January 12, 2011
I believe the Road Map, which I had prepared as part of my defence in 2009, has now been handed over to European Court of Human Rights. It was a speedy and draft preparation taken up to satisfy the needs of the current developments then. The topics I discussed in the road map have been discussed in much more detail and depth in the fifth volume of my final defences. Hence, the topics I discussed in the road map has been surpassed in that sense. But it can still be of use. Some of the sections are sections we are still abiding by; especially the topics discussed under models of solution. To a great extent the solution model that I talk about there is still valid; we are still trying to adhere and implement it. It can hence be put to good use in this sense. The ten principles whose framework I have determined in the road map are important. There is a need to extensively discuss and understand these principles.
The Congress in Diyarbak�r is lagging behind in some of the work that needs to be done. I had mentioned that DTK has handled the Work on Democratic Autonomy insufficiently. I have repeatedly said that the work on democratic autonomy must above all be understood by the society, people and hence be discussed amongst them. In the absence of such an infrastructure a workshop was realized and this was seen as a declaration. This in turn paved the way for misunderstandings. The discussion on democratic autonomy is a start. Some of the topics are raise here are not discussed in the right manner, it is not understood sufficiently. It can't be successful this way. The democratic autonomy is an example of how superficial things are handled. I talked about how this project should have been opened for discussion to the people. But without doing all this the public knew about it in the form of a declaration. The infrastructure could have been better prepared. In the absence of preparations and infrastructure brought about with it misunderstandings. This is also true in relation to my evaluations of Hizbullah. When these issues are evaluated it must be evaluated with its historical back ground and prior evaluations. If it is handled purely on the basis of its present situation then what I say can not be understood and shall be insufficient. Everything that we do must have a depth and meaning.
I am in quite proximity to the evaluations that AKP attempts to construct its hegemonic power. I also to a large extend believe that AKP is trying to do this. There are signs of such a danger. I have been really focusing on AKP here lately and trying to understand them. The conclusions I reach also point to AKP attempts to build its own hegemonic power. In order to achieve this they are trying to seize all points including the press.
I believe there is much interest in the democratic modernity understanding we are trying to create. There are some scholars and philosophers who have discussions on such the topic. There seems to some serious discussions on the concept of modernity. I think that this has much to do with the understanding we are trying to develop in relation to democratic modernity.
The hegemonic power struggles have a hundred year old history in Turkey. This can be taken back all the way to Enver Pasha period. You can see the traces of this in the 1920s. There are two types of hegemonic power that has become apparent in Turkey. The first one is that of the secularist-republicanist hegemony led by CHP and the second is the Turkist-Islamist hegemony led by AKP. We reject both of these hegemonies. The third way that we are trying to develop and implement is the democratic modernity. Democratic modernity encompasses a system that is respectful to human rights as well as being based on democratic law and constitution. It is libertarian. It aims the creation of free citizens. We neither want federalism nor confederalism. We do not want a seperate state either. Even if they give us a state we shall not accept it. We as a people and as Kurds would like to be free citizens and free society who can make the benefit of their democratic rights within the Republic and hence co-exist together on such basis.
As I have already mentioned this war between the two hegemonic powers have a history of a hundred years. The secularist-Republican hegemony emerged in the early years of the Republic, the 1920s, as an alliance between the Turkish middle-class bourgeoisie and the Jewish elite. As a result of such an alliance they began the construction of the new republic and eliminated the social sections that they saw as dangerous. The hegemonic power behind this alliance is England. The alliance of the Turkish middle-class bourgeoisie and the Jewish elite -including some Jewish intellectuals- somewhat formed the infrastructure of what is now called the concept of White Turkism and represented it. At the time the Jewish people did not have a state so they turned their way to Anatolia and became influential there. At the time it was like the pre-form of the Israel state. It was what was created back then. This alliance, that is the secularist-Republican hegemony was in total control of the system between 1923 and 1950. In the mean time it has tried to eliminate all the social sections that thought would harm it. The continuence presence and weight of the Kurds within the state has been brought to an end in this period. This elimination has been secured as a result of various provocations. An example of such a provocation is the one against Sheikh Said. Then they would be encouraged to rebel after which these would be suppressed through military interventions. Hence the Kurds as a result were thrown out of the system. Similarly, the Islamists have been eliminated through such provocations. For example under the pretext of the hat revolution Islamists were provoked as in the examples of Atif Hoca and Menemen in Kastamonu after which they were suppressed and eliminated. They all later came together in the Progressive Republican Division. But despite coming together within this party, their party was soon prohibited. At the time Mustafa Kemal was reduced to a symbol and rendered ineffective. The other four pashas who had taken on important missions in the founding of the Republic were also eliminated over time. This period also coincides with the early elimination of the socialists. This period of eliminations is the period of the secularist-Republican hegemony led by CHP.
