Ihsan Bal Head of Security Studies USAK printable version send your friend message to author add comment (1)

Thursday, 30 April 2009

On the morning of April 14^th, Turkish Police Forces conducted operations in different cities. The first news reports stated that these operations were held against a shadow group, behind the DTP, which has ties to the PKK. Operations were first begun in 12 cities and were then extended to include more than 20. By the 24^th of April, 110 suspects had been taken into custody. There were different reactions to the police operations; most claimed that these operations would prevent Kurdish people from being integrated into the democracy in Turkey. In fact, some say that this is an operation against the DTP, which was relatively successful in the last local elections. Another important claim is that these operations negatively affected the peace process. However, what is the reality?   

It would be beneficial to discuss the process item by item in order to have an analysis of the arguments and to inform the public regarding the issue. Turkey has been fighting terrorism for many years and also has made some mistakes including extrajudicial execution, human right violations, and use of excessive force. In short, Turkey has had problems during the detentions and trials by not providing people’s basic human rights based on the basic legitimacy of the rule of law and legal authority.

Does the April 14 KCK (Koma Civaken Kürdistan - Kurdish Community Association) Operation create any problem for Turkey in terms of its human rights report, detention period, and enforcement of law?

First of all, it should be known that only the state authority has the right to use force in a country. The state uses force to ensure the security of public in the framework of law. The April 14 Operations didn’t lead to any violations and were performed well in terms of the timing of the operation and use of force. Turkish police complied with the law for the detention period and KCK members and supporters haven’t complained about security forces. Yet, it is known that such organizations do not overlook even the slightest mistake that has such political content and try to use it as propaganda material.

It is also understood that the police force had defined the targets very well after a careful investigation. As a matter of fact, the Western standard for the rate of arrest under detention is twenty percent for organized crimes, especially for terrorism related crimes. Therefore, an arrest rate of over ninety percent for the KCK operations is a very positive result in terms of criminal justice.

These types of operations are often of critical importance, and if the state cannot succeed, its failure will return as a wave of anti-state propaganda. However, in many parts of Turkey, different police forces, different prosecutors, and different courts came up with same decision. A prisoner under arrest and on trial is not assumed to be “absolute guilty,” but it means that judges have found convincing evidence in support of these charges.  

The point is this: There is no claim or evidence that Turkey had any problems regarding law and use of force. So, what is the claim? As stated at the beginning of the article, it may damage the peace process. The alleged crimes of the 110 people arrested are: disturbing the peace, threatening the public, damaging public property, damaging private property, setting fire to public transportation in Istanbul, putting pressure on citizens by threatening them before local elections, threatening the DTP municipal officials, establishing the city structure of terror organizations, and provoking innocent children to attack security forces and stores.

It is possible to increase the number of questions. However, the question that should be asked to understand the issue is: “How could an intervention in the judicial process be explained through a belief in democracy, peace, and state of law?” Why are these arrests presented as an obstacle to the development of democracy? How could you defend those people in terms of democracy? Don’t you have to trust a democratic government that respects to human rights until the trial ends? I think the most proper answer is that every democratic person should continue to support this process, and the trial must be conducted in the framework of law.   

So, why does the DTP strongly react to these operations?

The DTP, which received the votes of Kurdish people as a result of their identity politics, has never made such public demands, such as: education rights for Kurdish children, removing the barriers to the Kurdish (language), Kurdish TV broadcasting, and some other cultural demands. Besides, a significant part of those demands were realized during Turkey’s EU process. The same DTP has also not attempted to sit-in parliament regarding Turkey’s human rights violations, excessive use of force, and unidentified murders. However, the same DTP ironically comes out in support of members of the KCK who were arrested due to several accusations. There is neither a human rights violation, nor a violation of law. All the developments regarding the trial clearly appear under the supervision of society without any human rights violation. Nevertheless, the DTP’s anxious behavior brings some questions and background relations to mind. 

At this point, three basic questions/concerns appear:

First of all, does the DTP really believe that the KCK is a secret ghost power? Is the DTP really afraid of the KCK? And, due to this fear, does the DTP fulfill the instructions that are given by the KCK?

Secondly, did the DTP mainly receive the votes from Kurdish citizens who were threatened by the KCK?

Thirdly, is it possible to interpret these operations as the AKP's revenge for local election defeat?

The scenarios and questions behind all these will be based on the DTP’s clear and courageous responses to these three questions. The April 14 KCK operations are very important for the Kurdish population, especially in southeastern Turkey, who were terrorized, scared, intimidated, and misdirected in attempts to discourage them from showing their own democratic demands, free will, individual freedom, and developing identity. Yet, these operations are against a “fear gang” who loomed like a nightmare over the Kurdish people. Thus, Kurdish intellectuals, Kurdish entrepreneurs, and Kurdish teenagers will have the freedom to participate in daily life in a more productive manner. In fact, the most important fact of which the operations reminded us is that everyone has faced their own witch/evil spirit to some extent in Turkey, except the DTP. It’s now time for them to face and get rid of the KCK who kept them under pressure for years by thinking that they have all democratic, cultural, financial, and legal rights of Kurdish people. Ignoring these facts and saying that this is the ruling party’s revenge operation means an attempt to blacken the future of Kurds at first. Besides, if these operations had the purpose of a political objective, it would take place before the local elections. Prosecutors and judges of the Republic were on the operations from the first moment and they waited to take action until they had the exact information. This point should be emphasized to be fair to the security forces and to Turkish justice.   

Democratic DTP Has Troubles with Deep DTP

If first-class democracy and freedom are to be realized in Turkey, the most significant obstacle hindering Turkey is the criminal organizations hidden among the Kurdish people. If these illegal organizations could be delivered to the court, it would definitely happen with Kurdish people’s backing. Therefore, Kurdish people would find an atmosphere where freedom, individual liberty, modern and civilized society provides more options for them. Kurdish people should support this process against the KCK just as people who want democracy in Turkey support the cases such as digging the well holes in Silopi or making an effort to punish criminals. It would be helpful to reconsider the DTP’s panic against the KCK operation in this perspective.

Translated by Salih Dogan (JTW)
Edited by Kaitlin MacKenzie (JTW)