Hema Saleh Abdulrahman:
The city of Amed or what the Turkish government had renamed it as Diyarbakir in an effort to wash away its Kurdish identity is long known as the stronghold of Kurdish nationalism. The Turkish Prime Minister Receb Tayyib Erdogan had recently paid a visit to the city but was not welcomed by people.
Evidences suggest that the Prime Minister greeters and supporters are reducing by thousands every year. One of the evidence is Erdogan recent visit in which shops were closed and streets were filled with soldiers and the sky was also filled with helicopters monitoring every single inch of the city. According to the BDP officials Erdogan brought with him 10 thousand troops and military forces on his visit to guard him. One may wonder if Turkish government is not regarded as occupier and imperial rule, why Erdogan should be escorted by such a huge number of military personnel.
Protests had been staged against Erdogan’s arrival in Amed, and several groups chanted slogans against him. The demonstrators were attacked and dispersed by police violently. Erdogan, with his wife and daughter accompanying him was met by AKP ministers, the Governor, Chief of Police and AKP Provincial Chair at the airport. Some groups who protested against Erdogan on Sento Street were also dispersed by police with severe violence. Police had taken extra security measures around the hall and performed ID control on the people in the area.
The Amed is known as the capital city of the grand Kurdistan and its people have made a great contribution to the Kurdish national movement. The people of Amed tried not to allow Erdogan to go around last Saturday but due to the gigantic number of military forces their attempt had not yielded. This was the worse welcome to Erdogan by the people of Amed.
This visit is parallel to Sirnex Massacre in which Turkish jet fighters killed 35 workers relying on intelligence supplied by American unmanned aerial drones. The promises made by Erdogan did not reduce the anger of people as they still have the memory of Sirnex killing and did not forget the previous promises. The most recent one is to solve Kurds issues by implementing new constitution.
In his speech Erdogan said,” we are Kurds’ allies and we love Kurds very much, we have done so much for Kurds and will do more to serve Kurds”. But what have you done to Kurds Mr. Erdogan other than killing and massacring? You have imprisoned more than 7000 Kurdish political activists, including mayors, democratically elected politician, journalist, and lawyers. You have jailed more than 2500 Kurdish minors. You have destroyed 4000 Kurdish villages and military operation keeps going on. Is this the kind of “love” you have for the Kurds? By these kinds of rhetoric you cannot deceive the Kurds any more, and the Kurds would not be satisfied with anything short of the right to self-determination.