1950s onwards, after Turkey becoming a member of the NATO, this secularist-Republican hegemony although changed a little between 1950 and 1980 it continued have be influential. This occurred to such an extent that it did not abstain from eliminating all that were outside its hegemonic perspective through military coups. What happened to Adnan Menderes is a good example to this. Menderes wanted to do things that were outside the boundaries of this hegemony. He went to Russia to develop relations with them. All this was evaluated to mean that he wanted to overcome the then system. That period ended with the execution of Menderes. Similarly although in a different manner there were hegemonic interventions to Erbakan, Demirel and Ecevit. Demirel is a good example of this. Demirel was out of power and then brought back and finally alligned itself with this hegemonic power. At the time the establishment of Gladio in Turkey together with it becoming a member of NATO played an important role as it intervened in social developments. Everyone knows that Gladio is NATO's special warfare unit. Up until the 1980s the NATO Gladio and Turkey's Gladio is one and the same. Let me give an example so that it is understood better. A�ca's escape from Maltepe prison has been arranged in return for the assassination of the Pope. This is an example of how the Turkish and NATO Gladio is the same and one. A Turk is being used as a component of this big game. After the 1980 military coup there are some changes made to the relationship between them. This change is best described by Kenan Evren as he said “the relationship between Turkey's Gladio and NATO's Gladio changed in the '80s and after the '90s Turkey's Gladio became autonomous”. I shall not deal much with the results of the first years of 12 September military coup. The first move of NATO's Gladio on PKK is made in 1985. It has been put into motion one year after PKK's armed offensive. But I want to draw the attention on the fact that 1985 is the year when NATO's Gladio first ever intervened with the PKK. Right after the 1984 armed offensive, one year after, NATO's Gladio has commenced its war against PKK. This interventions has been based on Article 5 of the NATO agreement. As you all know, in accordance with Article 5 an attack carried against a member state of the NATO is considered to be made against all the NATO member states. Hence NATO has commenced its intervention against the PKK in 1985 on the basis of this article. Turkey claims that Article 5 of NATO is not being implemented. Of course such an intervention though has not been declared in a legal or official way but it has been commenced and implemented in a secret Gladio manner and as special-warfare. Everyone knows that the headquarters of NATO's Gladio is Germany. Germany put PKK on its terrorist list in 1987 which clarified the stance of NATO. The decision taken on the PKK in Germany in 1987 commenced a clamp down on the PKK. This allowed the prohibition of PKK's acitivities in many locations. This period that was initiated back then has now been completed with putting the PKK on the terrorist organizations list of the EU in the 2000s. The war of Turkey with PKK has changed the characteristic of Turkey's Gladio and NATO's Gladio being identical. The statement of Kenan Evren that I gave above is a proof to this. Together with Çiller's coup Turkey's Gladio became autonomous. Everyone is aware of Özal's good will to resolve the Kurdish issue. At the time Özal and the then Gendermarie General Commander -E�ref Bitlis- were making good-willed efforts to resolve the issue. Such efforts had annoyed the Gladio. I remember that a journalist, I think it was Mehmet Ali Birand, had come to interview me. But later apparently Özal called him and told him “you left me in a difficult position; you created problems for me they shall now clamp down on me”. Indeed, two or three days later there was an assassination attempt against him by Kartal Demira�. Özal was aware of such a danger. But he was not weary of them and wished to resolve the issue with much courage. But because he tried to resolve it all on his own he was not successful. And as you can all see his case file in relation to his death has still not been closed and is still at the level of the prosecutor. With the murder of Özal it was a clear pavement of the way for Çiller to be the prime minister and Do�an Güre� to be the Chief of Staff. This is the darkest period of the Republic of Turkey. This is what Kenan Evren means when he talks about being autonomous. This is the Çiller coup d'etat. The evacuation and burning down of four thousand villages and hundreds of thousands of people being forced to migrate and tens of thousands of them being killed coincide with this period. All these incidents alone are enough to be considered as bad as what has been done to the Armenians and the Greeks. The outcome of this period was even more severe then the physical genocides against the Armenians and Greeks. It may be that the success that they achieved with the Armenians and Greeks were not achieved with the Kurds but what they aimed was not something less.
