Resolution passed by the IUSY Presidium on 29th May 2016 in Vienna, Austria
President Recep Tyyip Erdogan was once praised as a role model for leaders of emerging Muslim Majority nations due to several reform packages he initiated early in his term as Prime Minister of Turkey. Today, he enjoys a reputation far from the democratic, reformist and progressive one he once held among the international community.
Erdogan’s AKP (Justice and Development Party Turkish: Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) government underwent several crises including corruption scandals, accusations of media intimidation, as well as the pursuit of an increasingly polarising political agenda along ethnic lines; inciting political hatred throughout the country.
Erdogan today, after his ascension to the Republic’s Presidency, is speedily taking the Turkish State towards a one-man system. Erdogan and his party – the Turkish oligarchy- entrenched by the most polarising form of nationalism, is carrying out destruction, annihilation and looting in Kurdistan in order to preserve its colonial agenda.
In order to achieve this dirty objective, Erdogan initiated a comprehensive war in Kurdistan on July 2015. First, he ceased the peace process between the Turkish state and PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party Kurdish: Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê ) and isolated its leader Abdullah Ocalan. Very soon after, he attacked the people with suicide attacks on what was widely alleged as a joint AKP-ISIS operation. In these attacks, 5 people were killed in Diyarbakir, 33 people in Suruc, and 100 people in Ankara; at least a total of 929 people were wounded in all three attacks.
The police and army were introduced in the second phase of Erdogan’s war. For months now curfews have been declared in several towns and cities across Kurdistan. Kurdish towns such as Cizre, Silopi and Sur in the city of Amed (Diyarbakir) have been almost completely destroyed. In Cizre alone, 120 civilians were burnt alive in a basement (this has been documented by the UN, HRW and AI). The same things are now occurring in Nusaybin, Yuksekova and Sirnak. All Kurdish towns are under the attack of the Turkish army on a daily basis. Until now, a total of 800 civilians (mostly women and children) have been killed in these towns and cities by the Turkish state.
Currently, Erdogan is targeting elected Parliamentarians who stand in the way of his dictatorial ambitions. His goal of abolishing the parliamentary system is now ever closer. From 2013 to 2015, the HDP (The Peoples’ Democratic Party Turkish: Halkların Demokratik Partisi) participated in peace negotiations with the AKP government on behalf of PKK, and for this, the political immunities of the HDP legislators were selectively removed. Erdogan did so with the help of the representatives of Turkish state nationalism: AKP, the MHP (Nationalist Action Party, Turkish: Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi) and some members of CHP (Republican People’s Party: Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi). It has once again been proven that the only thing that these parties agree on is animosity towards the Kurdish people.
Erdogan’s regime is also blackmailing EU with the refugee crisis into providing it with financial and political aid, all whilst not doing anything to protect the refugees; on the contrary, allowing them to drown in the Mediterranean Sea.
Therefore,
- IUSY expresses loud criticism against the EU’s silence on this matter. The EU’s fear is clearly based on the likelihood of Turkey pulling out of the Refugee Deal if critical voices from the EU were to escalate. Human Rights and Democracy should never be allowed to be bargained against each other.
- IUSY denounces any form of vilence, oppression and selective persecution whether it be based on ethnicity, gender, political inclination. The Erdogan regime is clearly taking an ethnical approach to his dictatorial agenda; and IUSY and the world should not tolerate such abbhorence.
- IUSY extends solidarity with the peace seeking Kurdish freedom movements. In order to reach a peaceful resolution in Turkey it is important that among others the PKK should be included in the peace talks. Therefore, we call on removing the PKK from from the terrorlist to maket his possible.
- IUSY calls for the international community, the EU, the USA and other Western countries to recognize the important role of Kurds for contentment and stability in the region.
- IUSY follows closely the current development in Turkey where MPs of the HDP have had their Parliamentary immunity revoked as a strategy to silence the critique of the regimes treatment of Kurds, other minorities and dissidents. We demand that the AKP regime, along with MHP and members of CHP, withdraw their decision and reinstate the immunity for the HDP MPs back to the same terms as for all other MPs.