KurdistanObserver.com

January 15, 2006

The veteran ethnic Kurdish politician says after Iraq becomes a federal country, the Kurds of Turkey will also demand 'their share' in governance of the country

MERT GÖZDE
Turkish Daily News

  Iraq becoming a federal country “in conformity with the historical and ethnic structure of the land and the international understanding” and the Kurdish population of that country obtaining their share in the administration will reflect on the entire geography, particularly on Turkey, where a substantial portion of the Kurds live, a senior ethnic Kurdish politician has said.

  He said Kurds will no longer be satisfied with “trivial rights” but will demand their share in the governance of the country.

  In an interview with the Turkish Daily News, Şerafettin Elçi, a former minister who has been engaged in efforts to set up a new “Kurdish” party this year, said developments in Iraq have shown that federalism is the best administrative system for multi-nation countries. He said the new Iraqi constitution was “exemplary” for all states of the region because it will reflect on all countries of the area, particularly Turkey, where the most Kurds live.

  Claiming that the social structure of Iraq and Turkey were very similar, Elçi said that despite political boundaries the peoples of Iraq and Turkey are ethnically, socially and culturally very much the same.

  He said the developments in Iraq might help Turkey overcome its “disintegration” phobia.

  Elçi said it was very probable that the Kurdish population of Turkey will start demanding federalism in Turkey as well.

  “Such trivial language courses, a half-hour Kurdish broadcasting right, will no longer suffice for the Kurds of Turkey. They will as well demand administrative rights. They will demand the right to self-rule. Self-rule does not necessarily mean having their separate state. There are various models of achieving that. It might be through establishment of an autonomous region, it might be through federalism or confederalism. A model suitable to the structure of the region will have to be selected. Under U.N. norms, Kurds have the qualification as a people to exercise self-determination. The rights of the Kurds should not be limited to cultural ones because they have demands for administrative rights as well. This could be described as political rights,” he said.

  Complaining that for decades the southeastern part of the country was neglected by republican governments, Elçi said at the time of the proclamation of independence Diyarbakır was the third most developed city of the country after Istanbul and Bursa, but now it ranked 63rd in terms of development among the country's 81 provinces. He said this was a result of neglecting the region despite the fact that it has very high potential.

  He said if a comprehensive package similar to the one Italy implemented for the development of its south was to be put in force rather than the trivial incentive packages of the past, southeastern Anatolia could become a center of attraction.

  He also said if Turkey can achieve the development of southeastern Anatolia and join the EU, rather than northern Iraq becoming a center of attraction for Turkish Kurds, Turkey will become a center of attraction for the population of northern Iraq.

  “All this depends on Turkey's ability to develop a new economic and political understanding,” he said.

  Claiming that both the “deep state” and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) saw a benefit for themselves in Kurdish-Turkish confrontation in the country, Elçi charged that not only for the Kurds but also for Turkey's entire population the “deep state” stood out as the most pressing problem that needed to be immediately eliminated. He said the PKK problem had to be eradicated as well.

  Reiterating that the PKK hurt the Kurds of Turkey more than it hurt the Turks, Elçi said he was confident that a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish problem was possible. He said his formula for resolution of this age-old problem was rather simple. “We have to accept, to start with, that we need to abandon the ‘There are no Kurds, everyone is a Turk' approach. The existence of Kurds as a separate people must be acknowledged and provided with a constitutional guarantee. Legal arrangements must be made in conformity with that understanding. The Kurds must be allowed to organize under their separate identity. Just as with associations, foundations and unions, the Kurds should be allowed to organize under their political parties. Through those representatives consensus can be established on a formula conforming to the realities of our time and the problem can be resolved,” he said.

  Elçi, a prominent ethnic Kurdish politician who served in the pre-1980 Bülent Ecevit government as public works minister, said the Kurdish people of Turkey have developed a belief that the Kurdish problem cannot be solved with violence. “That's why we believe a new party calling for a democratic resolution may find support among the Kurdish population,” he said.

Who is Şerafettin Elçi?

  Elçi was born in 1938 in Cizre, Şirnak, a town on the Turkish-Iraqi border. After graduating from Ankara University's Law Faculty, he served for some time as a lawyer. In 1959 he was one of the 49 intellectuals -- the so-called “trial of the 49s” -- facing charges of separatism. In 1977 he was elected to Parliament on the Justice Party (AP) ticket as deputy from Mardin. He resigned from the AP to protest the establishment of the Second Nationalist Front Government led by Süleyman Demirel and served as public works minister in the subsequent Bülent Ecevit government. After the 1980 coup, he faced persecution because of his political statements and served a 30-month prison sentence. In 1997 he established the Democratic Mass Party (DKP), which was closed down by the Constitutional Court on grounds that the party program included separatist elements. He is now engaged in efforts to found a new party.