Intellectuals discuss solutions to Kurdish question

Monday, December 18, 2006
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News

Journalist Perihan Mağden says the military’s overwhelming influence over politics is the main obstacle standing on the way of a solution to the Kurdish question

The Human Rights Association (İHD) held a conference looking into various proposals to put an end to the Kurdish question at the Hotel Grand Star in Istanbul's Taksim Square over the weekend.

Leading Turkish intellectuals including Armenian-language daily Agos Editor in Chief Hırant Dink and journalists Oral Çalışlar, Cengiz Çandar, Veysi Sarısözen, Perihan Mağden and Abdurrahman Dilipak were in attendance.

Çandar's speech underlined that “this question does not have a concrete solution.” According to Çandar, “The Kurdish question does exist, but its content is not clear.” Çandar said everybody had his or her own version of a description of the Kurdish question. He also said a recent statement from True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Ağar calling on Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members to engage in formal politics instead of terrorist activity was “confusing for the Turks.”

Çandar said developments were affecting both the content of the phrase “Kurdish question” and changing the parameters of a possible solution. Çandar also expressed his belief that Turkey's concern about a Kurdish state in the offing in northern Iraq was legitimate. “This problem does not stem from Kurdish existence in Iraq, but it is because there are Kurds living in Turkey. It is a concern feeding on the possibility that a new formation in Iraq might influence Turkey's Kurds, which in turn, might influence the entire country. It is a real concern. It is not absurd,” he said.

Vakit daily's Dilipak said any problem should involve solidarity to first stop bloodshed and ongoing grievances. “First we need to collaborate both ideologically and in our hearts to remove threats,” he said, adding that without ensuring Kurdish representation in Parliament, problems wouldn't be solved. “Parliament should take this problem to its own table and give the problem a legal ground through societal compromise. I think politicization would be the correct choice,” Dilipak said.

Mağden's speech criticized the military and “military supporters.” Mağden said that neither Kurds, Turks, Muslims nor Christians in Turkey are able to live their lives the way they would like to. “They live the way military supporters want them to,” she said in reference to an earlier statement made by Çalışlar that the Kurdish question had to be solved in the way the Kurds wanted.

Mağden said, “Something has to be done against the General Staff's absolute authority in Turkey.” Mağden expressed her concern that support for military influence in Turkey was on the rise and that Turkey was moving backward under the name of “democratization.” Mağden also criticized the media for its coverage supporting the General Staff.

Agos daily's Dink said, “Having a state of one's own is a very human feeling” and added that he was very happy when Armenia gained independence. Dink said he first asked the question, “What would I want if I was a Kurd?” when approaching the Kurdish question.

Dink expressed his observation that the Kurdish question was no longer an internal Turkish problem. “The Kurdish question is an international problem for Turkey,” he said, adding that he was happy that a Kurdistan was currently being established in northern Iraq and said that Turkey's Kurds had to work to improve relations between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurdistan.

Çalışlar stated his opinion that it was impossible to find a solution to the Kurdish question through the use of violence.


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