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

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RNISTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi
A Kurdish buildingworker in 'Ankara
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By Emre Gökalp 'I
He is a workman. He is a Kurd arid
living in the capita} of a country
where the clashes between th'e
government troops and the militants
of the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK), who claim to represent the
struggle for the iildepeildènce Of the Kurdish
people, are ongoing, where dozens of
people are killed every day, and where each
Kurd is regarded as a potential criminal or
worse, a terrorist.
But, he loves Istanbul as much as he likes
DiyarbakIr. He loves Turks as much as he
likes Kurds. He likes Turkish folk music as .
much as he likes Kurdish folk music. And~ '
he dislikes the PK.I{'s policy as muchas he ,
dislikes the poJity of the Turkishstate.
He, whose uncle had been killed by a "counter-guerilla"
in the Southeast, ,is a Kurd
who has strived to "live" in Ankara for the
past ten years. More to the point, he was
forced to leave theSoutheast for work; A
Kurd who will be married to a Turk~sh girl
soon. A Kurd, who no matter how pessimistic
ordepressed he is,alwaystries to look
to the future with optimism, and never
loses his dream of a calm and peaceful Turkey.
,,'
We use the term Kurd, becausehe may
see himself as just an ordinary person, or
may have nothing to do with any illegal activity
whatsoever, he is still a Kurd, and one
who is living in a metropolis and who does
not like his Kurdish '
building-worker identity highlighted, .
and objects to being identified.
"If I am killed, no one will ask the reason
behind my death. Why? Because I am a
Kurd. I am a p.otential criminal and terrorist,"
he says.
"Unfortunately," he adds "we are now regarded
as the enemy of the Turkish nation.
The state and its ideological apparatus, including
the colored press and TV stations,
try to label us as potential enemies."
He says he is not the only one under pres-
44
'sure fI:om the state .since the Kurdish nation
has been under pressure. "My grandfather
was under pressure 50 ye:u:sago. My uncle
, was under pressure 10 years ago. I am now
under pressure," he adds.' He is concerned
by the ever growing tendency to present
Kurds as the enemy and of the creation of .
animosity between the Kurds and the
Turks. .
"We are now faced with the ~ger of polarization
withTurkish people with whom
we have been living shoulder to shoulder
with for years. There has been no problem
between Turks and Kurds in Turkey. We
have lived like brothers," he says.
"I have more Turkish friends in Ankara
than Kurdish. But now, ~ertain circles are
uncomfortable about this friendship 'and
try to obs,truct it with some artificial provocations."
On the subject of the,PKK, he adamantly
says he does not approve of the organiiation,
but adds it did not just appear from now-
here, it was.formed as a reaction to an agelong
policy of oppression and pressure.
"The PKK has appealed as a result of violenceand
pressure-politics from the Turkish
state. In this sense, it is a counter-movement.
Why do most of the Kurdish people
support the PKK? For years Kurdish pe-
, , ople could not speak their oWn language,
nor could they sing their Kurdish songs.
Their culture has been assimilated by the
official ideology of the Turkish state."
"Thousands of Kurdish people have been
tortured, thousands have been killed. These
are all answers to the question," he aqds.
He cannot understand how, on the one
hand, the Turkish state says it recognizes
the Kurdish reality, and on the other hand, it
forms "a nationalist army," as well as deploying
secuiity forces, including commandos
and special crack teams, to the Southeast.
"In war, a bullet does not have an address
to go to," he says when we ask about PKK
attacks against civilian populations. "I do
not àpprove, of the PKK. I do not support
,the actions of the PKK1 but I do not,approve
of the actions of the state, ei~er."
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