After the emergence of the PKK the administration of South Kurdistan was also included in the alliance against the PKK within the Gladio. Later Syria and Iran was included in to this alliance against the PKK in many different ways. Everyone knows, just the other day NATO awarded Barzani with the NATO Peace Prize. Such a prize indicates his ties with such an alliance. Barzani has photographs that were taken together with commanders such as Necati Özgen who was on duty in the region in the 1990's as well with some confessors. All these are some proof of his alliance with the then Gladio. This period can continues up to the period when in 1997-98 Çevik Bir is on duty. This is how we ended up in the period of 28 February. NATO's Gladio has later become annoyed with Turkey's Gladio becoming so autonomous. It can even be said that Karaday� and K�vr�ko�lu are the then representatives of NATO's Gladio. Their radius of action were restricted under the influence of the Turkish Gladio. Despite these negative developments there were still some good-willed steps that were wished to be taken at times. Özal's initiatives ended his life. Özal was hence eliminated in this manner. Similarly attempts made by Erbakan met political elimination and were suppressed. There were some good-willed endeavours at the time of Ecevit. When Ecevit was in power, some good-willed circles used to come and visit me here and talk to me. They used to say that they are making efforts for a resolution. Finally I can say that the delegation I now see seem to be making some good-willed efforts. However I do not know how influential this delegation is and whether it is authorized to resolve this. I do not the influence it has on the government. I used to ask those who used to come during Ecevit's term too “how strong are you, do you have the power to resolve it, can you make everyone abide by you?”. They used to tell me “don't you worry we are in charge and we have the power”. But they went away and never came back again; they fell apart. I have no idea how things that go on now shall continue. The important thing is the government's stance. AKP should take some practical steps until March. If until March there are no practical and reassuring steps that can be viewed as positive and which can be further developed then I shall withdraw myself from this process. Hence as a result of loss of credibility and intense atmosphere the period of elections will be a difficult one. If the practical steps that I have talked about are not taken then our people and everyone else should be aware that I shall withdraw myself from this process.
We have already said that we shall make a general re-evaluation in March. But if this is the way things are unfolding then there really is no meaning for me to take on such a responsibility. We shall see how near and ready AKP is to finding a solution. In parallel with AKP's coming into power there are strong indications that there is a fascist-Islamic hegemonic power being constructed. I want to give my self-critique at this point. I had also talked about this last week albeit briefly. I had initially thought that those detained due to the Ergenekon case were mostly those who were against finding a solution and war-mongers. I thought they were trying to eliminate those who are against a solution with this Ergenekon operation. But if the later political developments are examined it shall be seen that the aim is not the elimination of those who are against a solution. Instead only those who had already been exposed and known are eliminated. But AKP is at the moment has reached an agreement with those forces who are against a solution but who are not exposed in order to take steps to construct its own Gladio and hegemonic power. Indeed AKP is deceiving the public in relation to Ergenokon. Although it looks as if it is eliminating those who are against a solution it has in its essence reached an agreement with them. I used to think differently a while ago. I can even say that the basis for the agreement reached between AKP and army was laid down in the Dolmabahçe meeting between Büyükanit and Erdogan in 2007. Contrary to what everyone thinks there is no elimination of the army but there is an accord reached. As a result of this accord there are steps taken to bring us to the current developments.
