Maxime Azadi:
The Turkish Air Force bombed heavily on Wednesday and Thursday regions under the control of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in northern Iraq, causing extensive damage to the villages. Hours before the attack, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had openly threatened the Kurdish political and armed organizations, announcing his war plan that includes cross-border operations and mass arrests of Kurdish militants, according to Kurdish and Turkish media.
Since the parliamentary elections of June 12, won by the AKP, the Islamic-conservative party of Prime Minister Erdogan, the winds of war have been blowing through the country. Refusing to release more than 4,000 active members of the main Kurdish party BDP, including six mayors and elected officials, the government also rejects the claims of the Kurdish people for a democratic self-government.
Risk of civil war
If steps towards peace are not taken quickly, the risk of civil war is real. The Kurds are already victims of racist lynching in several cities. But, no racist attack has been sanctioned; on the contrary the government is encouraging the attacks by calling them “citizens’ reactions.”
Ignoring the daily repression and gross violations of human rights, Erdogan systematically points the finger at the Kurdish party BDP and the Congress for a Democratic Society (DTK), a platform for Kurdish associations and movements, which recently proclaimed the democratic autonomy. According to the BDP, the government plans a massive operation against the DTK, while the media close to the government speak of a Tamil scenario.
TURKISH AIRCRAFT bombed northern Iraq
On August 17, Prime Minister Erdogan has threatened the BDP, without naming it, “if it does not distance itself from terrorism”, saying his country was “running out of patience” Following an ambush by the PKK against the Turkish special forces who were conducting an operation. At least 11 soldiers, including a major, and a militiaman were killed and 11 others injured in the Aug. 17 ambush Cukurca (Hakkari Province).
War planes bombed heavily Wednesday from 21st the five regions under control of the PKK; Qandil, Xinere, Xakurke, Metin and Zap, after Erdogan’s threats. The bombing lasted all night and resumed on Thursday morning Lolan, Xakurke, and Kani Xinere Qirej.
Villages have been targeted
Many Kurdish villages were targeted by aircraft, according to Kurdish sources. The Youth Centre in the town hall in the village of Qandil Zergele and a house belonging to Koxe Qadir, a resident of same village, were destroyed by the Turkish Air Force.
The PKK has provided in its ranks have recorded no losses. The Turkish army said it had struck 60 goals on Wednesday night by aircraft, while the Turkish artillery bombed 168 targets.
PLAN IS READY FOR WAR
Three days before the bombing, August 14, the Prime Minister announced that his government was considering military action and tougher enforcement against the PKK with the end of Ramadan. According to Turkish media, among these measures shall include cross-border operations and sending in the combat zones of Special Forces, known for their practice room in the War of the 1990s. The plans of the war also include the arrest of 800 to 1400 people, and some members of the DTK Kurdish journalists, the paper Haberturk.
This plan recalls the time of Tansu Ciller, former prime minister between 1993 and 1996. Making use of secret funds to finance a secret organization, had compiled a blacklist of Kurdish businessmen to cut down on suspicion of financing the PKK. In 1994, the offices of the Kurdish newspaper, Ozgur Ulke had been bombed on the orders of the Prime Minister.
BPD: ERDOGAN must distance with fascism
Kurdish organizations have already mentioned that the AKP government was preparing a major operation against the DTK, saying the country is heading towards chaos and civil war. Strongly condemning the threats of the Prime Minister, the chairman of the BDP, Selahattin Demirtas said that the BDP is not responsible for the rising tensions, calling Erdogan to take “distance itself from fascism. “
PKK: GOVERNMENT PLANS FOR MURDER
For his part, Murat Karayilan, the leader of the PKK announced in an interview granted to the Kurdish Firat news agency that the AKP government is planning assassinations against leaders of the PKK in Iraqi Kurdistan. “Elements of Special Forces were sent to Rania, in Sulaimaniya province. But we are not afraid and they will not work. “
Stressing that the Kurds are no longer afraid of the threats of the government, he warned: “The Prime Minister should know that we have mobilized only 5% of our forces. We are conducting a war of defense under control. If we give the formal order of war (total), they disrupt Turkey. “
Recalling the eight cease-fires the PKK unilaterally rejected by the Turkish state, Karayilan said that the only way to silence the weapons is a cease-fire bilaterally.
BALANCE OF DEMOCRACY OR FASCISM?
On August 16, the head of government promised to solve this problem “without making concessions on democracy and freedom,” which leads us to wonder about this “democracy.”
The number of inmates in prisons has argued for 100%, from 60,000 in 2002 to 120,000 in 2010. Violence against women reached alarming proportions, with an increase of 1400%. Today, about 70 journalists, mostly Kurds, are in prison, making it the country’s biggest prison for journalists. Hundreds of newspapers, magazines or books were banned by the authorities. 73 Kurdish children were killed by security forces since 2002, according to the initiative “Bir Göz Sen Ol ‘who published the names of 477 Kurdish children killed in the last 20 years.
More than 4000 active members of the BDP, including mayors, elected officials, trade unionists and defenders of human rights have been behind bars since 2009, as part of the case KCK, the Union of Kurdistan (KCK), an organization accused of “terrorism” and “complicity” with the PKK. Those who advocate for the Kurdish cause are likely to be arrested in connection with this case, viewed as a political plot by the Kurdish organizations.
ARRESTS compared to the 1990s
Mass arrests are reminiscent of the 1990s and are comparable to the time Ciller. According to statistics compiled from reports on the situation of human rights, 21 612 people were arrentées in 2002 against 14,473 in 1994. In 2007, the beginning of second term of Erdogan, 7191 people were arrested and 16 000 arrests were made in 2010. A report from the Association of Human Rights (IHD) indicates that 4015 people were arrested during the first half of 2011, in the Kurdish region only, against 2,430 during the same period of 2010. The report found 16,482 violations of human rights in the first six months of this year, against 13,219 cases in 2010. The same report also noted 1010 cases of torture and ill-treatment to six months in the Kurdish region, against 433 in 2010.
HOW TO DEFINE ERDOGAN?
So, if Turkey is an “advanced democracy”, as claimed by Erdogan and media, how to explain these figures? Can we speak of “respect”, of “zero tolerance to torture”, “democracy” or “political civil”? If this is the advanced democracy, how to define new measures of war announced by the government? Finally, how to define an Erdogan who intends to “pay” for the Kurdish politicians? As Saddam Hussein? Milosevic? and his dear friend Omar al-Bashir?
AKP PLAY WITH FIRE
Erdogan’s government is playing with fire, spreading fear and declaring war to destabilize and destroy the Kurdish movement which is able to mobilize millions of people in four parts of Kurdistan and Europe. A war will lead to the breakup of the country, but now the Kurds are calling for a democratic self-government without touching the borders.
The history of colonization has a vast experience in this kind of war. Turkey will never win this unjust war against the Kurds even if it kills all PKK fighters. The colonial war in Algeria is one example.