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Democracy: Democracy or Military Junta?
Tagged As: UN, Democracy, Turkey, Obama, EU, Europe, Kurds, Kurdish Political Party, Democratic People's Party
Turkey is unqiue in the way it portrays itself; a beacon of democracy in the Middle-East/Eastern Europe. It is also the only country to have secured the status of a candidate to join the EU with the De Facto Military dictatorship. Turkey may be a succesful diplomatic player in pursuading the international community of its glossed over dubious and highly cencored democratic facade, but it is failing miserably to uphold the most fundamental human rights of millions of its Kurdish citizens. The racism and ethnic discrimination against the Kurdish population is sanctioned by the Republic Of Turkey where the military are in charge not only of the executive but also the judiciary. The only remaining mouth-piece for millions of Kurds, the Democratic People’s Party, DTP , was banned in Turkey last week. This party had 21 democratically elected members in the country’s parliament, two of the senior MPs-including the leader- have been banned from political activity for 5 years.
Barack Obama met the leader of DTP during one of his first visits abroad in Turkey. He had given support to the promotion of democracy for the Kurds and peace in their region. It is ironic that the Party is shut down the same week Barack Obama recieved his Nobel Peace Prize. The 21 MPs have pledged to withdraw from the country’s parliament where the Kurdish voice is banned , Kurdish representation annihilted and betrayed. This has already had serious repurcussions that has derailed the proposed peace talks between the Turkish Government and Kurdish PKK to end the decades old conflict in the region. Turkey has proven once more that it is not genuine and that it will curtail the Kurdish freedoms and human rights as and when it deems proper in complete breach of its obligations as a candidate member to join the EU but also as a democracy. Turkish democracy was already diminished by the countless abuses it inflicted upon its Kurdish population but the closure of the Kurdish Political Party -the 10th Kurdish party to be banned in Turkey- will surely bring out the ugly face that lies under Turkish holiday brochures.
2 Comments:
Sure, it is easier to go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/ and write a report on one of the headlines than actually digging up the real story behind the matter and discussing it.
Was the Party (DTP) shut down? Yes. Is this a “breach” of democracy or an obstacle in the process of obtaining it? Sure.
But let’s look at what’s really going on, shall we?
When writing a story people should be able to see the situation from both sides and not be narrow-minded about this.
You are just saying the glass is half-full. DTP ministers or leader, praise the terrorist activities, do not abstain from displaying their grief over dead terrorists but not show the same feeling for the dead soldiers, and this situation, somehow, does not take place in such “HR” articles/reports.
I am sure that noone would deny that the fact that the Kurds have been discriminated against for some time. This has started to change and is changing. However, the closure of the Party has more to do with the terrorist group PKK (Kurdish Workers’ Party) than the Kurds themselves. The Turkish government had a simple request from them: “Do not talk to terrorists, do not negotiate with them, and do not attend the terrorist group members’ funerals, whom have been killed ambushing or attacking the corps of the country, government.” The Kurdish population in Turkey hate being affiliated with the terrorist group; hence the closure of the DTP .
Moreover, I know you are a student at UCL, but haven’t your professors told you to back up your story with facts, references and detail? Because I am sure in some parts, you are just saying “bla bla bla bla"…
“Countless abuses"- Vague, detail, link.
“Ugly face"- That’s the attitude!
Moreover, why not try writing on a better story such as the ban of the minarets in Switzerland and the referendum? Oh wait, that’s not a breach of HR or an “abuse” against another religion anyway.
Oh, by the way, did you know that the BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) to replace the DTP has actually been established on the advice and with the help of the leader of the terrorist group PKK? (See: [http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-1...], [http://unitedstatesofkurdistan16.blogspo...])
Again, just so you know PKK is also considered a terrorist group by the U.S. ([http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2006/8...]), NATO ([http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200512...]) and EU ([http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0706/p06s0...]). As I said, the closure of the party has less to do with democracy but more with the rights of thousands of people killed and displaced by terrorist activities.
Under these conditions, what could be expected?
Looking forward to your detailed reply.
May I just say , despite its shortcomings BBC remains a reliable source -much more so than the biased and misleading Turkish media, often a mere mouthpiece for the state, that you cite in your response as a link for me to base my facts on. I stand by my article and the information is from accurate and reliable sources.
DTP had the majority in the Kurdish region of Turkey, where millions of people voted for the party. And in some Kurdish cities the party obtained almost 100 % of the vote, including the city of Díyarébekir. The DTP mayors have been doing a wonderful job and promoting gender, religious and racial equality and freedoms to ensure discrimination against women especially, is eradicated, this is whilst women remain almost a second class citizen in the rest of Turkey. Being a female and Kurdish meant even more disadvantage. The Kurdish children are at a disadvantage because they start their education in a language foreign to them. DTP simply represented hope for millions of Kurds who want recognition, dignity and their inherent rights to express themselves in Kurdish and exercise their freedom of speech.
In your response you attempt to justif the closure of this party and your justifaction indicates that the state forces were indeed involved and that it was not a mere judicial process. It is easy to label the Kurds and associate them with illegal organisations in Turkey in order to prosecute them; because the Kurds have no voice in Turkey-their only representation is now muted. There is no equality fo arms. The only consolation is the fact that many now able to go straight to the European Court of Human Rights.
I find your claims quite remarkable when Turkey now accepts that it destroyed thousands of villages and accepted its soldiers murdered innocent civilians. The millions of displaced people and thousands of deaths were a direct result of Turkey’s civil war in order to suppress Kurdish demands for freedom from oppression , occupation and inhumane treatment.
DTP clearly has its own unique policies and people have voted for them on that premise. There is no independently verifiable evidence that any of the activities by DTP were illegal. It is only natural that they do not accept the imposition of policies on them by the governing party- they are in opposition! They are a political party with members of parliament and they decide their own party political agenda. In a democracy , you cannot have a dictatorship because your suggestion indicates such tendencies toward DTP by the government which tried to impose its own will on DTP and when DTP refused , they were banned, with complete desregard to the democratic will of the millions of Kurdish people.
I therefore, do not accept your advice on the subject that you would rather I wrote on. I decide the subjects and will not be dictated to. Similarly, my professors do not interfere in the way I think and express myself nor can they dictate to me on these matters. I defy any form of interference and dictation in my freedom of expression and thought. Hence, my rejection of your advice.