Kurds Riot in Turkey
Kurdish Demonstration, Istanbul, Republic of Turkey © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 1997
After saying that this year’s Newroz in Turkey seemed to pass more peacefully than it has in the past, the BBC reports that another four people have died in rioting that has spread across the country in recent days.
At least four more people have died in continued violence in Turkey after days of clashes between Kurds and police.
Three were killed in Istanbul after a petrol bomb was thrown at a bus and a Kurdish man was shot dead by troops in the town of Kiziltepe, reports said.
Demonstrators took to the streets in Istanbul as unrest spread following Turkey’s worst riots in several years.
Riots began on Tuesday after funerals for 14 suspected Kurdish militants who were killed last weekend in the east.
Some 200 pro-Kurdish protesters blocked roads in the Bagcilar suburb of Istanbul and threw a petrol bomb at a passing bus.
At least three people died, reportedly run over as the bus driver manoeuvred to escape the rioters.
[…]
Turkish officials have alleged that the week of violence has been orchestrated by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), banned by the government and branded a terrorist group by the European Union.
Incidently, I received an unexpected email from a British photographer who I knew when I was working on the Kurds and human rights in Turkey. Depending on what happens next, I might have some interesting news in the near future.
Kurdish Demonstration, Istanbul, Republic of Turkey © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 1997
They say “you reap what you sow”.
I feel sorry for these people. Well, they are just normal, innocent human beings with day-to-day worries, but history has a way of getting back. I don’t say this with feelings of revenge or hatred, mind you… And heck, maybe it sounds like old women’s talk… anyway, I wrote my personal observations on the incidents in Diyarbakir, which is where half of my family is from (well, the provice of Diyarbakir to be exact), you can check it out to understand my perspective.
Comment by Freedom — April 3, 2006 @ 3:05 pm
Actually, thanks very much for that link. I have a few stories to tell from speaking to Kurds in South East Turkey, and in particular Diyarbakir, Elazig and Bingol. They do understand and on my last night in Elazig, the two very pretty daughters of the Kurdish head of the local Turkish Human Rights Association told me one story about the Kurdish role in the Genocide.
Bear in mind, however, that it is usually the left-leaning Kurds and Turks who do admit what happened, but when I get time I should post it here. Also, the head of HADEP in Elazig in 1997 was actually writing a book on the Genocide. Not sure if it ever got published, though. Still, many Kurds, Yezidi and others also fell victim during the Genocide and some Turks and Kurds did save Armenian lives.
Ultimately, however, I do believe that one lesson of the Genocide is to respect minority and human rights wherever they are, although yes, recognition and acceptance is another associated issue. That’s also a human and minority right even in retrospect and has implications for future observance of such rights, especially in the modern-day Turkish Republic.
Just one thing to add, however. When I was working for a while for the Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) in London, I met a left-wing Turkish human rights lawyer who was in the UK because of his outspoken views in his home country. He publicly voiced acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey, yet when I took him to a lecture on the Genocide by Ara Sarafian, a few of those Diasporan Armenians in attendance treated him very badly.
That lecture was actually on how Armenians were absorbed into Turkish and Kurdish families, but the way this handful of extreme nationalists behaved was embarrising — to treat a very brave individual like that so badly. Of course, the ARF-D and pro-PKK forces have met before to slice up Turkey in the unlikely event that it will disintegrate, but here was a clear example of someone who wanted to work for acceptance of the Genocide on the basis of respect for human and minority rights in Turkey.
Comment by Onnik — April 3, 2006 @ 3:13 pm
Onnik, it would be very interesting to hear the story they told you.
I wish I could travel to these places myelf.
Comment by Freedom — April 7, 2006 @ 5:44 pm