The sources of inspiration for this idea are obvious: the forced migration of the Armenians in 1915, which resulted in massacres, and the compulsory population exchange in 1923-1924 between the Turks and the Greeks, which left hundreds of thousands in pain, bitterness and poverty, all in the name of creating an ethnically homogenous nation-state. There were the kind of follow-up policies carried out in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and even 1960s that forced those ethnic and religious group to move out of Turkey.The Kemalists now wish to expand their project of “ethnic cleansing” to include the Kurds of this country. Yet their problem is that this time -- thank God -- they do not have the power to dictate such an “absolute solution.” To be sure, the Kemalist model to solve the Kurdish question will remain “wishful thinking.” Yet it reveals the mindset that continues to prevail among the “contemporary” Kemalists.
Recognizing that they have lost the battle against the Kurds, whose ethnicity and identity were systematically denied by the state, the Kemalists now want to get rid of the Kurds. The presence of Kurds with a distinct ethnicity and identity goes against the Kemalist imagination of a homogenized nation ruled by the vanguard Kemalist elite at the top. The Kemalists also realize that a democratic solution to the Kurdish question will pave the way for a plural, democratic and decentralized polity that will put an end to the old authoritarian and controlled state system.
Thus instead of seeing Turkey transformed into a democratic and plural polity by recognizing Kurdish rights, they wish to get rid of the Kurds altogether -- exactly as they did in the past to the Armenians, the Greeks and the Jews.
Anyhow, we owe thanks to Professor Soysal, who revealed once more the fascist mindset of the Kemalists. One should not see him as a lunatic; he is a respectable representative of Kemalist thought and the Kemalist state tradition. His credentials are strong: an academic specializing in constitutional law, a longtime chief adviser to former Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) President Rauf Denktaş, a former minister of foreign affairs, a strong advocate of military intervention in politics and a columnist for the Cumhuriyet daily.
What is really funny is that once, in the 1970s, he even sat on the international board of Amnesty International. Can you imagine such a “human rights activist” that once worked for AI today suggesting “forced migration” of the Kurds out of Turkey?
Well, his current position illustrates the poverty of the Kemalists. Moreover, it proves how the country and its ordinary people progress faster and further than the Kemalists. Some 20 years ago, Turkey was among the top countries that AI had to deal with due to its poor human rights record. Turkish governments and the AI butted heads over human rights issues. The AI Turkey desk expert was even denied access to Turkey during those years.
Last week, the same AI held its world congress in Turkey, an event that amounted to a remarkable recognition of how Turkey has progressed in its human rights performance. But look at this poor Kemalist who used to be part of AI. How backward his ideas are. In this we see the poverty of Kemalists and their media outlets, which are full of hatred for anything and anybody that appears “different” to them.
The title of his article reads “The Absolute Solution.” Does that remind you of anything? Something that happened during World War II? Something carried out by the Nazis?
Look at the poverty of mind and imagination. Professor Soysal cannot think of anything but a racist and fascist method of ethnic cleansing. What he can think of is to forcibly expel Turkey's own citizens. Who are you? A reincarnation of Saddam Hussein or Radovan Karadzic?
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