WKI Calls for International Monitors to Ensure Open, Fair Trial of Abdullah Ocalan Predicts Continued Violence as Long as Turkey Denies Political, Cultural Rights
Washington, D.C. — Washington Kurdish Institute President, Dr. Najmaldin Karim, issued the following statement concerning the capture of Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
“Mr. Ocalan’s arrest changes little for the Kurds of Turkey. As long as Kurds in Turkey are denied political and cultural rights, they will continue their struggle. As long as Turkey’s military kills, tortures, and arrests Kurds for peacefully expressing their identity, Kurds will defend themselves and the cycle of violence will continue. The PKK represents the most recent of numerous mass Kurdish uprisings against the Turkish state. Underlying sources of discontent predate the PKK and will not end with Mr. Ocalan’s arrest.
The dimensions of the conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK are staggering. The complete lack of international support for resolving the conflict is equally shocking. More than 30,000 people have died. The Turkish military has destroyed 3,000 Kurdish villages and forced more than two million people from their homes. The government has spent more than $112 billion dollars fighting the PKK, yet southeastern Turkey remains economically devastated. The conflict ensures the Turkish military’s leading role in political life and gives the regime a pretext to curtail freedom of expression and other basic human rights for all Turkey’s citizens
Such severe political repression, coupled with economic deprivation are directly responsible for the PKK’s emergence. With all legal Kurdish-based parties closed or in the process of being closed, Turkey’s Kurds have no legal means of expressing themselves politically or culturally. Without responsive political institutions, Kurds are unable to participate as equals in Turkish society. Mr. Ocalan’s detention does not change this fundamental reality.
The United States and international community must take steps to ensure an open and fair trial for Mr. Ocalan, and to see that he is not tortured. Mr. Ocalan’s trial and conditions of his detention should be closely monitored. The US administration should publicly support efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question in Turkey. Support for the Turkish government’s corrupt war against “terrorism” has only prolonged Kurdish suffering and retarded democratic development in Turkey. With US assistance, the Turkish regime has avoided dealing with the serious underlying issues that threaten political and economic stability. The opportunity that now exists to move forward towards a peaceful political solution should not remain hostage to politically expedient definitions of “terrorism.”
Mr. Ocalan’s arrest shares headlines with US efforts to force Serbia to grant autonomy to Albanians living in Kosovo. Any moral authority behind US policy in the Balkans withers in the face of US unwillingness to challenge Turkey’s policies of ethnic cleansing. The double standards evident in juxtaposition of these two situations are hard to ignore.
While Kurds around the world struggle to make sense of Mr. Ocalan’s arrest, it is important to begin to look to the future. Kurds in Turkey and elsewhere must refrain from letting emotions move them to act in a manner which can be used by the Turkish government and others to criminalize the Kurdish movement. Kurdish communities and their leaders must rededicate themselves to a peaceful struggle for human rights and democracy in Turkey and elsewhere.”