A message from the Kurdish Parliament in Exile
Send mail to request more information to:
The Parliament of Kurdistan in Exile
129 A, Avenue Louise, 1050
Brussels, Belgium
Tel.: (32-2) 539 30 33
Fax: (32-2) 539 38 87
Greetings and salutations to all residents and travellers in the Cyberspace.
We have good tidings for all decent and caring people!
We shall commence a series of well researched and documented articles under the rubric `Kurds and
Kurdistan: Facts & Figures' to elucidate the Kurdish question in perspective.
We aim to promote a peaceful solution through democratic means to the conflicts between the
Kurdish people and the governments controlling Kurdistan. We take no joy from the relative counts of
corpses and empathise with Turkish, Arab and Persian mothers grieving over their fallen sons as
much as we empathise with Kurdish mothers.
We hold intellectuals, columnists, editors, politicians and opinion leaders far more responsible for
the ongoing death and destruction than the conscripts who have far less real, viable alternatives to
perpetrating death and destruction when ordered to do so.
We are mindful that difficult, intractable problems take a long time to resolve --- and the impossible
ones take just a bit longer! We are delighted that in spite of efforts by some quarters there is no ethnic
hatred between the overwhelming majority of the Kurds, Turks, Arabs and Persians. They have lived
side by side for many centuries with mutual respect for each others' rights and entitlements.
In our efforts to promote understanding, freedom, equality and democracy, we shall be assertive but
not dogmatic, forthright but not belligerent, challenge but not threaten well entrenched inhibiting
beliefs, crippling assumptions and sanctioned myths. We shall draw heavily from the writings of
decent and honorable Turkish, Arab and Persian thinkers and writers -- so that they cannot be
dismissed as anti-Turkish, anti-Arab or anti-Persian propaganda!
We shall always appeal to the innate qualities that virtually all human beings, regardless of their
creed, color, gender or national origin are endowed with by their creator: Reason, logic, fairness and
equity. Sadly, these pure qualities are often corrupted by learned prejudices, instilled fear of strangers
and the unknown, bad influences of SOP's (significant other persons) as well as what Professor Noam
Chomsky calls "blind and irrational submission to perceived authority".
We are also mindful of the British philosopher Bertrand Russell's observation that "Most people
would rather die and kill than THINK!".
We shall encourage, indeed, prod the readers especially pro-oppressive government chauvinist &
racist Turks, Arabs and Persians to ask themselves publicly and privately three distinct "What if ... "
type questions.
* What if I were a Kurd and subjected to all sorts of cruel, degrading and inhuman measures,
how would I react?
* What if a Kurdish government were implementing such measures against me, my loved
ones and my nation, how would I react?
* What if a government condemned by independent human rights organisations were
abusing the basic rights and fundamental liberties of a Turkish, Arab or Persian minority, would I
side with the oppressive government or the oppressed minority?
In our efforts to elucidate the Kurdish question and find a peaceful solution through democratic
means, we shall always keep in sight the concepts that have left indelible marks on the twentieth
century, such as, democracy meaning government by the consent and the choice of the governed,
human rights & UN's Universal Declaration, equal opportunity in all fields of endeavour, the rights of
people to self-determination, documented norms of warfare and war crimes!
We shall present these articles in Kurdish, English and Turkish. We also intend to acquaint the
interested persons with rich, diverse and colorful Kurdish prose, poetry, music and ethos. We shall
offer assistance to anyone willing to learn Kurdish, especially to the Kurds who may know how to
speak but because of the bans and restrictions on the Kurdish language have never had an opportunity
to read & write in Kurdish.
A word of warning may be in order here. There is that time honored observation that those
who cannot defend their ideas in open forums resort to violence and those who cannot resort to
violence resort to obscenities. We shall report those who cannot or will not think and therefore resort
to obscene words and expressions to their service providers with the request that the privilege of
accessing the cyberspace be withdrawn.
With all due respect and best wishes for good health, happiness and success for peace and
reconciliation.
Eziz Bawermend, MP
Member of the Foreign Relations Committee Parliament of Kurdistan in Exile
*********
A FEW FACTS ABOUT THE PARLIAMENT OF KURDISTAN IN EXILE
On April 12, 1995 the Parliament of Kurdistan in Exile had its inauguration at The Hague. The
main reason for this important political move could be found in the continuing violation of the basic
democratic rights and fundamental liberties of the Kurdish people in Turkey. For example, we can
cite what happened recently to some Kurdish members of the Turkish Parliament, who had been duly
elected.
In December 1994, the political parties advocating basic rights and fundamental liberties for the
Kurdish citizens of Turkey were banned, their MP's were stripped of their immunity from prosecution
and were put in jail. 8 Kurdish MP's, including 6 from DEP (the Democracy Party), were sentenced to
several years in prison, simply because they expressed patriotic opinions as Kurds by proposing
peaceful solutions through democratic means
This reality convinced us once more that the Turkish Parliament isn't representative at all of the
Kurdish people in Turkey and doesn't take into account the needs of our population. The Turkish
Parliament has also always backed up the policies taken against the rights and liberties of our people
by the military-dominated Turkish National Security Council and the successive Turkish
governments.
