Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

[Vrej1915]

Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

Turkey's Ultra-Nationalists Playing With Fire

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli addresses his supporters during an election rally in Istanbul, May 29, 2011. (photo by REUTERS/Osman Orsal )

Addressing a rally of supporters in Bursa on March 23, Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), was met with chants of “Tell us to strike and we will strike! Tell us to die and we will die!” While such bloodcurdling chants are not uncommon at Turkish ultra-nationalist rallies, it was Bahçeli’s response that caused the uproar in Turkey. “Don’t worry, the time will come for that, too,” Bahçeli bellowed back at the crowd, sending shivers down the spines of those who remember the bad old days before 1980.
That was a time when the group associated with the MHP called “Ülkücüler” (“The Idealists”), who are also known widely as the “Grey Wolves,” were implicated in many murders against their opponents, who at the time were predominantly left-wing and liberal activists and intellectuals.
Mehmet Ali Ağca, who murdered Abdi Ipekçi, the liberal editor of daily Milliyet, in February 1979, and gained international notoriety after he tried to kill Pope John Paul II in May 1981, was also a member of the group. The military coup on Sept. 12, 1980, ended violence by this group to a great extent, as it did with violence by armed ultra-left wing groups.
Bahçeli, who took over the MHP in July 1997, following the death of its legendary leader Alparsalan Türkeş, had in fact been trying to change the image of the party into a more peaceful one free of the gun. The general outlook of MHP members nevertheless remains ultra-nationalistic, and its natural enemies still include left wingers, pro-Western liberals, Kurds, Armenians and Greeks.
Not surprisingly, the party is also against Turkey’s EU membership prospects, but in an effort not to appear a spoiler in terms of a drive that has been ongoing for nearly half a century, it has formulated a stance where is says it supports this membership as long as it is provided in an “honorable” manner. What this means is that EU membership must not water down the “Turkish” character of the state through criteria having to do with human rights and advanced democracy, which would also increase the rights of minorities. Bahçeli and his party, nevertheless, face a serious problem today.
The MHP and its supporters may be in near-panic over the process with the PKK, as well as the various openings initiated by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for the Kurds and other minorities. But they face a prime minister in Erdogan who brought three successive election victories for the AKP.
Put another way, Bahçeli and the MHP are confronted with a party that garnered nearly one out of every two votes cast in the June 2011 general elections, while the MHP barely managed to get 13 percent of the vote, which is only three points above the nationwide electoral barrier that parties have to pass to enter Parliament.
What compounds the dilemma for Bahçeli and the MHP is the fact that it cannot point to the AKP as a party that is “fed from the outside by Turkey’s enemies” — its classic argument against leftists and pro-Western liberals. Instead, it faces an AKP whose grassroots strength comes from the support of the conservative and religious masses in Anatolia, where it has achieved much deeper political penetration among ordinary people than the MHP can ever hope to.
Analysts worry that the MHP’s helplessness in trying to prevent developments that Turkish ultra-nationalists vehemently oppose may prompt its supporters to resort to right-wing terrorism — to achieve by means of violence what is not possible to achieve politically through democratic channels.
The MHP’s grassroots support may not be very much when compared to the AKP, or even the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which got 26 percent of the vote in June 2011. But experience has shown that maverick elements associated with the party can cause serious problems for Turkey.
Neither do these elements have to be officially registered members of the MHP, or of the “Idealists,” in order to openly sympathize with their cause. A case in point is Ogün Samast, the young killer of the Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, and those who egged him on to commit this murder in Istanbul in January 2007.
The leaking to the media of a photograph of Samast, within hours of his arrests, holding a Turkish flag while flanked by two admiring policemen, also showed the kind of penetration ultra-nationalists have within the state apparatus. As matters stand the Dink murder case has turned into a sham as a result of these elements that have also penetrated the judiciary.
Erdogan and AKP officials were of course quick to respond angrily to Bahçeli’s chilling Bursa remarks, which they generally termed “dangerous” and “irresponsible.” “There is no striking or killing in our book,” Erdogan said later, adding “We have come to give life,” and going on to castigate the MHP leader.
Others worried that there could be those who consider Bahçeli’s remarks as some kind of a signal to go ahead and attack people considered to be the internal enemies of Turkey. Cengiz Çandar, a prominent Turkish journalist and contributor to Al Monitor, is one of those expressing such concerns.
“Bahçeli has presented ‘striking and killing,’ in other words the aim of stopping the process (with the PKK), as a project that can be brought to life on his instructions ‘when the time comes.’ This brings up the threat of bloody inter-communal conflict in Turkey,” Çandar wrote in his column in daily Radikal.
The general consensus outside MHP circles is that Bahçeli is playing with fire, especially given the number of unemployed Turkish youths of the Ogün Samast mold, who are impressionable and looking for a mission to give meaning to their otherwise drab lives.
Bahçeli however remains defiant in the face of harsh criticism. He told his Parliamentary Group earlier this week that he used those words during the Bursa meeting “with determination,” and went on to remark:
“Today I stand behind my words till the very end. Everyone should know that when the place and the time come it will definitely be seen and fully understood what we will do, and what we are prepared to consider.”
Many see this as rabble-rousing and incitement to violence by an elected politician, and are worried because of the past history of the MHP and its supporters. But Bahçeli is faced with another dilemma here. Opinion polls indicate that wary as many may be about aspects of the current peace process with the PKK, there is still nearly 60 percent support for the government as it tries to end 30 years of terrorism by this group.
In many ways, Erdogan is at the stage that Tony Blair was in 1998 in relation to ending the terror campaign of the IRA. The bottom line is that most Turks want an end to PKK violence, and are prepared to give Erdogan and his government the necessary leeway for this.
Should Bahçeli and his party trigger right-wing terrorism at a time when efforts are continuing to achieve this, it could rebound on them politically, given that they have lots of anger but no answers to a very real problem. Whatever the case may turn out to be, one thing is certain. Bahçeli and the MHP are indeed playing with fire at a highly sensitive moment for Turkey.
Semih İdiz is a contributing writer for Al-Monitor’s Turkey Pulse. A journalist who has been covering diplomacy and foreign policy issues for major Turkish newspapers for 30 years, his opinion pieces can be followed in the English-language Hurriyet Daily News. He can also be read in Taraf.


Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/orig...#ixzz2OwA0x9Es

[Vahram]

Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

Nothing is finished!

[Vrej1915]

Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

Land matters: Emergence of Kurdistan likely to have bearings on historical Armenian territories



By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow correspondent
The establishment of an independent Kurdish state, or perhaps an ethnic supranational entity, is apparently becoming a reality. Notably, this entity is likely to be established also on some of the historical Armenian lands in what is known as Western Armenia (part of modern-day Turkey) today. In that case, the descendants of Armenians massacred and dispossessed during the years of the genocide back in 1915 may face another fact by 2015 – their historical homeland will be officially proclaimed Kurdistan. After the establishment of Iraqi Kurdistan, which has gained nearly a state status, Kurdish movements are also expected to prevail in Syria and Turkey. A few days ago United States Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to the president of the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq, Massoud Barzani, about the ongoing crisis. At the same time, the national coalition of opposition and revolutionary forces of Syria elected ethnic Kurd Ghassan Hitto head of the provisional government in the territory of the country which is now controlled by the opposition, reports Anadolu news agency. Hitto is the second Kurdish oppositionist after the head of the Syrian National Council Abdulbasid Seid to have taken a top position in the ranks of the Syrian opposition. And if the fight against the Assad regime in Syria ends in favor of the opposition, the Kurds may insist on a division of the state or at least a confederation. Meanwhile, in Turkey, the government is trying to reroute a growing Kurdish movement into the channel of so-called ‘constructivism’. Kurds are building up resistance, and statements are already being made about a confederation and changes in the Turkish Constitution, repealing Article 66, which says that all citizens of Turkey are Turks. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, apparently worried over such developments, has established ties with leader of the Kurdish national liberation movement Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence in a Turkish jail. Mixed reports have been made about agreements reached between the two parties. While Turkish media say Ocalan has urged his supporters to leave the territory of Turkey and go to Iraq or Syria, the Kurds deny the existence of any agreements. The Kurds themselves are demanding the release of arrested compatriots, including Ocalan. A Kurdistan Workers Party leader has called for a push for Ocalan’s release during the current celebration of Nowruz (Persian New Year), as well as a campaign for a constitutional status for Kurds in Turkey. (There is a small Kurdish community in Armenia that also regularly stages peaceful protests in Yerevan against oppression of ethnic kin in Turkey or elsewhere in the Middle East). Still a few years ago several American think tanks published a map, according to which an independent state of Kurdistan will be established on parts of the territories that belong to modern Iraq, Syria and Turkey. Remarkably, in accordance with the same map a part of Western Armenia is joined to the Republic of Armenia. And now there is some expert opinion that soon the heirs of the victims of the Armenian Genocide will have to negotiate on restitution and financial compensation for the genocide and demarcation of the border not with Turks, but rather with Kurds.

