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

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RMSTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi
pens say Dogubeyazlt is one of the organization's
primary tar~ets in the shift,
together with the neighDoring towns of
Igdir and Diyadin. The three towns surround
Mount Agn (Ararat) to the West,
forminga cre~cenf that Jinks,l~rkey'sborder
with Armema to Irati (see atcompanying
map).
Shops in allthree towns closed down
on Auoust 15 this year following a PKK
directi~e calling for their closures in celebration
of the ninth anniversary of the
beginning of the armed campaign of the
PKK; a campai~n which has claimed
more than 7,000 Jives so far.
PKK militants had carried cut anoL~er~
..........
atta~k in Dogubeyaz1ton July 27 against
the I!endarmeriê station, barracks, security'headquarters,
and state construction
sites. One soldier was killed in the raid.
A simultaneous attack on public buildings
jn Igdir was also staged.
Local officials in Dogubeyazlt claimed
that the secessionist organization
was trying to provoke a clash between
local Kurds and Turks.
Five killed in clashes
Four alleged militants of the PKK were
killed in two separate clashes with security
forces as they attempted to raid
Bel!i!a~.ç mar in the southeastern pro-
SHP, still important for
Turkey.s Kurdish population
• Party's chairmanship candidates
took up the Kurdish issue at the
regional SHP meeting in
Diyarbakir
Turkish Daily News
DIYARBAKIR/ANKARA- A regional meeting
organized by the Social DemocratPeople's Party
(SHP) headquarters in the southeastern province
of DiyarbakIr has shown that the population in
the region, mainly ethnic Kurds, have not completely
lost their hope in this party.
Despite the presence of the pro-Kurdish Democracy
Party (DEP -- the new name for HEP;
the People's Labor Party) founded by the Kurdish
deputies who defected from the SHP, and the pro-
Islamic Welfare Party (RP), which has found support
in the region, the people expect solid steps
from the SHP and from whoever is chosen as tts
new leader.
The candidates who are running for chairmanship
in the election at the SHP convention on September
II and 12 were assessed as to their approach
to the Kurdish problem at the Diyarbalör
meeting 'on Monday. The candidates, namely
SHP Parliamentary Group Deputy Chairman Aydm
Güven Gürkan, Ankara Mayor Murat Karayalçm,
Izmir Mayor Yüksel Cakmur, and a founder
of the Social Democracy l>artyof 1983, Tolga
Yarman, concentrated mamly on this "burning"
issue in their statements. A democratic solution to
regional problems, which all fourSHP chairmanship
candidates broughl up in their statements,
found the most positive responsein the
audience.
Provincial and township chairmen, SHP mayors,
administrative board members, convention
delegates and grassroots supporters of the SHP in
this region believe that the Kurdish problem can
be solved with a democratic 'approach which the
SHP can promote. Their disappointment with the
SHP admmistration, especially after the party ca-
me to power as a coalition partner with more power
and say in government policies, could be clearly
seen on their faces. Certainly party politics
wiIIplay an important role in the choice they wiII
be making in ID days time, and there is the danger
that the new administration will also go along
the same line as the previous one. That is, a further
delay in the implementation of democratic
measures plus necessary investment, and the escalation
of the problem to a point when a desirable
solution may become impossible. The regional
p~.rtynetwork has shown its preference towards
Gurkan.
This was evident from the moment the plane
carrying the SHP delegation landed at DiyarbakIr
airport. Even so, Karayalçm also gained much attention
and found support at the meeting. It was
confirmed once again that the race for Erdal Inonu's
seat will be between these two candidates.
Changing the Constitution for more democracy
and more freedoms was Karayalçm's main theme
in addition to the unity of the SHP. Karayalcin
underlined that candidates should bring forth
party unity rather than criticizing each other. He
promised his fight will be against the prevailing
order and not his fellow partisans. He received
the biggest applause when he said that a citizen of
the regIOnsnould be free to give a Kurdish name
to his/her child and also when he rejected the use
of violence as the solution to the Kurdish rroblem.
Karayalçm rejected charges that he wil take
the party more to the center and forget about its
leftist principles.
Gürkan stated that Kurdish citizens do not want
a separation from Turkey, but rather to live as
equal citizens in this country. He said that the
"golden'key" to the problem is a "democratic guarantee
and equal rights."
"We should certamly protect ourselves against
terrorism but the solution cannot come through
violence. Priorities should be given to justice, human
rights and freedoms," he stated. He said for-
vince of DiyarbakIr and Gür~enli, Gercü~in
Batman province, offiCIaIssaid.on
Tuesday. Official sources also revealed
that a railroad \\orker in the town of Kemah
in the eastern province of Erzincan
was killed by a oroup of gunmen who
abducted the worler from a train station
at around 9 p.m. local time Monday. The
worker's bullet-riddled body \lias found
on Tuesday one kilometer from the station
The Regional Governor's Office in
Diyarbakir also said that 4 alleged militants
of the PKK had given themselves
up to the security forces in the eastern
province of Bingöl.
mer Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel had recognized
the "Kurdish reality" but did not go any
further than that. Gürkan also criticized his party
saying that if the SHP had not discharged seven.
KurdIsh deputies from the party on the grounds
that they attended an internatIOnal meeting of
Kurds four years ago, the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) could never find support in
Turkey.
ç akmur went far enough to say that none of
Turkey's problems can be solved unless the Kurdish
problem is settled. He, like the other candidates,
said that the Constitution should be changed
and that the National Security Council be dissolved.
ç akmur underlined his fight against the
military regime in the past and his deep roots in
Turkey'ssocial democracy while atthesame.time
attacked the other candidates as being newcomers
in this movement.
Yarman, the last to address the Diyarbaktr meeting,
had difficulty finding an attenl1veaudience,
despite his efforts to address them in Kurdish
from time to time. Hehowever drew attention to
the danger of yet another split in the SHP after
the convention.
Citizens in this region are now waiting to see
the SHP after its September convention. Those
who gave their views to the TDN at the DiyarbakIr
meeting specifically underlined. that they are
expecting effectual steps from this party.
They said that among the three social democratic
parties, the SHP is the only one that still has
the chance of regaining the people's confidence
here.
They also said that the SHP should gain
strength and merge with Deniz Baykal's Republican
People's Party (CHP) as soon as ~ssible.
SHP headquarters will continue Wtth the regional
meetings in the Black Sea coastal province of
Ordu today. Karayalçm, being from the Black
Sea region, is expected to get more support in Ordu.
Meanwhile, SHP Ankara provincial organization
Chairman Ytlmaz At~ said in a press conference
Tuesday that Ankara's convention delegates
will be voting in favor of Gürkan's chairmanship.
Ates stated that only one out of the 44 delegates
declared that his vote would be for Karayalçm
and that there are two who are still undecided.
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