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

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Baszn Özeti
PKK's Semdin Sakik Submits Repentance Petition
Anatolia Agency 24 Mar 00
[FBIS Transcribed Text]
DIYARBAKIR, March 24 (A.A) - Semdin Sakik, one of the leading names of the terrorist PKK organization, appeared
at Diyarbakir State Security Court (DGM) on Friday due to the petition he submitted to benefit from the
Repentance Law.
Semdin Sakik and his brother Arif were captured in an operation by a team of General Staff special forces
in Northern Iraq on April 13, 1998 and brought to Turkey. Semdin Sakik was tried by the Diyarbakir DGM no:l
and sentenced to death. Sakik who was brought to DGM under tight security measures said that he wanted to
benefit from the Repentance Law, and he would help security forces in every phase.
The Court adjourned the hearing till the response of the Interior Ministry for Sakik's petition.
Will a liberal Kurdish party in Turkey succeed?
Kurdish Media Mar 24, 2000 Hussein Tahiri, Kurdish Media Analyst
In 1997, Serafattin Elci, founded the Democratic Mass Party, DKP (Demokratik Kitle Partisi). [1]
Elci was a former Member of Parliament and the Construction Minister in Bulent Ecevitis government of 1977-
78. When he was a minister, in an interview, he stated that there were Kurds in Turkey and he himself was
a Kurd. This statement caused uproar in Turkey that had vigorously denied any Kurdish identity.
The DKP in a way was very unusual to Kurdish traditions. The traditional Kurdish movements mostly were nationalists.
After the World War II, some Kurdish movements with socialist ideology appeared. In the 1960s and
1970s Kurdish political parties with communist ideology began to work. Kurdistan was underdeveloped so it
was easier for the leftist parties to attract the Kurdish support, especially the educated Kurds. The DKP
was unusual because it represented the Kurdish issue from a liberal point of view. Elci said the DKP was a
liberal democratic party. It represented the Kurds of Turkey and worked for the Kurdish rights in a peaceful
way. Liberalism for Elci meant freedom, freedom from government control.
Elci criticized Kurdish leftist parties for their paradoxical claims. He said, on one hand, they said the
government should control everything, on the other, they opposed gove~nment. If there was government control
there would always be problems. If the government controlled economy it would use it for its own advantages;
it would use it to consolidate its organizations. This would not be in the interests of the Kurds. Elci elaborated
a major Kurdish problem in the Middle East was the governments ruling the Kurds had been very strong
and they controlled everything. The Kurds were to emphasize liberalism so the government size could be redu- .
ced and its organizations weakened. Therefore, individuals in the society would be free. In the absence of
a strong government the Kurds could realize their demands.[2]
-'.
The DKP aimed at gaining Kurdish cultural rights within a liberal Turkey. The DKP wanted Kurdish language
to be permitted in media, the Kurds were to be allowed to have their own administration, and the Kurds were
to be able to determine their own fate. The central government ~s duty only were to control the army, justice
system, and large projects. Everything else, would be controlled by the Kurds. [3] This looked like
autonomy, but Elci did not want to give it any name fearing any label would go against the Turkish legal
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