Source URL: http://www.armenianow.com/commentary...urkey_genocide

[TomServo]

Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

If you have access to a major academic database, the article can be found in the journal Iran and the Caucasus (2009).

No need. The article can be read here.

Btw, Asatrian's son, Mushegh, is also a scholar specializing in early Islamic (Shi'a) religious and intellectual history. He is a Yale graduate and his dissertation was entitled "Heresy and Rationalism in Early Islam: The Origins and Evolution of the Mufaḍḍal-tradition." I have no idea what that is, but good for him!

[Vrej1915]

Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

Des dizaines de milliers de Kurdes manifestent à Strasbourg
Le Monde.fr avec AFP | 16.02.2013 à 18h13


De 10 000 à 45 000 Kurdes, selon la préfecture et les organisateurs, ont défilé samedi 16 février dans les rues de Strasbourg en faveur de la libération en Turquie du leader du PKK emprisonné Abdullah Öcalan, et pour réclamer "justice" après l'assassinat à Paris de trois militantes kurdes. Les manifestants, venus de plusieurs pays d'Europe (notamment d'Allemagne, de France et du Bénélux), portaient des banderoles proclamant "Kurdistan libre" et de grands portraits d'Abdullah Öcalan.
En tête du cortège, des dizaines de femmes arboraient sur des t-shirts blancs les portraits des trois militantes kurdes assassinées à Paris le 9 janvier dans les locaux du Centre d'information kurde (CIK), surmontés de l'inscription "sans femme, pas de paix". "Nous exigeons la justice, nous demandons des comptes", proclamait une banderole. "Nous n'avons plus confiance dans les autorités françaises car un mois et demi après ces meurtres, on ne connaît toujours pas les commanditaires, on ne sait rien", a expliqué Mahmoud Erol, de l'Association culturelle de Mésopotamie.

Un Turc de 30 ans qui dit appartenir depuis deux ans au PKK (Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan, interdit en Turquie) a été mis en examen et écroué à Paris dans cette affaire. Par ailleurs, les manifestants entendaient protester contre la récente interpellation de 17 Kurdes à Bordeaux et Toulouse (sud-ouest) dans le cadre d'une enquête antiterroriste sur des tentatives d'extorsion de fonds pour le financement du PKK.

Les Kurdes d'Europe ont l'habitude de manifester en nombre chaque année à la mi-février à Strasbourg, pour commémorer l'arrestation d'Abdullah Öcalan le 15 février 1999. Le PKK est considéré comme un mouvement terroriste par la Turquie, l'Union européenne et les Etats-Unis. En 1984, il a déclenché une rébellion sécessionniste dans le sud-est de la Turquie, région pauvre et sous-développée, peuplée majoritairement de Kurdes. Le conflit a fait plus de 45.000 morts depuis cette date, selon l'armée.

[Vrej1915]

Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

TURKEY MAY BE DIVIDED BY 2030, A KURDISH STATE COULD BECOME A REALITY: U.S. INTELLIGENCE REPORT 11.12.2012

http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2012/12/turkey4356.htm

Map: Ekurd.net ~U See Related Articles December 11, 2012

WASHINGTON,- A new report from the U.S. National Intelligence council
claims the possible formation of Kurdistan state by 2030.

The report by the National Intelligence Council said that greater
pressures on Turkish territorial integrity could be the main impetus
behind the emergence of a Kurdish state, together with greater
fragmentation of Iraq and Syria.

