The police raids against Kurdish activists in some European countries violate democratic and human rights principles

Kurdish National Congress of North America                  

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The police raids against Kurdish activists in some European countries violate democratic and human rights principles

On Thursday, March 4, the Belgium police raided the Roj TV station, arrested many of its staff and confiscated much of their equipment. They also raided the office of Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) and arrested its president, Mr. Ramzi Kartal. The office of Peace and Democracy Party was also raided. The day after, the German police arrested the head of PJAK party.

Assessing the scenario of these arrests one could easily see the fingerprint of the Turkish state behind these violations against the Kurdish rights.

Yet, on the one hand, Turkish authorities brag about their “Kurdish opening.” On the other hand, not only in Turkey, but also abroad they violate Kurdish democratic and national rights. Turkey could not have so successfully done that if the hypocritical Western nations had not supported it to implement its racist policies. Our people have been scapegoats of the Western interests in the region for centuries, and if that is how Western nations approach the Kurdish plight—our people may continue to suffer for many more years to come.  

It is ironic to see that countries such as Germany and Belgium that are renowned for their democracy and human rights protection acted on the stories told by the racist Turkish state. These nations are to be reminded that according to the Turkish myopic Constitution, more than 20 million Kurds do not exist in Turkey, because, the Turkish Constitution has emphatically stated, all who hold Turkish citizenship are “Turks” and not “citizens of Turkey.”

Therefore, such a Constitution is the source of all their “justifications” for every breach and violation of basic human, democratic, cultural, ethnic, and individual rights. The Kurdish opposition political factions, regardless of their nature, are products of this Constitution that has adopted a chauvinistic culture, which has dominated the Turkish political arena since the inception of the modern Turkish state in 1924.

While nations such as Belgium and Germany imprison Kurdish activists and prevent their peaceful political activities, it would be wise to instruct and encourage Turkish authorities to amend their racist constitution in which all who hold “Turkish citizenship” are equal before the law.    

It is even more sardonic to see, during the last 20 years, the continuous indifference by the Western nations vis-à-vis the Kurdish calls for a peaceful political solution to the Kurdish plight in Turkey. Instead of helping Turkey to perpetuate its repressive policies towards the Kurds, these nations have a moral responsibility to act as honest brokers and encourage Turkey to find a political and moral solution and end the Turkish-Kurdish hostilities. Not only have these nations kept silent before the Turkish atrocities against our people, but also, in every practical sense, they occasionally have supported Turkey in the name of fighting what they call a “terrorist group.”

It would be legitimate to ask these nations, who really is a terrorist? The Turkish state with its inherently racist Constitution that denies the existence of the most ancient people or the Kurdish political factions that have been struggling to reclaim their God-given identity?

We believe our beloved Kurdistan could not have been divided if it were not for the Western cynical plot. They divided our land and left us at the mercy of these racist central governments. Ever since then, every once in a while, in the face of the bloody oppression our people endured at the hands of the brutal governments of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, the Western authorities hypocritically shed “crocodile tears” to show their insincere sympathy.

Therefore, to find a peaceful political solution to the just Kurdish cause, we ask Belgium, Germany, and other Western nations to join their resources to work with and encourage Turkey to end its undemocratic and inhumane policies of oppression against the Kurds. Not until this practical step takes place on the ground, will the Turkish authorities consider changing their narrow political mentality. Not until then, will peace and prosperity return to Turkey.