Erdo?an: Don’t expect KCK operations to stop

The PM reiterated that the repression of Kurdish people, and their friends, is to continue
No one should expect us to stop anti-KCK operations”. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an made it clear that the government has no intention to stop with the repression of Kurds. The PM in the Black Sea province of Rize warned “those who criticize these operations: You must know the KCK well and if you don’t, then you must learn from people who are experts on it.”
The so called KCK (Kurdish Communities Union) investigation is based on the ground that the KCK operate as the urban wing of the PKK. The problem is that no prosecutor nor trial so far has been able to actually detail this link and above all, no proof has been presented to show this link exists. Indeed the very definition of “urban wing” is somewhat cloudy and vague. So fat it has been vague enough to arrest thousands reversing the very principle of justice: innocent til proved guilty. In Turkey since 2009 is true the contrary: guilty until proved innocent.
After professor Bü?ra Ersanl? and publisher Rag?p Zarakolu were arrested last week by an ?stanbul court along with 43 others, the KCK case hit the headlines again, sparking a reaction in the academic world. Indeed, no one can feel safe: that was the message Ersanl? and Zarakolu’s arrests sent.

Uneasiness started to be expressed by some media circles as well, but Prime Minister Erdo?an was quick in his answer. “The statements you make in the media or somewhere else, without knowing what the KCK is linked to and who does what in this organization, amount to support for terrorism, serving terrorism,” he said. And that was it for the Premier. Basically what he is saying is “shut up or you end up in prison”. The threat is crystal clear. And indeed it comes after a rather disturbing meeting between the prime minister and the main agency’s bosses which ended with the media bosses basically accepting to “moderate tones” when it comes to talk about the Kurdish issue. In other words, self imposed censorship. Something which immediately sparked the reaction of media in Turkey and freedom of the press organizations around the world.

Yet Erdo?an goes on down his path “we respect Kurds as much as we respect Turks” he said, adding that the government will not allow attempts to create a “parallel state” in Turkey.

“There can be no second state. If there are those who call me ‘statist’ or ‘nationalist’ because I say this, then I am a statist, then I am a nationalist,” he said.

---