Kurds inspired, Turks fearful
DIYARBAKIR – For Ramazan, an elderly Kurdish businessman, the recent battles between masked Kurdish youths and Turkish police have rekindled one of his greatest dreams: the cre- ation of an autonomous Kurdish zone in Turkey, much like the one Kurds have carved out of Iraq with US support. For Turkey, Ramazan’s dream is the country’s ultimate nightmare. While some Kurds look to northern Iraq as an inspirational example of a largely independent Kurdish area, many Turks see Iraq’s ethnic fracturing and brewing civil war as a worrying sign of what the future may hold for them. Iran and Syria are also scared that Kurds in northern Iraq, flush with oil revenue, could set up an independent state if the Iraqi government collapses, a state that would serve as a rallying call for their own restless Kurdish minorities. Iran’s ambassador to Turkey, Firouz Dowlatabadi, warned in an interview earlier this week that if Turkey, Iran and Syria don’t form a joint policy on the Kurdish issue, «the US will carve pieces from us for a Kurdish state.» But international politics was of little concern to Ramazan when he headed out into the streets as soon as he heard Kurdish protesters were confronting Turkish police. The protests started in Diyarbakir, the largest city in southeastern Turkey, which is by far the poorest and least developed region in Turkey. «I did not throw any stone, I did not enter the clashes, I am old you know,» said Ramazan, who refused to reveal personal details for fear the police could try to track him down. «But I went out to support the Kurdish revolution. I had to be there.» At least 15 people were killed in the riots, more than half in Diyarbakir, while hundreds were injured or detained for questioning. «I am a Kurd, we want our language, our rights,» Ramazan said. Turkey refuses to recognize Kurds as a minority. At the prodding of the EU, Turkey recently granted some cultural rights to Kurds such as limited broadcasts on television but Kurds say it is too little, too late. Turks, on the other hand, fear that granting more cultural rights could lead to the breakup of the country along ethnic lines. And stoking that fear now is a US-supported Kurdish region in northern Iraq, complete with its own government and militia. Turkish businessmen are already flocking to the area as the Kurdish economy in northern Iraq grows. Some Turkish Kurds from border regions are sending their children to universities in northern Iraq. That is coming as Turkey’s economic program to build up the southeast, which was devastated by more than a decade of warfare between autonomy seeking Kurdish guerrillas and the army, is faltering. The government has done little to improve ruined roads or the dilapidated healthcare system, and the electrical grid is in poor shape. Many Kurds have been looking toward the EU with great hope, encouraged by the potential boost to the economy and increased pressure on Turkey to grant Kurds cultural rights. European officials have stressed that Turkey’s treatment of its Kurds will be a determining factor in its EU bid. But entering Europe could take a decade or more and for many Kurds, especially those in the shantytowns ringing the major cities of the southeast, frustration is growing. Unemployment is very high in southeastern Turkey, which helps boost support for Kurdish guerrillas, based in northern Iraq. Turkey says the guerrillas are also benefiting from the chaos in Iraq and have been able to acquire sophisticated plastic explosives in Iraq for bombings in Turkey. «No doubt the region is affected by winds of change from northern Iraq,» said Hasim Hasimi, a former Kurdish lawmaker. «What Turkey must do is to take urgent measures to turn its own southeast into an attraction center instead.» For Ramazan, the fate of the Kurdish dream lies in Washington and Brussels. «Give us a federal status like in Iraq, that’s enough,» he said. But there is little chance of Turkish leaders agreeing. «Sinister plans which are being buried in history cannot be put back into motion,» Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, referring to the guerillas’ dreams of a free state. «No one should dare to test the power of the state or the nation.»
