Kürkçü: Roboski massacre was not a “mistake”

There is an intention to drive a wedge between the Kurdish people and the struggle for freedom, says Mersin MP
BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) Mersin deputy Ertu?rul Kürkçü is in Europe for a round of meetings. We publish extracts of an interview he gave to Perwer Ya? of ANF Turkish service.
What is your opinion on the reaction Kurds and democrats had after the massacre in the village of Roboski?
– In my opinion, this massacre verbally drew a stronger reaction than I expected. CHP (Republican People’s Party) focused on the way of the event, not its essence. They admitted that there was a mistake in the military operation. In other words, they agree to the military operation, meaning an “effective” operation. The problem is that these kind of massacres are and will continue to be inevitable as long as military operations of these kind are approved. These are operation aimed at total destruction and intimidation. An intimidation operation against civilians will no doubt take place in line with the destruction operation against guerrilla forces. CHP is wrong in presuming that this operation is not part of the intimidation operation against civilians.
However, the investigation at the scene, the testimonies of the people and denounces about the event tell us that the villagers were trapped and gathered from the other side of the border before the bombing took place. We cannot speak of mistaken intelligence since all the intelligence provided was used in this operation.

Do you think the press was actually given inputs for distorting the reality and truth of the massacre ?

– The interesting fact is that the pro-Fethullah [a powerful religious lobby] press criticises the government in this occasion. Zaman, Yeni ?afak and Taraf papers wrote remarkable criticism which astonished me. The AKP government was criticised strongly from its own side. As to the reactions from the democratic sections of the society, they were much stronger than I had expected. However, in general, the media reluctantly worked to assess reactions and analyse facts.

What is remarkable is that the reality of the massacre was not published in the press for a long time in the first day, with many contradictory reports. In this sense, we can say that the media continued to play a negative role. I think the media are under the severe control of the government and the army.

You are a member of the parliamentary investigation commission. How will you work?

– We will go to the village of Roboski to start with and in line with the information the villagers release, we will interview the Gendarmerie, the commanding officer and district governorship in Uludere, ??rnak, Diyarbak?r and then the Gendarmerie General Command, Presidency of General Staff, Security Directorate and Interior Minister in Ankara. This commission is formed by members from all parties; four members from AKP, two from CHP and one from BDP.

Do you believe that the truth of what really happened would be established?

– I have some hope that we will establish facts because I can see that the AKP members of the commission, themselves Kurds, are eager to establish the truth. Still, we will see how much the Prime Minister and the government would discourage this desire.

You said that Roboski massacre was a planned action. Could this plan be a part of a wider plan?

– There is an intention to drive a wedge between the Kurdish people and the struggle for freedom; this is what I see when I look at the Roboski massacre, KCK arrests, the bombing of Kandil area, the intimidation and threatening against BDP, the demands for the arrest of deputies, the police attacks on demonstrations and the pressures on the press. This intention also aims at pushing the Kurdish people towards conservative ideologies, to make political leaders unable to act and to make them look as if they were guilty and with no good reputation.

In this sense, I consider the Roboski massacre to be within the scope of the plan to intimidate people. Trying to explain this event in another way will in fact mean to be unfamiliar with what armed forces do in this country. The difference between guerrillas and civilians is known by everyone. It is therefore not possible to speak of a mistake in this bombing.

You have witnessed the last 40 years of history in Turkey and followed the Kurdish movement closely for many years. Do you think the current situation is heavier than that of 12 September 1980 military coup or the 1990’s period?

– Yes, the current situation is no doubt heavier than that of those periods because the resistance is much greater and based on more international grounds. The struggle goes beyond the borders and the public participation in this struggle is much greater and constant. Being this the case, the consequence is that the effort by the establishment to crash this struggle is also greater than it was earlier periods. However, the common thing of all these operations, past and present, is the mentality that is inherited from the U.S., a mentality aiming at destroying the enemy. The U.S. operations are taking place overseas, not within its boundaries. As for the situation in the region there has been intelligence sharing between U.S., Iraq and Turkey since 2007. The agreement signed means the U.S. is supposed to share all intelligence it gathers with Turkey and Iraq.

Following the Roboski massacre, the PKK has for the first time in its 30 years long history, directed its reactions towards the U.S. Do you find this decision proper? Should the reaction of Kurds be directed towards the U.S.?

– I think the reactions are directed where it is necessary to direct them. Although Turkish nationalists think that the U.S. supports the PKK, the U.S. has never supported the PKK. Indeed it has played an important role in capturing the Kurdish people leader and delivering him to Turkey. It declared the PKK a ‘terrorist’ organisation and prevented it to be organised and run activities in its own territory. Indeed the U.S. has gone further than the EU in this respect. Being this the case, the PKK couldn’t have remained silent in this situation. And one other point I observe is that Turkey is becoming stronger since the U.S. withdrew from Iraq and left northern Kurdistan to Turkey’s vassalage.

