Turkish Probe: CHP's New Report on Kurdish Problem

[ozgurluk at xs4all.nl]

CHP's New Report on Kurdish Problem

As part of its policy of reconciliation with Kurds, the CHP revealed
its 'Southeast Report,' in Diyarbakir Village guards to go The report
recommends a modern security force be formed in place of the
rapid-reaction force, and demands that the village-guard system and
illegal establishments such as counter-guerilla forces and the
Gendarmerie Counter-Terrorist and Intelligence Center (JITEM) be
dissolved Reconciliation? As the report has been opened to discussion
just on the eve of elections, the CHP once again confronts the Kurdish
problem; either it will reconcile with the people of the region or it
will follow its predecessor's path, the Social Democrat Populist
Party's (SHP), and will distance itself from the region's people


MUSTAFA ERDOGAN

Ankara - Turkish Daily News

The Republican Peoples' Party (CHP) opened a discussion of its report
on the East and Southeast, which the party commissions began preparing
at the approach of the CHP's 27th general convention. The report,
which is regarded as the successor to the famous report on the Kurds
delivered by the Social Democrat Populist Party (SHP) before it merged
with the CHP, caused great excitement in the region. CHP deputies
chose to reveal the report on the Southeast along with another report
at a meeting before a group of delegates in Turkey's southeastern
province of Diyarbakir. Representatives of both democratic and
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were invited to participate in
the meeting.

The report's demand for a radical removal of the rapid-reaction force
and village-guard system, which render a democratic solution for the
region more difficult, was considered by some residents of the region
as "inapplicable" and "unrealizable" and as "utopian" for others.

Since the SHP's previous and more self-aggrandizing report on Kurds,
3,500 villages have been evacuated, 3,000 killings have gone unsolved
and millions of people have been forced to migrate, according to
regional party authorities, who also brought up the CHP's problem in
conveying "trustworthiness" in the region.

CHP discusses the problem

At its well-attended meeting held in Diyarbakir's Demirok sports
arena, the CHP opened a debate on two of its commission reports, the
"Democratization and Human Rights Report" and "Reforms for the East
and the Southeast."

Delivering the meeting's opening speech, CHP Diyarbakir Provincial
Chairman Mesut Deger drew the listeners' attention to the fact that
the events which have previously taken place in the region may still
be observed in spite of the 1991 discussions which recognized the
Kurdish reality. In part, Deger criticized his party's past treatment
of the subject.

CHP Deputy Chairman Bulent Tanla was given the podium after
Deger. Tanla underscored that the CHP is proposing a new project for
Turkey. "The CHP's efforts will end infertile conflicts and
polemics. The CHP proposes solutions to the country's problems through
the people's participation and, by renewing itself, advances on the
road to the government," he stated.

Algan Hacaloglu, a member of the party's Central Decision-Making
Council (MYK), spoke later to present the two reports. "Being a social
democrat means being for peace, for brotherhood, for people and for
rights," he said. The CHP believes that unless the Kurdish problem is
solved, the country's other problems cannot be remedied, Hacaloglu
stated.

Emphasizing the fact that not only the region's people but the whole
of Turkey has to deliberate the reports, Hacaloglu said that the lack
of principle, fraudulency and negligence experienced after the 1980
coup has led the country to its current state.

"The fact that security forces in the region have lost the distinction
of being 'people's security forces' has an affect on the events
occurring in the region without a doubt."

Demirel harshly criticized

Stressing that the Kurdish problem is at its core a matter concerning
pluralistic democracy and the solution is a "democratic approach to
ethnic sensitivities," Hacaloglu referred to then True Path Party
(DYP) leader and Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel's statement: "We
recognize the Kurdish reality."

"How valid can the president's discourse be when he today attempts to
be a witness at a wedding of a son of a gang leader [referring to
Mehmet Agar]?" Hacaloglu asked.

Later, the reports were read and discussions initiated. Twenty members
of the party assembly, including Zulfu Livaneli, the party delegation
consisting of 25 members, 10 foreign missions and a multitude of
foreign and Turkish journalists attended the meeting. After the
meeting in Diyarbakir on Aug. 4, the CHP organized other meetings in
Istanbul on Aug. 7, in Ankara on Aug. 10 and in Gaziantep on Aug. 13
and discussed issues of human rights and democratization.

What does the report include?

Fighting against terrorist organizations cannot be an excuse for human
rights violations Turkey is a party to international laws regarding
the human rights issues Human rights violations drive back democracy
and disrupt the country's peace European Human Rights Commission is
full of dossiers from Turkey In modern democracies opinions are not
referred to as crimes, freedom of speech is not limited Turkey cannot
clear itself from the shame of torture Unsolved murders and
extra-judiciary killings harm democracy Inability in finding missing
people ruins faith in a state based on law Compulsory evacuations in
the Eastern and Southeastern regions violate the right to live and
move freely Food embargo is an example of extra-judicial limiting of
citizens' necessities Children's rights have been violated
increasingly; violation of women's rights is the biggest inequity
facing our secular democracy and ideals The length of a custody period
harms the detainees and is uncivilized Democracy almost does not exist
in the Southeastern region, the flowing blood in the regions is our
brothers' blood The image of a police state creates a faith vacuum in
the region Unless a common political will and wide support from the
public is obtained, solutions cannot be realized

These are the basic principles of the CHP reports which also include
some proposals regarding the region. The most important proposals are
these: Instead of a rapid reaction force a modern security unit could
be formed; the village-guard system has to be removed; the armed
forces' basic duty is to provide security on the borders; support to
terrorism from abroad has to be prevented through the appropriate
policies of governments; the National Intelligence Organization (MIT)
has to become civil and illegal establishments such as
counter-guerilla organizations and the Gendarmerie Counter-Terrorist
and Intelligence Center (JITEM) must be dissolved.

The CHP's Southeastern report makes some economic analyses. The feudal
structure of the region continues to exist, states the 35-page report,
even though 75 years have passed since the establishment of the
republic.

The report suggests that experts in and on the region should establish
an "Economic Progression Council" to find solutions to economic
difficulties.

Now, the question remains. To what extend will these proposals be
actualized and how will the CHP follow up on the issue? The CHP will
either fulfill all of its promises and make peace with the region's
people or it will follow the path of its predecessor, the SHP, and
continue to distance itself from the people.

-- 
Press Agency Ozgurluk
For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan!
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