Briefly, the successive Turkish governments have always denied the existence of Kurdistan and the
Kurds as a so-called "minority" which number about 20 million people in Turkey alone and which has
its own distinct culture, history and language. Any attempt to express a Kurdish identity, even the
most innocent one, like using the Kurdish language has been regarded as an attack on the Turkish
territorial integrity and thus heavily penalised.
The constant violation of human rights by the Turkish State, its army and the secret services against
unarmed civilians in the regions where the Kurds constitute the majority are well known all over the
world. The documents included herewith are only a brief list of what has recently happened. What
had been perpetrated by the Turks in the past against Armenians and Greeks of Anatolia is being
repeated against the Kurds with some variation.
Since the autumn of 1992, as several international inquiries have verified, the Turkish state has
completely ravaged between 2500 and 3000 Kurdish villages and forcibly deported their inhabitants,
numbering about 3 million villagers; bombed dozens of towns and slaughtered a high number of
Kurdish intellectuals, writers and journalists (nearly 4000), without any action ever taken against the
murderers.
The PKE represents both the Kurdish Diaspora and the yearning for freedom. peace and democracy
of the whole of the Kurdish people, about 40 million men and women living in Kurdistan. The
Kurdish Diaspora in the world number one million Kurds in western Europe, half a million citizens of
the former USSR and various Kurdish communities of North America and Australia.
The elections of the PKE members were democratically organised by political parties, communities
and socio-cultural groups in countries where the Kurdish exiles live, but not on the occupied territory
of Kurdistan . Quotas were allocated to the organisers country by country, following the guidelines
drawn by a special preparatory committee composed by 26 members.
The PKE is made up of 65 members, who come from all walks of life. The number is due to increase
in order to become more and more representative. Among its members, there are representatives of
ERNK (political wing of the PKK, 12), DEP (the Democracy Party, 9), the Islamic Movement (not
fundamentalist), Assyrian-Chaldeans (Christians), women and youth organisations, trade unions and
independent personalities.
The PKE represents the people of all four parts of Kurdistan (Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria), but most
of the PKE members are from Turkish Kurdistan. The PKE undertakes to address the political,
cultural, economic, social and security concerns of all the constituents.
The PKE views the PKK 's armed struggle against the Turkish State and its racist ideology entirely
legitimate, as long as the Turkish State refuses any democratic dialogue and a political solution to the
National Kurdish question. The PKE shows solidarity with the armed liberation movement for the
freedom of Kurdistan only with legal, open and diplomatic means.
The main purpose of the PKE is to secure a cease-fire in Turkish Kurdistan that will lead to a
political solution of the Kurdish question through peaceful democratic means. This can only be
achieved with international support and help from democratic institutions such as the European
Union.
ABOUT THE PKK (KURDISTAN WORKERS' PARTY
We strongly reject references to PKK by the Turkish state as "a terrorist organisation". As a matter
of fact, it was the Turkish government who first started the terror with the military coup of 1980 and
its repressive measures adopted in 1982. The Turkish National Security Council dominated by
generals has been irrationally stubborn in insisting on a military solution to the Kurdish question. As
a result of this, the PKK was compelled to start the armed struggle. Since then, although several
times, the end of the revolt was announced, the Turkish army has never managed to suppress the
resistance movement.
The only visible outcome of this permanent state of war sustained by the help of Western countries is
senseless bloodshed of innocent and defenceless people, mass deportations, and harder living
conditions not only for the Kurdish population but also for the working and middle classes throughout
Turkey.
Abdullah Ocalan, PKK's Secretary-General, unilaterally declared a cease-fire that lasted from March
till June 1993. However, it turned out to be in vain, since Turkey didn't show any interest in a peaceful
democratic solution. Abdullah Ocalan is ready to renew the offer of a unilateral cease fire, with the
hope of a political solution. The Turkish government needs to realise the fact that it is impossible
either to destroy with military force the Kurdish movement for freedom and democracy spearheaded
by the PKK or to sign a peace treaty without or against the PKK.
The PKK is for the Kurdish people what the FLN was for the Algerians and the ANC for South
Africans. The PKK' s Secretary-General strongly advocates a pluralistic democracy.
WHAT IS THE KURDISH QUESTION?
The Kurdish question cannot be treated only as matter of human rights denied to an ethnic minority.
The Kurds have always refused being considered a minority How can a population of 20 million
people living on their ancestral homeland be reduced to a mere "minority", when half a million
Kuwaitis have the right to be called a nation?
The Kurds are a different nation from the Turks. They have a different language, culture, history,
land and aspirations. The Kurds never accepted the heavy conditions unjustly imposed by the 1923
Treaty of Lausanne. This rather unfair treaty led to the division and consequent occupation and
colonisation of the Kurdish homeland and its inhabitants who were forced to deny their identity.