The release of members of Hizbullah that occurred not long ago should be evaluated in relation to AKP constructing itself as a hegemonic power. It is wrong to think that this is just the release of a couple of people. If that is the approach it is an oversimplification. These people killed hundreds of our people in a merciless and barbaric manner. As if it was not sufficient to release them some welcomed them with celebrations in Diyarbakir!But there should have been a strong reaction against them. How can it be that they are released and are welcomed like “heroes”! The reaction I am talking about is not a reaction to be shown to a section of the society but a democratic reaction against the release of killers who murdered hundreds of people. Thousands of our people are the victims of their murders. This is a democratic reaction against such a concrete injustice not against a whole section of people. The call I made last week was misunderstood. When I made the call it was intended for those individuals amongst them who are sincere. Hence if there are honest and sincere Muslims amongst them who regret what they did in the past and shall give a self-critique and apologize then they can participate within the common platforms such as DTK and the City Councils. This is what I meant when I made the call last week. We do not have a problem with sincere Muslims. Everyone s aware I had just a short while ago made a reconciliation call to the religious community. I had told them that they could also take on a role in the solution. But such a political storm was stirred that they were scared and they had to take a step back. This example also helps us to understand who is really insisting on a no-solution situation. The mentality in the release of Hizbullah and those insisting on a no-solution are the same. These are not ordinary releases. On the one hand you shall release these murderers and on the other hand you shall forcefully bring some PKK members to the court and give them penalties! Just because you don't want them to have the benefit of the new law you shall penalize them forcefully. Even the penalty give to me was approved in just a couple of weeks by the Supreme Court of Appeals what is the aim for keeping their files ten years without giving them a penalty? On the one hand you shall release these killers on the other hand you shall arrest tens of Kurdish people each day for making use of their right to democratic politics. There are 2000 people KCK arrestees. Did these people ever hold a gun? Did they ever kill a human being? No! They have not even used a knife. They are in prison solely because they used their right to practice democratic politics as free citizens without getting involved in violence and working via democratic channels. On top of it all none of them are members of KCK. They have nothing to do with KCK. I think all these arrests under the pretext of KCK are nothing but illegitimate. Our people and BDP shall naturally be resisting, protesting and denouncing these arrests. They should be able to make use of their right to democratic resistance against these arrests. The youth that was shot not so long ago in Hakkari is also an example to this. Is it a crime for them to make use of their right to democratic politics? AKP should be sincere about these issues. On the one hand you shall create a vacuum in the region by arresting the Kurdish politicians and on the other hand you shall release these murderers so that they would try and fill the vacuum you created! They are trying to depict these releases as a conflict between the government and the Supreme Court of Appeals but far from it! Things are not so. Here we are not talking about daily but long term plans. It should not be viewed in a simplistic manner and be viewed as a conflict between the government and Supreme Court of Appeals.
All these efforts are to establish a 'Kurdish Hamas'. Just as they ended the existence of PLO by creating Hamas – everyone knows how Hamas threw PLO member from the fifth floor killing them ruthlessly in cold blood- they shall similarly try and end the Kurdish movement via the fake Pan-Islamism. It is not even to correct to call them the Kurdish Hamas because they are a gang, yes I shall call them a “gang”. These gangs dare to call themselves Muslim but they have nothing to do with being a Muslim or Islam. They approach the Kurds in a totally fascist manner. Everyone knows that they clamp down on honourable intellectuals and authors as well. Their initials murders were that of U�ur Mumcu, Muammer Aksoy and other democratic republican intellectuals and authors. This mentality is a fascist-Islamic mentality. Their values do not overlap with the values of the republic. The republic can not accept them as well. Hence we are indeed protecting the republic in that sense as well. Most of them more then one wife, they have nothing in common with being a Muslim. They should not attempt to teach our people what being a Muslim is like. Our people are already Muslims and they are quite sincere when it comes to the things they value. They now say that the three of those who were released and who are the leaders have not turned up to give their signatures and are now missing. Where are they now? Where are they sent to? There are Mustazaf associations and it is said that they shall open a national television channel. They do not have such a capacity, they can not do this on their own. The resources must be created elsewhere. There is a need for millions of dollars to start a television channel, where will they get the money? In return for finishing off the PKK they shall exploit Iran, Turkey and international forces who are against finding a solution!
