Turkey's Kurdish minority in a quandary - 14 Oct 07
- 12 years ago
The Turkish parliament is expected this week to approve a request from the prime minister to send soldiers into northern Iraq, to fight Kurdish PKK guerrillas. Many Turkish people would support such an action, but Turkey's Kurdish minority finds itself caught in the middle. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled from the south-east during fighting in the 1990s. Barnaby Phillips has been to a Kurdish neighbourhood in Istanbul, to see what people now feel about the rising tensions. Turkey's economy is humming these days- in Istanbul's textile factories, its often young Kurdish men doing the work.Nezir runs this place - he comes from Sirnak, on the Iraqi border - he's given jobs to all his cousins and friends -- a tight community, in what can be an unwelcoming city.
"I wish that my home in Sirnak was known for its beauty and history- and not for terrorist attacks. People hear every day about soldiers being killed there - so when I tell people in Istanbul that I am from Sirnak, they can be suspicious." Nezir is well-known on these streets. He has a tragic story - his father and grandfather were killed by PKK fighters after the Turkish army made them work as guards - this community's history is steeped in violence. Nezir took us to meet another Kurdish family.the army destroyed their village years ago, forcing them to come here - they watch a Kurdish station, broadcast from Europe - here showing PKK fighters- but they dread more violence - just talking about it made this man too afraid to show his face.
"I don't think a military operation will solve the problem. Instead they should try to win back the people there. But if they just put our people in jail with no evidence, then we lose our trust in the state. With dialogue, we can solve the problem in one year that we haven't yet solved in 25 years." In this mainly Kurdish neighbourhood people find themselves in a very difficult situation ... they feel their language and culture are discriminated against, but they want to live in peace with other Turkish people. And they fear that if there is a return to full-scale war, they will be amongst the losers. For Istanbul's Kurds, the holiday weekend at least brought the chance to relax. But everyone here knows there may be difficult days ahead- days of doubt and worry.
Barnaby Phillips, Al Jazeera Istanbul
"I wish that my home in Sirnak was known for its beauty and history- and not for terrorist attacks. People hear every day about soldiers being killed there - so when I tell people in Istanbul that I am from Sirnak, they can be suspicious." Nezir is well-known on these streets. He has a tragic story - his father and grandfather were killed by PKK fighters after the Turkish army made them work as guards - this community's history is steeped in violence. Nezir took us to meet another Kurdish family.the army destroyed their village years ago, forcing them to come here - they watch a Kurdish station, broadcast from Europe - here showing PKK fighters- but they dread more violence - just talking about it made this man too afraid to show his face.
"I don't think a military operation will solve the problem. Instead they should try to win back the people there. But if they just put our people in jail with no evidence, then we lose our trust in the state. With dialogue, we can solve the problem in one year that we haven't yet solved in 25 years." In this mainly Kurdish neighbourhood people find themselves in a very difficult situation ... they feel their language and culture are discriminated against, but they want to live in peace with other Turkish people. And they fear that if there is a return to full-scale war, they will be amongst the losers. For Istanbul's Kurds, the holiday weekend at least brought the chance to relax. But everyone here knows there may be difficult days ahead- days of doubt and worry.
Barnaby Phillips, Al Jazeera Istanbul