Southeastern NGOs urge PM to push for EU process

A group of representatives of 17 civil society organizations from southeastern and eastern Anatolia arrived in the capital on Tuesday to share their views on economic and democratic solutions to Turkey's Kurdish question with the president, prime minister and opposition politicians.

The group's visit comes amid recent tension sparked by conflict between the police and Kurdish protestors during the spring festival of Nevruz celebrated in March and recent fights between pro-Kurdish and nationalist student groups on some university campuses.

Representatives from the civil society groups met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and visited the Democratic Society Party (DTP) yesterday to share their observations and findings on the Kurdish question, as detailed in a report they presented to Erdoğan.

The group also has plans to meet with opposition parties the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Republican People's Party (CHP); however, the exact day and time for these meetings was not yet clear as of yesterday. Representatives of the civil society groups underlined the importance of the EU process during their talks yesterday and expressed the opinion that the primary solution to the Kurdish question, as well as other problems Turkish democracy is dealing with, lay in remaining committed to Turkey's negotiations with the EU.

During their meeting with Prime Minister Erdoğan yesterday, representatives of the group raised concerns about escalating tension in the region after the Nevruz celebration and demanded that the government take democratic, social and economic measures to fend off the growing danger of violence, sources said.

After Nevruz celebrations on March 21, clashes between the public and security forces occurred, resulting in three deaths. Clashes have continued since then, and the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) has called for a popular uprising in the region.

They also shared economic suggestions they believe could help improve the situation in the Southeast, stressing that financial measures alone would not be adequate to address this deep-rooted problem. In order to make the outcome of economic measures permanent, developments in the economy should be backed by democratic and social reforms, they said. Such reforms include the right to education in Kurdish. On this point, an unpleasant exchange took place between Sezgin Tanrıkulu, the head of the Diyarbakır Bar Association, and Prime Minister Erdoğan. Tanrıkulu claimed that Turkey's refusal to allow Kurdish in schools for the Kurdish population was a political problem. "The right to receiving an education in one's mother tongue is for minorities only," Prime Minister Erdoğan said in response. Under Turkish law, Kurds are not defined as a minority. Tanrıkulu and Erdoğan exchanged harsh remarks during the meeting, and the discussion ended with Tanrıkulu angrily walking out of the room. The rest of the delegation finished their talks with the prime minister 20 minutes later. The group did not issue a press statement after the meeting.

Content of the report

Civil society organizations operating in the region suggest in their report constructing an airport in Diyarbakır and accelerating irrigation projects already under way as part of a major sustainable-development project expected to create jobs for approximately 50,000 people. The report also calls for introducing sector-specific incentives for businesses and investors in the region and suggests tax relief for employers, tax reductions for investors, long-run and low-interest export credits for entrepreneurs of the region, the establishment of qualified industrial zones and incentives for businessmen from outside the area who are prepared to move their factories to the region.

The report also underlines the necessity of clearing the area of land mines and making it available for agriculture. The report warns that economic measures would help solve the problem only to a certain extent and states that economic development without democratic reforms would be meaningless. Introducing more freedoms, such as the right to education in Kurdish, something which the prime minister was not enthused about during yesterday's talks, the report said would pave the way for a solution to the Kurdish question.

There were also problems between the delegates themselves which surfaced even before the visit to Ankara began. Only one night before the visit, he Human Rights Association (İHD) announced that it would not join the delegation, saying that solutions proposed in the report were too focused on the economy. Organizations represented in the delegation include the Diyarbakır Chamber of Trade and Industry, the Diyarbakır Trade Exchange, the Diyarbakır Bar Association, the Diyarbakır Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (DİSİAD), the Southeastern and Eastern Anatolia Businessmen's Association (GÜNSİAD), the Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MAZLUM-DER), women's organization KAMER and the Turkish Doctors' Union (TTB).