Amed Mayor
Decries Military-Based Solution to Kurdish Problem
Feb 7, 2007
TNA-A
controversial southeastern mayor on Friday said that ignoring calls for a
peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem over the last 20 years had led to the
militarization of Turkish society.
Speaking at a conference on international tourism and peace in Eilat, Israel,
Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir said that many people have been killed, the
region's economy has been devastated and illegal organizations have mushroomed
over the last 20 years due to the state's insistence on not recognizing Kurdish
identity.
Baydemir also said that Turkey has an immediate need for a civil society
movement that has a respect for differences, in order to resolve the Kurdish
problem, responsibility for the establishment of which lies with the Turkish
government, both Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals and international society.