"In event of a more fragmented Iraq or Syria, a Kurdistan would not
be inconceivable," said the report, released Tuesday.

One of six scenarios presented in the report consisted of a rising
Kurdistan, which in turn affects Turkey's territorial unity by carrying
a risk of separation.

Turkey will also play an increasing role in the international arena
and will have a wider influence in global affairs, the report said.

The report suggested that European countries should keep the
possibility of Turkey's accession going, as well as the negotiations.

The National Intelligence Council's Office of the Director of National
Intelligence report called "Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds"
said the division may happen until 2030.

Currently, Kurds in Turkey fighting for a separate homeland are in
the offensive since July led by the separatist Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK).

The predicted Kurdistan may include Kurdish regions in Iraq, Syria
and Iran, according to the report.

Since it was established in 1984, the PKK has been fighting the
Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of
Kurds, to establish a Kurdish state in the south east of the country.

By 2012,www.ekurd.net more than 45,000 people have since been killed.

But now its aim is the creation an autonomous region and more cultural
rights for ethnic Kurds who constitute the greatest minority in
Turkey. A large Turkey's Kurdish community, numbering to 25 million,
openly sympathise with PKK rebels.

The PKK wants constitutional recognition for the Kurds, regional
self-governance and Kurdish-language education in schools.

Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population as a distinct
minority. It has allowed some cultural rights such as limited
broadcasts in the Kurdish language and private Kurdish language courses
with the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish politicians say
the measures fall short of their expectations.

The PKK is considered as 'terrorist' organization by Ankara, U.S. Also
the PKK continues to be on the blacklist list in EU despite court
ruling which overturned a decision to place the Kurdish rebel group
PKK and its political wing on the European Union's terror list.

[TomServo]

Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

Actually, Asatrian's words sounds like something I once wrote on Wikipedia.

Is there such a thing as "Kurdish studies" (unless it is part of a creative writing course )? Kurdish "history" makes Azerbaijan's identity inventions seem almost reasonable.

What troubles me is that if legitimate academics can be duped by such propaganda, how long will it be until we see the emergence of a similar Azerbaijan-related field? Right now the propaganda is limited to charlatans like Svante Cornell and Zeyno Baran but with a little more influence et l'argent we might see an "industry of amateurs," to use Asatrian's words.

[bell-the-cat]

Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

...the introduction begins with Asatrian stating that the field of Kurdish Studies has "produced an industry of amateurs, with few rivals in other domains of Orientalistic knowledge." That would be a no-no on "neutral-point-of-view" Wikipedia, wouldn't it?

Actually, Asatrian's words sounds like something I once wrote on Wikipedia.

Is there such a thing as "Kurdish studies" (unless it is part of a creative writing course )? Kurdish "history" makes Azerbaijan's identity inventions seem almost reasonable.

[TomServo]

Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

For all those interested in the (pre)history of "Kurdistan" and the state of Kurdish Studies, I would recommend Garnik Asatrian's article "Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds." It's a pretty long article but provides a very useful examination of all aspects of Kurdish Studies, including its politicization. The abstract sells the article as objective even though the introduction begins with Asatrian stating that the field of Kurdish Studies has "produced an industry of amateurs, with few rivals in other domains of Orientalistic knowledge." That would be a no-no on "neutral-point-of-view" Wikipedia, wouldn't it?

Kurdish nationalists -- and we've seen our fair share on these forums -- as well as Western academics who like to label the Zaza, Yazidi, and other Kurmanji-speaking minority groups in the region as Kurds will definitely not be pleased with this article. I should add that one of these "amateurs" (as Asatrian might refer to him) is a British journalist named Onnik Krikorian who has been reporting on the Kurds since at least the 1990s (he's been based in Armenia for a while now but before that I believe he reported from the Kurdish-inhabited parts of Turkey). Here are some of his interviews with various Armenian, Kurdish, and Yazidi representatives and scholars, including one with Asatrian.

If you have access to a major academic database, the article can be found in the journal Iran and the Caucasus (2009).