Do you think the withdrawal of U.S. will serve Turkey’s purpose?

– Turkey wants to have a say in northern Kurdistan with the support of the U.S. In this sense it would be inevitable for Kurds to direct their reaction against the U.S. which is seen as the power protecting the policy of destruction towards Kurds.

Is it possible to have a single movement against the U.S.?

– There is a need to seal an alliance between Turkey’s workers and the people of Kurdistan. Both sides have experiences share. Foretasting this issue, the AKP government has launched the KCK operations and included the Turkish left in these operations. The best answer to be given to this attack is the Democratic Congress of Peoples.

Deputy Leyla Zana’s house has been recently raided within the scope of KCK operations. Do you think the wave of pressure against BDP will continue?

– These attacks are not anonymous and they are turning into a revenge action on some people including Leyla Zana who is an important symbol of the struggle of the Kurdish people.

In which way is the process progressing? What is the final plan of the AKP?

– Rather than doing politics on the basis of this idea, we need to look at the purpose of the pressure. The AKP wants to get to the 2014 local elections continuing is suppression of the Kurdish freedom struggle. It aims to win the large part of local governments and to bring Recep Tayyip Erdo?an to the presidency of the Republic. This is the craziest project by the AKP and it aims to deprive Kurds of the right they gained, to eliminate the Kurdish movement, to enslave Kurds once again and to build an empire above all these injustices. Against this plan, I believe it is necessary to build a a resistance across the country. We have enough power, energy and time to practice this resistance. And I believe that we will get the best of the elections in 2014 and reverse the plan made for those elections by the AKP.

Turkey is trying to fill the gap of the new order left from the U.S. and it is therefore supported by the U.S. for this purpose. However, masses have reacted against this new order. The reaction in the Arab countries results from the desire of region’s peoples to play a role in this new order.

In my opinion, the U.S. considers Kurds as a destabilising factor and it is trying different tactics with Kurds in the different countries. For example it takes a position against the Kurdish freedom struggle in Turkey, but it is not taking a direct position against the Kurdish movement in Iran. It is also of importance what kind of an attitude Turkey will adopt in the region.

The falling of the Syrian government wouldn’t be a surprise as this kind of regimes could face unexpected ends at an unexpected time. However, relations between Turkey and Syria will not get better as long as the Assad regime exists.

Do you think the withdrawal of U.S. will serve Turkey’s purpose?

– Turkey wants to have a say in northern Kurdistan with the support of the U.S. In this sense it would be inevitable for Kurds to direct their reaction against the U.S. which is seen as the power protecting the policy of destruction towards Kurds.

Is it possible to have a single movement against the U.S.?

– There is a need to seal an alliance between Turkey’s workers and the people of Kurdistan. Both sides have experiences share. Foretasting this issue, the AKP government has launched the KCK operations and included the Turkish left in these operations. The best answer to be given to this attack is the Democratic Congress of Peoples.

Deputy Leyla Zana’s house has been recently raided within the scope of KCK operations. Do you think the wave of pressure against BDP will continue?

– These attacks are not anonymous and they are turning into a revenge action on some people including Leyla Zana who is an important symbol of the struggle of the Kurdish people.

In which way is the process progressing? What is the final plan of the AKP?

– Rather than doing politics on the basis of this idea, we need to look at the purpose of the pressure. The AKP wants to get to the 2014 local elections continuing is suppression of the Kurdish freedom struggle. It aims to win the large part of local governments and to bring Recep Tayyip Erdo?an to the presidency of the Republic. This is the craziest project by the AKP and it aims to deprive Kurds of the right they gained, to eliminate the Kurdish movement, to enslave Kurds once again and to build an empire above all these injustices. Against this plan, I believe it is necessary to build a a resistance across the country. We have enough power, energy and time to practice this resistance. And I believe that we will get the best of the elections in 2014 and reverse the plan made for those elections by the AKP.

Turkey is trying to fill the gap of the new order left from the U.S. and it is therefore supported by the U.S. for this purpose. However, masses have reacted against this new order. The reaction in the Arab countries results from the desire of region’s peoples to play a role in this new order.

In my opinion, the U.S. considers Kurds as a destabilising factor and it is trying different tactics with Kurds in the different countries. For example it takes a position against the Kurdish freedom struggle in Turkey, but it is not taking a direct position against the Kurdish movement in Iran. It is also of importance what kind of an attitude Turkey will adopt in the region.

The falling of the Syrian government wouldn’t be a surprise as this kind of regimes could face unexpected ends at an unexpected time. However, relations between Turkey and Syria will not get better as long as the Assad regime exists.

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