Kurdish was going to split Turkey?

Politicians delegated the Kurdish issue in the 1970s and 80s to the military. It is only natural that they took up this problem by using their military logic. It started with the denial of the existence of Kurds and putting everything onto the forbidden list. It was forbidden to speak in Kurdish, to name children in Kurdish, to return Kurdish names to villages that had been formerly been Kurdish, to educate in Kurdish. It was that much of a restriction that one could not think of radio or TV in the Kurdish languageÉ Prohibited É prohibitedÉ prohibited.

This way we thought we could protect Turkey from splitting up.

What’s even worse is that in the Diyarbakır military prison incredible torture was carried out not only on political detainees but also on everyone who is not able to speak Turkish. Tens of detainees lost their lives. Delegates, business men and even ministers got their share of this torture. In those days there was not much seen of the PKK. We were not able to see the bonding of our citizens of Kurdish origin. We could not see that so much oppression was constrained and that one day it would burst. If we could have only taken a few simple steps and given up on at least some restrictions back in those days we would have decreased the effects of the explosion.Then the PKK came forward. We were surprised but we only addressed them on the level of terror. We were not able to see that they were feeding on a swamp that was deepening with our restrictions. We continued with our prohibitions. Again we did not take any steps. The PKK kept feeding on these restrictions providing an ease for them. And the PKK just like the state has introduced its own restrictions. They attacked villages and killed innocent people. But they said that what they did was in order to "have people realize the Kurdish identity." Those who were exposed to pressure believed this lie. The PKK progressively became popular with some groups of the Kurds. There came a day when we realized that we could not continue with these restrictions. But still we couldn’t help it.

Think back to the time when Öcalan was caught. You know those years when we missed out on the big chance. Remember Öcalan was caught and had instructed the PKK to leave Turkey which put down its weapons, and the region calmed down É It was exactly during that period when, under the influence of EU reforms, in view of the reality, we seemed as if accepting, even if unwillingly, the Kurdish existence and we postponed Öcalan’s execution but could not abandon restrictions, foremost the Kurdish language, altogether. We always took steps halfway. Reform acts passed congress but bureaucracy moved at a slow pace. We have seen numerous TRT general managers and encountered RTÜK chiefs claiming "I will not allow this country to be split."

Whereas it was the right time. If we had taken basic steps while Öcalan was in İmralı we would not be living through the terror events of today. So many people would not have died.

What happened next? Later we saw that there was no way out and were forced to take action. We had no possibility of preventing the Kurdish language. We created education possibilities. Please remember those days when Kurdish courses where in consideration. It was like a syndrome of splitting the country. What happened next? Not even Kurds considered these courses. Nowadays Bilgi University has accepted Kurdish lessons as an elective. TRT has started to air in the Kurdish language. Beside it was very much liked in the region.These were steps that were in the 1980s described as a crime worse than treason. But on second thought we found out that Turkey had not split because of the above. It has achieved a better position.

But we also saw that we were still not able to satisfy an important portion of Kurdish origin citizens. Steps taken today do not suffice. More is wanted. But the timing was missed.So what do we expect?We still do not act bravely enough. We still see the conviction of Kurdish origin parliamentarians as a prevention. We don’t even accept a protection shield provided by parliamentary privilege, as was seen in the Aysel Tuğluk case. We still cannot diagnose the swamp on which the PKK is feeding on. Again we are missing the timing. Somehow we don’t see or don’t want to see that the most important condition to escape this vicious cycle is political courage. Again we take it slow. Even though we know which steps to take, postponement suits our books.

Nobody wants to take political responsibility. Whatever happens, happens to the country. We are splitting into pieces. While trying to protect our Turkey from splitting, on the contrary we are pushing it in danger of splitting further.