'Kurds demand azan to be read in Kurdish' crowned this propaganda. This was an operation to make the Kurdish political movement and party disreputable.
The forth step was to acquire the economically week circles of the public through all possibilities of the state and relief funds of governorships, sects and communities.
The fifth step was the attempt to gather some liberal, social democrat or conservative individuals that were open up to fair demands of Kurds and could be effective in the region. These people were deterred from supporting the Kurdish political movement through various political, positional and bureaucratic ways.
Translation: Berna Ozgencil
