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The Human and Freedom Party (PIA) is a contemporary example of the Turkish state’s hostile attitude towards “pro-Kurdish” parties. PIA members have finished all prodecedural necessities to be recognised as an official party in Turkey, yet for more than two years the Ministry of Interior has made all possible excuses not to “recognise” them as a party.
PIA chair Mehmet Kamaç said the party has been trying to bring more pro-Kurdish voices to the democratic political arena in Turkey, but the Turkish state keeps ignoring these peaceful voices as well as all democratic attempts to solve the Kurdish question.
Kamaç believes the Kurdish question constitutes a vital issue at the centre of all emerging crises in the country, yet the Turkish state insists on not facing it. “The Kurdish question affects social, economic and political life in Turkey,” he said in an interview with MA.
He pointed out that the decisive approach of Turkey towards the Kurdish question is based on the elimination of the “other”.
“In the Middle East, you see the the dominant regimes are generally dictatorships, because the basic logic is to destroy the other, ” Yamaç said. “This is the same in Turkey. Their logic is based on destroying the other.”
He continued: “Turkey has a hundred-year history of a democratic republic. But today, Turkey’s approach is still based on violence, their logic to destroy the other persists. The Republic of Turkey seeks the solution in violence, using violence for problems that should be solved via legal and democratic means.”
Kamaç also drew attention to the timing of the the recent military campaign launched by the Turkish armed forces in northern Iraq. “The operations coincide with the holy Ramadan month, but actually in Islam, what is essential is the peace. The war is never listed in the priorities,” he said. According to him, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), despite using a dominant Islamic discourse, has been “using religion for its political benefits” for years now.
“In order to strengthen its rule, the AKP, which at first had claimed to embrace religious values, has used these religious values,” he said. “But to kill, to hurt is never a part of Islam. Especially during Ramadan, this is such an unacceptable situation.”
Kamaç urged people to support peace against the war policies of the Turkish government. “Whenever Turkey enters a new phase of repression and shoves it down the Kurds’ throat,” he noted, “the whole society remains short of breath. The economic, political and social crises we experience today is an indicator of this fact.”
