KurdishMedia.com
By Osman Baydemir
06/02/2010
“6th International Conference on EU, Turkey and the Kurds” (Brussels, 3-4 February 2010)"
Message by Mr. Osman Baydemir
Mayor of Diyarbakir Metropolitan and the President of the Union of South East Anatolia Region Municipalities
Dear Esteemed Colleagues,
It is with sadness that I convey to you that I cannot join you today in this important conference, “Turkey and the Kurdish Conflict: Political Dialogue & Peace-building”, organized by the EU Turkey Civic Committee. I cannot join you today, for I have been “forbidden from going abroad”. Nonetheless, I believe that there is one thing that no authority or government can dictate: our conscience. I believe that our conscience cannot be held captive by any authority.
For the very first time in their history, and only with great sacrifices, the Kurds in Turkey have just begun having a voice in the local governments in their own language, with their own culture and identity. Along with the central tutelage, the Kurds achieved a say on their streets, roads and cities for the first time through our municipalities. Our cities in the region are being built into women-friendly environments for the first time. Our local citizens are introduced with participatory budgeting, participatory planning processes and examples of direct democracy. However, in return, the central government has initiated a massive purge directed against these instances of freedom the Kurds had just started to enjoy.
Since April 2009, 4475 people have been detained and 1444 people have been arrested in our region, all of whom are mayors, municipal council members, party officials responsible for local governments and NGO representatives (the numbers are increasing everyday). Today, 20 of my colleague Mayors and Vice-Mayors, such as Mr. Nejdet Atalay, Mr. Zulkuf Karatekin, Mr. Abdullah Demirbas, Mr. Firat Anli and Ms. Leyla Guven, are handcuffed and put in prison. Let me make it very clear, this state of affairs is completely incompatible with the rule of law, human rights and democracy.
Dear Participants;
If I had had the opportunity to attend the conference today, I would have shared with you our experiences related to the democratic decentralization and local governments on the ground. Similarly, I would have talked about the possible contributions that the strengthening of the civil authorities, subsidiarity and decentralization processes could make in developing a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue.
All the works carried out in accordance with the European Charter of Self-Government by our mayors, including my own, have been made a subject of legal investigation. In these legal investigations, the very municipal activities that are inspired by the spirit of democratic decentralization and guided by the principles laid out at the European Charter of Self-Government constitute the biggest crimes committed by our mayors. In other words, the efforts towards democratic decentralization are regarded as criminal in Turkey. If you happen to visit Turkey one day, I suggest you not defend the philosophy of “democratic decentralization”. I also suggest you stay away from the idea of “keeping the 12 thousand year old ancient city of Hasankeyf alive, and thus protecting humanity’s common cultural and natural heritage”. If you do so, you may be arrested or forbidden to leave the country. Or you may even be served an official notification of a probable assassination against you. I particularly suggest you not ever use the words “democratic, free local governments” when you are talking about your understanding of local government practices. May you also not embrace the basic principles of “participatory framework”, “transparency”, “gender-equality” and “ecology”; these concepts are also treated as incriminating evidence and as a basis for initiating a criminal investigation.
Although the above-mentioned principles and activities are stipulated by the European Union and the European Charter of Self-Government and have a rising importance in the European politics, they form the basis for the arrest of the Kurdish civilian politicians and mayors in Turkey. I cannot really say that I can make sense of the silence of the world towards these proceedings that go against law, ethics and conscience, towards these things that matter. I would like to pose a question for you: What do you think would be the reaction, if the Mayors in Europe or in Ankara, Istanbul, in the Western side of Turkey were treated in this manner? I would like to leave the decision about the meaning of this silence towards all that we have been going through in the region to you.
Dear Participants;
According to the governmental policies, which were initially named the “Kurdish Opening” and later quickly transformed into the “Project for National Unity”, people were supposed to come down from the mountains to the cities, disarmament was supposed to be one of the major aims. However, now we can clearly see that, let alone paving the way for those in the mountains to join civilian life, the government has no tolerance for even the current civilian Kurdish politicians in local politics. Unfortunately, the government understands and implements the imprisonment of the Kurdish politicians as a part of their solution strategy. However, through this political purge, the AKP government is merely trying to eliminate its sole political rival in the region, our political party BDP, formerly DTP, which has had a major victory in the local elections of March 2009 by increasing its number of municipalities from 56 to 99.
I should also add that if the political process continues this way, one day, the government will not be able to find a single Kurd to establish dialogue in the region.
Dear Participants;
None of you should ever have the slightest doubt about our political struggle for an honorable peace. Be it in “closed prisons” or in “a country turned into an open prison”, under each and every term and condition, we will continue our non-violent, civilian and democratic struggle for an honorable peace.
In closing, with my strong belief that it is possible to live in peace, that peace will eventually prevail, I would like to call for justice, justice and justice for everyone.
I salute you with deepest respect.
(end of the message)
