Last week security forces conducted operations in several areas targeting the urban structure of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). But, during the operations, more than 50 DTP members -- among them three deputy chairpersons of the party -- were arrested. The DTP claimed that the real aim of the operation was to weaken the party itself and was a “revenge” operation following the overwhelming success the DTP experienced in predominantly Kurdish areas during the local elections, held on March 29.
Selahattin Demirtaş, the deputy chairman of the DTP parliamentary group, said the party itself is the open target of these operations. “The operations are trying to push our party out of democratic politics. Our party is obviously a target. But we are of the opinion that the Kurdish problem can be solved in Parliament. This protest serves to highlight this fact,” Demirtaş said at a press conference in Parliament.
Kurdish politician says state insists on deadlock Ahmet Türk, leader of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), has said a mentality which insists on a deadlock over the Kurdish problem has been dominant in the Turkish state, making peace more difficult than ever. “We look for ways toward peace and democracy, but following each of our attempts, the state acts more harshly toward Kurds. We see that the state in its current form is insistent on a deadlock,” he said Tuesday afternoon, speaking at the Chatham House think tank in London. Complaining about discrimination against his party’s deputies in the Turkish Parliament, Türk said, “We have been struggling to solve our problems through democratic means ever since we entered Parliament, but the other parties represented in Parliament turn a blind eye to our existence.” Türk also slammed the recent police operations against dozens of individuals suspected of ties with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which resulted in the arrest of several DTP members. Officials said the raids and arrests were the culmination of a yearlong investigation into the PKK’s “urban extensions,” but the pro-Kurdish party said the police crackdown was the government’s revenge against the DTP because it defeated the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the predominantly Kurdish southeastern cities in last month’s local elections. The DTP is the fourth largest political group in Parliament with 22 members. “A public cannot live peacefully with another public unless it is set free. ... We are evaluating the issue in terms of the brotherhood of nations rather than of ethnic nationalism,” Türk said. Answering a question about the PKK, he said the definition of terrorism should be made carefully. “The PKK is not an al-Qaeda. If there was not a Kurdish problem, there would not be a PKK,” he said, adding, “If Turks and Kurds come together in a democratic country, this would greatly contribute to democratization in the Middle East.” İstanbul Today’s Zaman with wires |
Other DTP deputies -- except for DTP leader Ahmet Türk and Emine Aynı, who are abroad -- took part in the press conference. They were flanked by supporters from the civil society, among them the Human Rights Association (İHD) and the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD). Ufuk Uras, a deputy from the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP), is also expected to join the sit-in.
“These operations are not governed by law; their intention is political. We will not be indifferent to them. Parliament should take the initiative to solve the Kurdish question,” Demirtaş said.
Upon a question, he said operations against the DTP has nothing to do with the Ergenekon trial, an investigation into a clandestine group will alleged links to the state and plans to overthrow the government.
Sit-in protests not unusual for Parliament
Sit-ins are not new to the Turkish Parliament. In 1999 some deputies from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) organized a sit-in for three days in order to protest the rejection of a constitutional amendment that was to regulate the immunity of deputies. In 2002 True Path Party (DYP) Karabük deputy Mustafa Eren used a sit-in to protest the management of the Karabük steel industry.
Some former Democracy Party (DEP) deputies, including Leyla Zana, Sırrı Sakık, Hatip Dicle and the late Orhan Doğan also spent the night in Parliament one day before they were stripped of their immunity.
The DTP deputies are also planning not to participate in the special session of Parliament on the occasion of National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, which marks the anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Parliament in 1920 during the War of Independence. By not joining in the special session, the DTP deputies will protest the trial of minors who are above 15 years of age as adults in accordance with the Anti-Terror Law.
Article 13 of the Anti-Terror Law stipulates that juveniles above the age of 15 should be considered adults and tried as adults in special courts. According to the İHD, around 1,000 minors have been convicted, arrested or are awaiting trial due to these regulations.
Demirtaş said the DTP deputies are protesting April 23 and seek to raise awareness of the situation the minors are in. This is why they will participate in the parliamentary session today, but not in the ceremonies.
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