The game staged is quite a dangerous one. Their aim is to eliminate the Kurdish Movement using the ones who call themselves Islamist and through exploiting our people's religious emotions. Just as in the 1960s and '70s MHP and nationalists were made use of to eliminate the left movement and socialists in Turkey now they aim to eliminate the Kurdish Movement by using the fake Islamists. In the 1970s although MHP was not in power it was integrated to the political rule so that it would be made to play an important role in the elimination of the socialists. Today they wish to do the same with the fake Islam. These fake Islamists used to take their place within the Gladio that declared special-warfare against the Kurds and PKK. They barbarically killed many of our innocent people. The various methods they used were the way tied their victims and called it pig bondages, the grave houses and the way they tortured them to death. Can this be called being a Muslim? Is this what humanity is? Our people must be on the alert. They have nothing in common with any religion and for that with Islam. This is solely the reflection of a fascist mentality. Neither religion nor Islam should become the tool for this fascist hegemony. They may even have already started to plan what massacres they shall attempt or which individuals they shall kill. Therefore these releases are nothing ordinary and are a part of long term plans. Some of those who have betrayed shall be used together with those fake Islamists in order to eliminate the Kurdish movement. As I said these topics should be evaluated in further detail. The incident of Bardako�lu's removal from duty of Religious Affairs Presidency. The other incident was what they did to 20 women just because they had a different approach to matters then the religious affairs. There is also the situation of sending more then ten thousand new imams (prayer leaders) to the region. Are these all coicidental? All these imams who have been sent to the region have nothing do with being religious. They have special aims and have special duties. Our people should not go to the mosques where these imams are on duty. They should not accept these imams in their villages and should tell them we do not need your prayer leadership. They should definitely not allow them to enter their villages and they should sustain their own religious organizations themselves.
Another power that takes its position in the anti-Kurdish alliance is Iran. Iran and Turkey are like twins when it comes to the Kurdish issue. I remember that in 1980 I was in the camp in Lebanon. Two Iranian youngsters came to the camp and said that they shall work to establish the Hizbullah in Lebanon. They said this was the intention for their presence there. The Hizbullah that they established grew so huge that later put the regime in Lebanon in a crisis and it reached such a level that the regime could not do anything if they did not want it. There could be similar developments in Turkey as well. Such formations may be supported both by Turkey and Iran! This is because these two countries are in need of each other for a no-solution status of the Kurdish issue. If the Kurdish question is resolved in Iran then it will be resolved in Turkey; if it is resolved in Turkey it shall also be so in Iran. Their aim is to leave the Kurdish question unresolved. The compulsory alliance between Iran and Turkey leads to a joint clamp down on the Kurds. There are many Kurds who are being hanged by Iran. Because Yüksekova is really close to Iran it may become the target of these two powers. It really attracts my attention that there are more frequent Iranian visits during the AKP's term. It won't be wrong to say that Erdo�an and Ahmed-i Necad have just about become twins.
There is still the threat of a genocide standing before the Kurds. They may initiate this from a place where we are the strongest in; that is from Hakkari and then move on to Cizre, ��rnak, Diyarbak�r and Batman. One should be on alert at all times.
