Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

REVUE DE PRESSE~PRESS REVIEW~BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ~RIVISTA STAMPA~DENTRO DE LA PRENSA~BASIN ÖZETi
Kurdish 'parliament- in-exile'
to convene again in twomonths
Executive Council Chairman
Aydar: We have no problem
in finding a place to meet
IBy Aytül Gürta~
Turkish Daily News
ANKARA- Zübeyïr Aydar, the chainnan of the
executive council of the so-called Kurdish "parlia-
. ment-in-exile" fanned on A'pril 12 in The Hague,
said, in a telephone interview from Brussels on
Sunday, that the assembly will convene again on July
12 and that he did not foresee any problem in fInding
.a meeting place. .
Aydar, In answer to a question from the Turkish
Daily News, said that, according to its bylaws, the
parliament should convené every three months, and
the second meeting was plarmed for July, presumably
somewhere in Europe. ..
"The laws of many European countries allow such
meetings, provided they do not violate certain rules,
and therefore we will have no difficulty finding a
place to convene" said Aydar. Turkey strongly
protested- aaainst the holding of the fITStmeeting of
the so-calfed Kurdish parliament-in-exile in the
Netherlands in April. As a result relations between
the countries became strained and Turkey put the
Netherlands on its "red list."
At the end of the its flfst four-day, meeting the parliament
fonned an executive council of 15, Including
Turkey's now barmed pro-Kurdish Democracl Party
(DEP) deputies, and representatives of the National
Liberation front (ERNK), the political wing of the
outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK).
Aydar, a fonner DEP deputy, said that the chief
objective of the parliament was to gain observer status
at the United Nations.. . .
"We are continuing our diplomatic activities
throughout the world, including European Union
bodies and the other international orgamzations. We
want the Kurds to be represented in the United
Nations and as a parliament-in-exile we are ready for
this," Aydar stateâ. .
He repeated the call on international bodies to put
pressure on Turkey for a peaceful solution to the
Kurdish problem. Talking about the other activities
of the executive council, Zübeyir Aydar said that
they had decided to launch a campaign for cultural
identity, and specifically the promotion of the
Kurdish language. .. .
"Our council will do its best for everyone in.
Kurdistan to be allowed to speak their mother tongue
and be educated in Kurdish: ln that context we call
Zübeyir Aydar
on all Kurds to speak KÙl"dish,think in Kurdish and
read in Kurdish," Aydar added. .
Meanwhile, according to Aydar, some other
Kurdish factions which did not participate in the first
meeting of the exile parliament, now want to participate.
.
"Representatives of the Kurdistan Communist
Party (KCP), from Turkey, visited us on May 25 and
expressed their support for the exile ~arliament. We .
have agreed that the KCP representattves could participate
in the bye-election that the parliament has
decldedon.
He saidthis was a sign of the increasing support of
the Kurdish people for the parliament-in-exile.
The grouping has been criticized in the past of
being an organ of the PKK and of not giving any'
space to the other Kurdish political movements.
Some other groups such as the Kurdistan ~ocialist
Party leaded by moderate Kemal Burkay have
refused to join the parliament. . .
. It is being said that the other Kurdish groups are
waiting to see if the parliament-in-exile gains international
acceptance before deciding on their participation.
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