Conny Fredriksson

EU, Turkey and the Kurds

Conny Fredriksson 

In 1976 I gave a speech on Walpurgis Night in my home town in Sweden. It was a speech that welcomed the spring. I discussed international solidarity and how our doors should be kept open to people who need our help and how we should welcome them into our country.   When I was finished, a young man said loudly: "I have always been a social democrat, and my father would kill me if I desert the party. But I tell you one thing – stop allowing those bloody Turks into our country, or I will leave you for good." 

I think this underlines how the question of Turkish membership in the EU is not just an affair for the Turks and the minorities in the country.

Within the EU, there are internal differences between pro- and anti-Turkish feelings. The German election campaign and the French and Dutch referenda on the EU constitution show that there is a strong under-current against Turkish EU membership. It is clear that the pro-Turkish forces in these countries have an important job to do to increase awareness about Turkey and thereby make support for Turkish membership greater. President Chirac’s promise of a French referendum on Turkey’s status will open the way for islamophobia and prejudice, an unfortunate mix. The result of the German election was no doubt influenced by opposition to Turkish membership.

The political centre-left could be more constructive. I think we learnt a lot while preparing the ex-Communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe for democracy and market economy before entering the EU. We were very much involved in building social democratic parties in all the new member states, and I think we can use these experiences in helping the Kurdish parties to democratize. Hopefully European liberals will be helpful in this democracy-building process.

At present there is a one-month cease-fire declared by HPG, the civil defence force of Kongragel, the civil branch of what used to be PKK. It has brought down the number of clashes between the Turkish army and remaining guerrilla groups – hopefully this cease-fire will continue. In my opinion, there is no other way of keeping the peace. I therefore appeal to Kongra-Gel to continue on this track. It is also necessary that the Turkish army refrains from attacking Kurdish civilians and demonstrations in the country – the legal framework is there, and democratic rights have to be respected. Implementation requires cooperation from the Turkish authorities, civil as well as military, police and army.

It was a positive signal that the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan sent out some weeks ago, when in Diyarbakir he admitted that there is a Kurdish people and a Kurdish problem in the country. This means that this problem has to be solved. Turkish intellectuals have agreed. We support the Turkish Government’s change of attitude and ask more nationalistic political forces in Turkey to do the same, and avoid using this in domestic politics.

It is, I think, very important that the situation in Turkey, especially in the Southeast, becomes stabilized now that EU-Turkey negotiations have started. As indicated above this is a bilateral obligation for the Turkish authorities as well as representatives of the Kurdish people. This will reduce the risks of regional unrest spreading into neighbouring Iran, Iraq and Syria. The development of a federal system in Iraq is a very interesting example, especially for Iran, where federalism could help democratize the country. I have no illusions, however, that such a solution has any support in Teheran.

I do not believe in federalism for Turkey, however. Ever since Atatürk, the struggle to create a lasting, strong and Unitarian state has been on going – this we have to recognize and respect.

The solution to the Kurdish problem has to be found in Turkey itself. This will also be a vital part in preparing Turkey for EU membership. Recognizing human and civil rights for the whole population is the way forward and it seems possible.  This also includes cultural and language rights. The right to form political parties on democratic and parliamentary principles should be guaranteed.

Lowering the ten per cent threshold for entering the national parliament will improve the chances for a party like DEHAP to be represented on a national level, and other civil rights movements could develop. In this way Turkey would be a more decentralized, democratic and pluralistic, modern state.

These are demands that the EU should make in the negotiating process. In setting such an example, the EU would become a democratizing force not only for Turkey but for the whole Middle East as well. This is the civilized, European way.
As for the EU-Turkey negotiations, it would be very useful if our Kurdish friends could have some observers to follow the process from the inside. DEHAP, now a consultative member of the Socialist International, should be amongst them. 

One question that should be asked is what degree of cooperation and mutual support is there within the Kurdish population? The Turkish policy of forcing Kurds to desert their villages in the Southeast has caused large-scale emigration to the cities both in Kurdistan and in the Western part of Turkey. Diyarbakir has more than doubled its population in ten years. Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara today house considerable numbers of Kurds, but this has not been very noticeable in election results. There should be potential for Kurdish parties to gather votes in such cities.

I think it is positive that Kongra-Gel has announced that it wants to continue its struggle peacefully. There is room for closer cooperation between democratic Kurdish parties all over the country – maybe we will see the creation of a new, all-Kurdish party in the near future.

When it comes to former guerrilla fighters, the proposal to give them amnesty and thereby let them take part in rebuilding the destroyed villages seems quite correct. I think one should ask Turkey to grant this amnesty, it would be an important signal: a symbolic act of good will in the opening phase of negotiations.
To sum up: the work to get Turkey fully integrated is a shared task for Turkish and for Kurdish democrats, as well as European democrats. We should ask for more effort from the Turkish side, but we should also offer to give help along the way.