The Turkish Man's Burden!

By: Eamad Mazouri

Nov 21, 2004

Let me first beg for forgiveness from writer/ director Desmond Nakano who used this dazzling title  for his brilliant movie " White Man's Burden" that was released back in 1995.The movie, above and beyond its huge success had a profound impact on how people think and act in multi racial societies. The "WHITE MAN'S BURDEN" basically is a portrait of a white man trying to succeed in a world in which the racial roles of power, as we know them, have been reversed.

The key question was what would happen if race roles in America were inverted?  What if blacks had all the power instead of the whites, and the latter had to fight prejudice, racial discrimination and racism at every turn of their daily lives?

Now let's move this horrible scenario and apply it to today's Turkey, and see how it fits there. Perhaps the Turks would feel and understand better the Kurds' sufferings and consequently have a healthier appreciation and reception for the legitimate Kurdish demands of national recognition within Turkey that are advocated for peacefully.

We don't need to probe deep into modern Turkey's history here, however, we do have to remind our readers of the countless observations of deprivation, basic human rights violations, national identity denial and subjugation of the Kurds in Turkey based solely on the fact that they are not of the Turkic race.

Most recently the European Commission has finally given its go-ahead to the start of accession negotiations with Turkey. The final decision will now be taken by EU leaders at the European Council on 17 December. No doubt that this is regarded as appositive step by the Turks and Kurds alike despite the tough difficulties and challenges that lie ahead of Turkey to be an actual member.

The Turkish republic so far has made great changes associated with massive constitutional amendments in an effort to modernize and reach the European standards that are required for the membership candidate states. Nevertheless, it seems the Turkish leaders as well as the current EU members are missing the main point in all of this. That could be summed up in one simple phrase called the psychological or mental readiness of the Turkish society to accept the Kurds as such. For years the Turkish official propaganda based on the doctrine of Kemal Attaturk, aside from non-Muslim minorities, protected by the terms of Lausanne Treaty of 1923, has denied the very existence of the Kurdish race in Turkey in a systematic way that almost Turkified if not totally eradicated Kurds along with their ancient language and rich culture. Therefore, it will take Turkey a parallel campaign amongst the Turks to view the Kurds as equal citizens who are proud of their national heritage and live side by side together in peace and harmony.

I believe the right approach and as the first true step for Turkey to achieve real democracy, would be to nullify all the taboos that still exist in its laws and society, especially those concerning Kurds and their enjoyment of their justifiable rights in a genuine attempt to bring the senseless violence to an end while opening the doors for a new era in Turkey. This cannot be achieved by going around the real subject which boils down to the recognition of Kurds as a distinct ethnic group. Regrettably, until this very minute, and notwithstanding all the transformations Turkey has went through, it has not recognized the Kurds in a single law and somehow managed to avoid purposefully mentioning that very name, even though it has allowed the use of  Kurdish language. Naturally a healthier approach based on good and genuine intentions is required from Turkey to resolve the Kurdish issue sincerely. That among other things include explicitly recognizing the Kurdish people and their great heritage, allowing their language to be used freely in the media and education, promoting their aggressive participation in the political process by- among other things- dropping the 10% threshold required for political parties to win a seat in parliament, reimbursing those displaced and returning them to their villages as well as investing heavily in the Kurdish areas to compensate the deprivation, neglect and poverty they have suffered for the last 80 years.

  Eamazd Mazouri