It’s About Time Turks Come to Terms with Their Past and Present
Rauf Naqishbendi
Recently, two major issues have haunted Turkey. First, their impatience to intrude militarily into Kurdistan in northern Iraq, and second, the passing of two nonbinding resolutions by the United States Senate: one in support of partitioning Iraq into three autonomous states, and the other an acknowledgment that the World War I-era killings of Armenians by Turks were genocide. The confluence of these has resulted in widespread irrationality on the part of the Turks.
Sensible nations support their neighbors in the spirit of economic cooperation and to promote national security in their region; they know that turmoil in neighboring countries can drive waves of refugees over their borders, and chaos could spill over into their country. But this guiding principle clashed with the insensible Turkish government. The case in point is the Kurds in Iraq, a young democratic nation that has proven to the world that they are by far more democratic than any other nation in the Muslim world. Turks begrudge this and make every attempt to dampen this achievement by inciting chaos; Turkish authorities daily threaten military intrusion into Iraqi Kurdistan. The crazy thing is they are pursuing their arrogant aims at the cost of alienation from the world community, their own self-destruction and a major catastrophe for Mesopotamia.
For nearly a century, the Turks’ have shown extreme intolerance of Kurds, not only the twenty million Kurds in their country (one-third of Turkey’s population), but also Kurds in neighboring countries. They are determined to liquidate the Kurds or at a minimum disenfranchise them of their national and human rights.
For more than a century, Turks denied the existence of Kurds in Turkey and instead labeled them “mountainous Turks”. This went on until the birth of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (known as the P.K.K) and the recent rise of the Iraqi Kurds as an undisputed democratic nation. Turks then changed their tune and claimed that an autonomous or independent Kurdish state in Northern Iraq would entice their Kurdish population (that they had always previously denied existed) to demand the same. These circumstances forced Turks to admit the existence of Kurds in Turkey. Did it ever cross the Turks’ mind that they should apologize for their past and present atrocities against Kurds? The answer is nay for Turks have no sense of humility; instead they exonerate themselves, presenting poor and ugly justifications. They only deceive themselves; the rest of the world knows the truth. The aforementioned bigotry has been incorporated into Turkey’s law through a constitutional declaration stating that every citizen of Turkey is a Turk, robbing over twenty million Kurds of their natural identity, and justifying their deprivation from the rights of citizens. They have abandoned their language in public, official and media sectors, and further hindered their rights to practice their culture.
For every act of suppression and human rights abuse a sense of indignation arises, sometimes in a peaceful manner and in extreme cases, when civilized dialogue fails, with bloody resistance to equalize the violent crimes committed. This is exactly the situation for the Kurds in Turkey. First they pled for an equitable system of social and economic justice in Turkey and their innocent, peaceful demands were rebuked by a violent wave of mass arrests and incarcerations by the Turkish authorities. They then had no choice but to resign themselves to an armed struggle led by the P.K.K. Now Turks are calling the P.K.K terrorists as if they were the ones who started the conflict and ignore the fact that the P.K.K would never have born if it weren’t for the terrorist system of government and people of Turkey.
History shows us that when nations carried their bigotry to extremes, they brought ruin to others and self-destruction on themselves. Violence breeds revenge and revenge brings about a deep-seated resentment. In most instances bigotry is engendered by a vigorous self-pride and so often is unsubstantiated, as is the case with the Turks. Their bigotry is not limited to Kurds - Armenians, Assyrian Bulgarians, Serbs and Greeks all lament their bitter experiences at the hands of Turkish rulers. Is the whole world wrong except for the Turks? They killed one and a half million Armenians and Assyrians because they didn’t resemble Turks and were Christians. Unfortunately, the problem is not only the Turks who have engaged in human rights violations for so long and against so many nations, but also the other nations of the world who have remained aloof and let the Turks go as far as they have gone. It is time for the world to act on behalf of humanity and hinder further Turkish human abuses.
So often so little can be given and so much can be achieved if obstinacy is overcome. Recognizing the rights of the Kurdish minority in Turkey will bring peace, more security to Turkey, and will enhance the public image of Turkey. If Turks were to confess their past wrongs toward Armenians, it would make them by far more respectable than their current precarious stand. Turks could elevate themselves from their low standing to a higher ground of respectability if they desired. Do they?