The Kurdish movement is a patriotic movement, whose main targets are freedom from colonisation
and struggle for democracy. The Kurds no longer accept being the last colonised and the most
oppressed people on earth. They are determined to pursue their patriotic struggle to get rid of
colonialism and racism.
It's interesting to note that the United Nations Organisations have always condemned the
industrialised counties' colonisation of the Third World countries, but the it doesn't seem to be
interested in what is happening in Kurdistan or in Tibet despite the ferocity of the violence.
Turkey cannot be seriously considered a democratic country, as long as basic human rights of the
Kurdish people who represent 30% of Turkey's total population are denied and peaceful solutions put
forward by the Turkish democratic parties are rejected. It is worth noting that there are no feelings of
ethnic hate between the Kurdish and Turkish peoples. Their interests are the same
Contrary to what the Turkish propaganda always repeats, the PKK is not solely after creating a
separate state independent of Turkey. The PKK is considering and is willing to discuss the possibility
of creating a federal and democratic state within Turkey's poltical boundaries.
TURKEY, KURDS AND THE EUROPEAN CUSTOMS UNION
Our Parliament is not, in principle, against Turkey joining the customs union. In our opinion,
Turkey has not, up to now, fulfilled the conditions set up by the EP in its resolution of 13 June 1995.
These were: freedom for the Kurdish imprisoned members of Turkish parliament and
acknowledgment of the rights of Kurdish people.
We wish that the EP would remind Turkey of these conditions, because we believe that its
intervention would play an active role in the democratisation process. The Kurdistan Parliament in
Exile is willing to ensure close coordination and cooperation with the EP and wishes the
implementation of a specific Parliamentary Intergroup about the Kurdish question
European Parliamentary Intergroup on the Kurdish question The Intergroup would be open to all
MEP's who wish to contribute to a political and democratic solution of the Kurdish national
question.
The Kurdistan Parliament in Exile will appoint a delegation with the specific charge of helping the
Intergroup and, if invited, it could join the Intergroup, discussing and submitting its points of view to
eventually reach a consensus on the subject.
It is our that the European Intergroup can meet with Turkish democratic parties, in order to discuss
about a democratic settlement of the question. It is also our wish that a round of Turco-Kurdish
meetings could start under the auspices of the intergroup,
The PKE further wishes that the Intergroup asks the European Council, OSCE (The Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe) and the Secretary-General of the United Nations to appoint a
delegation to monitor the meetings.
At the end of its works, the Intergroup would give its opinion about the possible political solution
concerning the Kurdish question in Turkey to the European Parliament, The Council of Europe,
OSCE and the Secretary-General of United Nations.
THE KURDISH QUESTION IN TURKEY: OUR SOLUTION
We are convinced that the mere abrogation of some articles of the Turkish Penal Code (Notably
article 8) will not be sufficient to solve the Kurdish question. We consider actions along the following
guidelines to be more appropriate:
- Modify the Turkish Constitution, in order to include the recognition of the Kurds as a separate
nation and population from the Turks. The Kurds have their own distinct language, history and
culture. - Abolish any law, decree and regulation which discriminates against the Kurds. - Free all
Kurdish and Turkish political prisoners and declare a general amnesty. - Outlaw racist and fascist
groups and provide penalties for those propagating racism and fascism. - Turkey should stop
attacking Iraqi Kurdistan and stop supporting fratricidal war in the region. - Turkey should legalise
all Kurdish political parties including PKK. - Turkey should be transformed into a democratic federal
state. - A federation consisting of a Turkish Republic and a Kurdish Republic should be created, like
in Belgium, for instance. - All the cultures and ethnic communities present in Turkey should be
preserved. - Kurdish should become one of the official languages of the new federal state on equal
basis with Turkish. - In the mixed regions there should be the opportunity to follow education in both
languages.
In order to realise these democratic achievements. the democratic governments of Europe, USA and
Third world countries should put an end to the flow of financial and military aid to Turkey. This
country is using the money and the weapons to destroy Kurdistan and kill Kurdish civilians.
Many folds of this aid won't ever be sufficient to win the patriotic resistance of the Kurds. Moreover,
it is against all principles and democratic pillars on which Europe is built. On the other hand, we are
convinced that simply stopping the flow of military aid would be enough to break the useless and
stupid belligerent will of Turkish generals, who have killed so many Kurdish people in the last 20
years.
Here is our point of view on the political and democratic solution to the National Kurdish question in
Turkey. It goes far beyond the simple admission of this country to the Customs Union . A democratic
solution to the Kurdish question coupled with peaceful and harmonious relationships between the two
people based on the principle of equality would be the only warranty for peace, stability and prosperity
in the whole region. The peace, stability and prosperity will, no doubt, be in the interest of Europe
and, indeed, the rest of the world.
We remain at your service for any further inquiry and information on the issue.
Yours Faithfully
Yasar Kaya President of the
Parliament of Kurdistan in Exile and President
Prof. Dr. Ismet Cheriff Vanly
Chair of Law & Justice Committee and President of the Kurdish Institute of Science and
Research
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