I would like to say the following in relation to a bi-lingual life. Is there any meaning of life for the Kurds if they are not able to teach their own children their mother tongue and be able to sustain our culture? This is a question to do with our existence. Our language is our honour and this is our basis for existence. First one should protect one's existence then one can give a freedom struggle. Before this question of existence resolved one can not deal with the other questions. This is why I say that the danger is great. This is also what I mean by self-defence. The villagers killed in Hakkari, Geçitli Village and the nine guerrillas killed are all a sign. There was an 'imam' killed in Hakkari and in the aftermath the above incidents occurred. They are saying that they shall kill twenty for each person killed. Similar incidents may re-occur in the future especially since the Hizbullah killers are released. They maybe planning for their massacres. Why Hakkari, why Yüksekova? Because they have added value and they continue to add value to the Kurdish political movement with the stance they take. The hegemonic powers are certainly quite annoyed with this. Hence the attack is targets this value. There is a need to establish a committee that can find the perpetrators who killed these twenty people and the incident needs to be resolved. Our people living there should be able to grab the collar of each official and AKP member that goes there and demand that 'the murderers of these twenty people should be brought to justice'. Hakkari-Yüksekova can be more active on such issues. The shop-keepers there should not act with financial concerns. They may suffer minor losses but these should not be viewed as important as the real loss is the societal losses. The deaths there I think have a pivotal role. If the death of these 20 people are brought out to day light it shall expose many other things along with itself. If these deaths are exposed then many aspects of the political balance can also be exposed. Why was the Geçitli Village targeted? I later learned that it was a village who had accepted to become village-guards but because the boycott level in this village was above 90% in the referandum they were targeted. Hence it is no longer enough to be a village-guard in order not to be targeted. That is why the village-guards should be aware that they are also in danger. I would like to reiterate that the reason why Hakkari and Yüksekova are targeted is because they are all Kurdish there and the whole city is totally organized. Just as they did it to Dersim in the past they would like now to do the same to Hakkari. They were successful in Dersim and they were able to assimilate the majority of them. If they had not thought that they were successful in oppressing and assimilation of Dersim and see that it is no longer in a position to create problems for them they would not bring K�l�çdaro�lu to lead CHP.
BDP should be able to spot these such attacks and dangers quite well. They should be able to protect their people. They should be always be on alert. It is not enough to channel the people to the streets. You have to show the ability to protect them when they are on the street. You should be able to strengthen their organization. They should protect our people. I criticize Kandil on this issue as well. Kandil is insufficient in the protection of its people. If our people are not defended as required, if the democratic revolution can not be developed then this would give y chance to the counter-revolution. Our people should be able to develop a self-defence method for itself. What is important and what is permanent is that the people form their own democratic and legitimate self-defence channels and organizations.
It is said that the latest memorandum of the Chief of Staff is due to the discussions on self-defence. I don't care at all what the Chief of Staff is saying. No matter what we need to protect our own existence. I maybe killed here tomorrow but I don't care. We shall continue to protect our existence at all times and under all conditions. I have to make these warnings due to the responsibilities I carry and moral principles. Moreover self-defence is a constitutional and a universal right. I can hear them saying Apo is encouraging them to rebel. No, this is not so. My evaluations on self-defence is distorted and viewed in a narrow manner. The only thing they remember when talking about it is the armed forces. But self-defence can not only compose of armed defence. The self-defence we would like to develop involves the ability to be a democratic opposition using the legal, democratic and legitimate methods in order to protect our existence. Our understanding of self-defence does not involve separation on the contrary it allows for democratic unity with Turkey on the basis of constitutional and legal rights while using the right of democratic opposition. Hence our understanding of self-defence does not denote separation but unification on a democratic basis. We have the right to protect-defend our existence via legal democratic channels as free citizens. If, on the contrary, our right for democratic opposition is not paved violence shall then increase and separation occur. Kurdish people's right to democratic opposition should not be restricted. The most important danger is the restriction of this right. Self-defence is an international, a universal right. It belongs to all peoples and communities.
The points I raised above are discussed in detail in the fifth volume of my defences. I would like to greet all our people in Syria, Iran and Iraq. They should transform and change themselves on the basis of democratic unity and hence develop their organizations. It is the beginning of the new year and I would like to send my greetings to all our friends in prisons. I would also send my greetings to �zmir, Dersim, H�n�s, Yüksekova and Hakkari.