It is well understood that no nation can destroy another without going down with them. Turks would do much better if they didn’t let their self-pride blind them to reality. However, if they continue in their current path, they will burn themselves in the flames of their own anger and hatred, and thus have no one to blame but themselves.
Sensible nations support their neighbors in the spirit of economic cooperation and to promote national security in their region; they know that turmoil in neighboring countries can drive waves of refugees over their borders, and chaos could spill over into their country. But this guiding principle clashed with the insensible Turkish government. The case in point is the Kurds in Iraq, a young democratic nation that has proven to the world that they are by far more democratic than any other nation in the Muslim world. Turks begrudge this and make every attempt to dampen this achievement by inciting chaos; Turkish authorities daily threaten military intrusion into Iraqi Kurdistan. The crazy thing is they are pursuing their arrogant aims at the cost of alienation from the world community, their own self-destruction and a major catastrophe for Mesopotamia.
For nearly a century, the Turks’ have shown extreme intolerance of Kurds, not only the twenty million Kurds in their country (one-third of Turkey’s population), but also Kurds in neighboring countries. They are determined to liquidate the Kurds or at a minimum disenfranchise them of their national and human rights.
For more than a century, Turks denied the existence of Kurds in Turkey and instead labeled them “mountainous Turks”. This went on until the birth of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (known as the P.K.K) and the recent rise of the Iraqi Kurds as an undisputed democratic nation. Turks then changed their tune and claimed that an autonomous or independent Kurdish state in Northern Iraq would entice their Kurdish population (that they had always previously denied existed) to demand the same. These circumstances forced Turks to admit the existence of Kurds in Turkey. Did it ever cross the Turks’ mind that they should apologize for their past and present atrocities against Kurds? The answer is nay for Turks have no sense of humility; instead they exonerate themselves, presenting poor and ugly justifications. They only deceive themselves; the rest of the world knows the truth. The aforementioned bigotry has been incorporated into Turkey’s law through a constitutional declaration stating that every citizen of Turkey is a Turk, robbing over twenty million Kurds of their natural identity, and justifying their deprivation from the rights of citizens. They have abandoned their language in public, official and media sectors, and further hindered their rights to practice their culture.
For every act of suppression and human rights abuse a sense of indignation arises, sometimes in a peaceful manner and in extreme cases, when civilized dialogue fails, with bloody resistance to equalize the violent crimes committed. This is exactly the situation for the Kurds in Turkey. First they pled for an equitable system of social and economic justice in Turkey and their innocent, peaceful demands were rebuked by a violent wave of mass arrests and incarcerations by the Turkish authorities. They then had no choice but to resign themselves to an armed struggle led by the P.K.K. Now Turks are calling the P.K.K terrorists as if they were the ones who started the conflict and ignore the fact that the P.K.K would never have born if it weren’t for the terrorist system of government and people of Turkey.
History shows us that when nations carried their bigotry to extremes, they brought ruin to others and self-destruction on themselves. Violence breeds revenge and revenge brings about a deep-seated resentment. In most instances bigotry is engendered by a vigorous self-pride and so often is unsubstantiated, as is the case with the Turks. Their bigotry is not limited to Kurds - Armenians, Assyrian Bulgarians, Serbs and Greeks all lament their bitter experiences at the hands of Turkish rulers. Is the whole world wrong except for the Turks? They killed one and a half million Armenians and Assyrians because they didn’t resemble Turks and were Christians. Unfortunately, the problem is not only the Turks who have engaged in human rights violations for so long and against so many nations, but also the other nations of the world who have remained aloof and let the Turks go as far as they have gone. It is time for the world to act on behalf of humanity and hinder further Turkish human abuses.
So often so little can be given and so much can be achieved if obstinacy is overcome. Recognizing the rights of the Kurdish minority in Turkey will bring peace, more security to Turkey, and will enhance the public image of Turkey. If Turks were to confess their past wrongs toward Armenians, it would make them by far more respectable than their current precarious stand. Turks could elevate themselves from their low standing to a higher ground of respectability if they desired. Do they?
It is well understood that no nation can destroy another without going down with them. Turks would do much better if they didn’t let their self-pride blind them to reality. However, if they continue in their current path, they will burn themselves in the flames of their own anger and hatred, and thus have no one to blame but themselves.
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