Polish author Tomasz Konicz has commented on the attitude of European governments – particularly the German one – towards the Kurdish question and the prison isolation conditions of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan.
He concluded that the silence of Europe, especially the attitude of Germany, despite the reports and warnings of the European Court of Human Rights, can only be explained by their “geopolitical interests and the interests of a regional power”.
“Another reason for the silence of Germany is that Turkey is an ally of Germany in the region to play a bridging role”, he observed. “Moreover, Turkey is a very important country for investments for the German capitalists”.
Konicz is an internationally renowned philisopher, a specialist in Immanuel Wallerstein’s ‘world-systems theory’, and the author of a number of books including ‘Politics in the Crisis Trap’, ‘Capitalism at the Crossroads’, ‘Crisis ideology – madness and reality of late capitalist crisis processing’, ‘Rise and Disintegration of German Europe’, ‘Capital Collapse – The Final Crisis of the World Economy’, ‘Fascism in the 21st Century: Sketches of threatening barbarism’ and ‘Climate killer capital. How an economic system destroys our livelihoods’.
Germany’s ‘double-standards approach’ is evident
Due to all these power relations, democracy and human rights norms are being disregarded, Konicz observed.
“The German Federal Government’s double-standards approach to human rights is evident in the Kurdish question”, he stated. “Whenever we consider China and Russia, Germany starts talking about ‘human rights’, but it remains silent when the topic of Abdullah Öcalan and violations of human rights taking place in northeastern Syria and Turkey are raised”.
‘Erdoğan’s regime deliberately prevents the solution of the Kurdish question’
Konicz stated that prison isolation conditions that have been imposed on the PKK leader reflect the approach of the Turkish government towards the Kurdish question.
“Erdoğan’s regime deliberately prevents the solution of the Kurdish question by imposing isolation against Abdullah Öcalan. His freedom will lead to a radical change in Turkey. Erdoğan does not want to solve the Kurdish question, because it will bring about the end of the Erdogan government”, he concluded.
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