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PRO-KURDISH PARTY REACTS TO TURKEY'S INVESTMENT PACKAGE FOR SOUTHEAST
NTV Turkey
March 12 2008
[Report: "DTP: This Package Will Not Solve the Problem; It is an
Election Investment"]
Assessing the government's 12-billion-dollar investment package
aimed at the Southeast, DTP [Democratic Society Party] Deputy Faction
Chairman Selahattin Demirtas, declaring this is an election investment,
has said that "in order to resolve the problem, a change in mentality
is required."
DTP Deputy Faction Chairman Selahattin Demirtas held a press conference
together with DTP parliamentary deputies at the Parliament on the
occasion of the 37th anniversary of the 12 March [1971 coup by]
military memorandum, as well as the 13th anniversary of the incidents
that took place in the Gazi Quarter of Istanbul [in which 22 people
were killed by police in unrest by Alevis.] Asserting that democracy
is only weakened by intervention by forces outside of politics and by
violent suppression of social opposition, Demirtas said: "The process
of coups d'etat has, unfortunately, by strengthening militaristic,
chauvinistic, and nationalistic tendencies, brought them to the point
of threatening the social peace."
Demirtas, charging that the trial process related to the Gazi incidents
"has turned into a scandal," said that because events of this type
have not been elucidated, there have been efforts made during various
periods for similar provocations to be staged.
Demirtas claimed that if the Kahramanmaras, Corum, and Sivas incidents
[of massacres of Alevis] had been cleared up, the Gazi incidents would
not have taken place, and that if these [latter] had been cleared up,
then the Semdinli [bombing], the later attack on the Council of State,
and the killing of [Armenian journalist] Hrant Dink would likewise
not have occurred.
Demirtas said: "If Turkey, on its way into the EU, does not want to
experience painful incidents of this sort any longer, it must face
its past, and come to terms with it. We can turn a new page, which
would also entail a solution of the Kurdish issue, only in this way."
Meanwhile, DTP Parliamentarian Gulten Kisanak stated that she is today
going to present to the Speakership of the TBMM [Turkish Grand National
Assembly] motions for the opening of a Parliamentary Investigation in
order to investigate the Gazi incidents and reveal the forces behind
those who initiated the incidents.
Problem Will Be Solved Via Change in Mentality
Responding to questions from journalists, Selahattin Demirtas said
the following in response to a question about the government's
12-billion-dollar investment package: "Everything positive that is
done will contribute, even if only a little, to solving the problem.
But in order for the problem to be solved, a change in mentality is
needed, and this does not come out of packages. The creation of a
nation based on a single language, a single religion, and a single
ethnicity is the basis of the Kurdish issue. The Kurdish issue
cannot be solved with factories, or with broadcasts in Kurdish on
TRT [Turkish Radio and Television]; it will be seen that, when the
mentality changes, the problem will be resolved without a need for
packages. The things announced in the package are in fact investments
for the local elections."
No Response From Prime Minister
Demirtas stated that his meetings with President Abdullah Gul and
TBMM Speaker Koksal Toptan are occurring coincidentally during the
same period in which the process involving the closure of the DTP
is underway.
Stating that no official response has yet come from Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan to his request for a meeting, Demirtas said that
there is no question of an official meeting with Minister of State and
Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, and that it is only natural that
Cicek and DTP parliamentary deputies have chatted among the corridors.
Demirtas stated the following regarding his meetings with President
Gul: "There is nothing that has not been revealed. The authority
to reveal what we discussed lies with him. Because he is everyone's
President, he also met with us. And we explained our intentions. We
did not go with any concrete project or dossier. They were meetings
in which sensitivities regarding the process underway were shared."
NTV Turkey
March 12 2008
[Report: "DTP: This Package Will Not Solve the Problem; It is an
Election Investment"]
Assessing the government's 12-billion-dollar investment package
aimed at the Southeast, DTP [Democratic Society Party] Deputy Faction
Chairman Selahattin Demirtas, declaring this is an election investment,
has said that "in order to resolve the problem, a change in mentality
is required."
DTP Deputy Faction Chairman Selahattin Demirtas held a press conference
together with DTP parliamentary deputies at the Parliament on the
occasion of the 37th anniversary of the 12 March [1971 coup by]
military memorandum, as well as the 13th anniversary of the incidents
that took place in the Gazi Quarter of Istanbul [in which 22 people
were killed by police in unrest by Alevis.] Asserting that democracy
is only weakened by intervention by forces outside of politics and by
violent suppression of social opposition, Demirtas said: "The process
of coups d'etat has, unfortunately, by strengthening militaristic,
chauvinistic, and nationalistic tendencies, brought them to the point
of threatening the social peace."
Demirtas, charging that the trial process related to the Gazi incidents
"has turned into a scandal," said that because events of this type
have not been elucidated, there have been efforts made during various
periods for similar provocations to be staged.
Demirtas claimed that if the Kahramanmaras, Corum, and Sivas incidents
[of massacres of Alevis] had been cleared up, the Gazi incidents would
not have taken place, and that if these [latter] had been cleared up,
then the Semdinli [bombing], the later attack on the Council of State,
and the killing of [Armenian journalist] Hrant Dink would likewise
not have occurred.
Demirtas said: "If Turkey, on its way into the EU, does not want to
experience painful incidents of this sort any longer, it must face
its past, and come to terms with it. We can turn a new page, which
would also entail a solution of the Kurdish issue, only in this way."
Meanwhile, DTP Parliamentarian Gulten Kisanak stated that she is today
going to present to the Speakership of the TBMM [Turkish Grand National
Assembly] motions for the opening of a Parliamentary Investigation in
order to investigate the Gazi incidents and reveal the forces behind
those who initiated the incidents.
Problem Will Be Solved Via Change in Mentality
Responding to questions from journalists, Selahattin Demirtas said
the following in response to a question about the government's
12-billion-dollar investment package: "Everything positive that is
done will contribute, even if only a little, to solving the problem.
But in order for the problem to be solved, a change in mentality is
needed, and this does not come out of packages. The creation of a
nation based on a single language, a single religion, and a single
ethnicity is the basis of the Kurdish issue. The Kurdish issue
cannot be solved with factories, or with broadcasts in Kurdish on
TRT [Turkish Radio and Television]; it will be seen that, when the
mentality changes, the problem will be resolved without a need for
packages. The things announced in the package are in fact investments
for the local elections."
No Response From Prime Minister
Demirtas stated that his meetings with President Abdullah Gul and
TBMM Speaker Koksal Toptan are occurring coincidentally during the
same period in which the process involving the closure of the DTP
is underway.
Stating that no official response has yet come from Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan to his request for a meeting, Demirtas said that
there is no question of an official meeting with Minister of State and
Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, and that it is only natural that
Cicek and DTP parliamentary deputies have chatted among the corridors.
Demirtas stated the following regarding his meetings with President
Gul: "There is nothing that has not been revealed. The authority
to reveal what we discussed lies with him. Because he is everyone's
President, he also met with us. And we explained our intentions. We
did not go with any concrete project or dossier. They were meetings
in which sensitivities regarding the process underway were shared."