Latif Serhildan
Both Turkey and Iran have accused Israel of state terror against the activists on the high seas. From a Kurdish point of view I salute the brave peace activists and I sympathize with the situation of the Palestinian people in the face of oppression by the Israeli state. Yet we cannot forget that both Turkey and Iran continue to commit atrocities against the Kurdish population.
Turkish war planes and helicopters regularly bombard Kurdish villages in South Kurdistan. In the past thirty years Turkey has evacuated over thirty thousand Kurdish villages, a figure confirmed by a Turkish parliamentary commission on human rights. Thousands of Kurdish politicians have been imprisoned since April 2009 and are still awaiting trial. Minors have been sentenced to 8-12 years imprisonment for their alleged political allegiance. Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan gave security forces the order to attack Kurdish women and children to protect the state. The Turkish Prime Minister claims he sent toys for children on the flotilla while he uses weapons against Kurdish children, including weapons which were procured in dealings with the Israeli state. Yet he is very quick to criticise Israel’s state terror.
The Islamic Republic of Iran hanged 5 Kurdish activists for enmity against God last month, and two more are at imminent risk of execution. Turkey and Iran have no credibility in proclaiming selective human rights when it happens to coincide with their interests.
The appalling mistreatment of the Kurdish population in Turkey and Iran, which has only served to weaken both Turkish and Iranian states since their foundation, must be acknowledged and corrected without fear. Kurdish leaders stress that Kurds cannot be described as a minority within Turkey, or Iran but rather that they are a constituent elements of these each states, which would never have gained the influence or strength to make a claim for independent statehood from the end of first world war, in case of Turkey since the ruins of the Ottoman empire had Kurds not thrown their weight behind Ataturk’s efforts in return for the promise of equal recognition within the new nation. The Turkish representative at Lausanne, Ismet Pasha, declared: “The Kurds and the Turks are the essential components of the Republic of Turkey. The Kurds are not a minority but a nation.” However, after the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) Ankara’s policy rapidly changed. The structures of the new state were designed wholly in accordance with ethnic Turkish interests. The Kurds’ existence was denied. The Kurdish language, the practice of Kurdish culture, even the concepts of Kurd and Kurdistan were forbidden.
So what are differences between Iran and Turkey? Many Iranians speak indo European language similar to Kurdish language. They are also known as Indo European people like the Kurds. There are many similarities between Kurds and Persians but also many differences between Turks and Persians. The Turks are originated from Mongolia somewhere; they speak completely different language to Persian or Kurdish. In the past the Turks and Persians fought each other for very long time. The only agreement between these two states is reached on the Kurdish case. Turkey has more than 20 million Kurds, which they hope they get rid of. Iran has more than 12 million Kurds. Both in Iran the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK) fights for its rights and freedom and in Turkey the Kurdistan Worker Party (PKK) equally fights for the same thing. What makes these 2 countries to become friends are the Kurds. The common enemy, they both agree on one thing only to kill and imprisonment those Kurds who stands up to them. The fact is if Iranian soldiers come all the way to Turkey to kill the Kurds they would be allowed, equally Turkey can cross border to Iran to kill the Kurds there. It has been like this since the foundation of these states. It happened many times Turkish army went inside Syria to kill the Kurds, Iranians went to Inside Iraq to in Qendil Mountains to kill the Kurds, Saddam Hussein did too. They had an agreement in the past that each one of these states could cross border and kill as many Kurds they want. That is why Turkey didn’t want US army to cross the border to Iraq to get rid of Saddam Hussein after all Turkey didn’t like Saddam but Kurds were the only common thing.
Latif Serhildan is a Kurdish student from Northern Kurdistan, doing his PhD in UCC (University College Cork) on Kurdish evacuated villages by Turkish army.