[Vrej1915]

Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

Թուրքիայում փորձում են պարզել ճարտարապետ Սինանի ազգային պատկանելությունը

19:12, 30 Հունվար, 2013
ԵՐԵՎԱՆ, 30 ՀՈՒՆՎԱՐԻ, ԱՐՄԵՆՊՐԵՍ: Թուրքիայում ազգայնամոլական տրամադրություններն այնքան են ուժեղացել, որ այժմ անգամ փորձում են պարզել մի քանի հարյուր տարի առաջ Օսմանյան Կայսրության ժամանակաշրջանի ռահվիրա ճարտարապետ Սինանի ազգային պատկանելությունը: Ինչպես հաղորդում է «Արմենպրես»-ը` վկայակոչելով թուրքական «Դողան» լրատվական գործակալությունը, այս մասին հայտարարել է Թուրքիայի խորհրդարանում միակ քրդական «Խաղաղություն եւ ժողովրդավարություն կուսակցության» (ԽԺԿ) համանախագահ Գյուլթան Քըշանաքը` կուսակցության խմբակցության ժողովում «թուրքական պետության ղեկավարության մեջ ազգայնամոլական մտածելակերպի» քննադատության ժամանակ:

Քուրդ քաղաքական գործիչն ասել է, որ Թուրքիայում այնքան է արմատացած ազգայնամոլությունն ու թրքականությունը գերակա համարելու սովորույթը, որ այդ մտածելակերպը գործում է անգամ այդ երկրի ներկայիս իշխանության մեջ: Քննադատելով թուրքական խորհրդարանի Ժողովրդահանրապետական կուսակցության (Աթաթուրքի հիմնադրած) պատգամավոր Բիրգյուլ Այման Գյուլերի խորհրդարանում արած այն հայտարարությունը, որ «թուրք ազգն ու քուրդ ժողովուրդը չեն կարող հավասար լինել», ԽԺԿ համանախագահն ասել է, որ այսօրվա Թուրքիայի ղեկավարները նման են 1930-ականներին «թուրք ռասսայի գանգը սահմանողներին»:
«Թուրքիայի ազգայնական ղեկավարությունը գերեզմանից հանել եւ ուսումնասիրել է ճարտարապետ Սինանի գանգը` պարզելու նրա իրական ազգությունը: Այժմ Սինանը գերեզմանոցում պառկած է առանց գանգի», -ասել է քուրդ գործիչը: Նա հավելել է, որ «եթե թուրք քաղաքական գործիչները շարունակեն նման մտածելակերպը, ապա նրանք չեն կարող քաղաքական ազդեցություն ունենալ երկրի ապագայի վրա»:

«Վերջին 100 տարվա ընթացքում Թուրքիայի ունեցած խնդիրների հիմքում հենց այդ մտածելակերպն է ընկած: Դա բոլորին թուրքացնելու համար ստեղծված մտածելակերպն է: Թուրքիան պետք է առերեսվի իր այդ ռասիստական մտածելակերպի հետ», -հայտարարել է Քըշանաքը:

Թուրքիայի ղեկավարությանը խիստ անհանգստացրել էին Ստամբուլի «Ակոս» թերթի հայազգի խմբագրապետ Հրանտ Դինքի համարձակ հայտարարություններն այն մասին, որ Թուրքիան միայն թուրքերին չի պատկանում, քանի որ Օսմանյան կայսրության ժամանակներից ի վեր երկրի կյանքում մեծ դեր են ունեցել նաեւ հայերը: Նա, մասնավորապես, ապացույցներ է բերել այն մասին, որ Օսմանյան Կայսրության ժամանակշրջանի ճարտարապետ Սինանը, որը համարվում է թուրքական ճարտարապետության հիմնադիրը, եւ որի կառուցած շատ շենքեր Թուրքիայում այժմ էլ հանդիսանում են համաշխարհային ճարտարապետության նմուշներ, ազգությամբ հայ է, հայ է նաեւ Աթաթուրքի հոգեզավակ Սաբիհա Քյոքչենը, ով Թուրքիայի առաջին կին ռազմական օդաչուն է եւ ում անունով է կոչվում Ստամբուլի օդանավակայաններից մեկը: Դա հանդիսացել է 2007 թ-ի հունվարի 19-ին թուրք ազգայնական շրջանակների կողմից Դինքի դավադիր սպանության պատճառներից մեկը: