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JAILED PKK LEADER PENS LETTER URGING SUPPORT FROM ARMENIAN COMMUNITY
Hurriyet Daily News , Turkey
Jan 30 2014
ISTANBUL
The PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan (L) is seen with the BDP lawmakers
Pervin Buldan (R) and BDP co-chair Selahattin DemirtaÅ~_ (C) at
İmralı Island. DHA Photo
The jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has penned a
letter to the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, calling on the Armenian
community to support the demands of Kurds in Turkey.
"The Kurdish people's fight for freedom and the cure for the Armenian
people's sorrows have overlapped in the fight to [be able to] live
in this land as citizens who share the same rights," Abdullah Ocalan
said in the letter, published Jan. 30.
The letter came after the co-chair of the Kurdistan Communities Union
(KCK), Bese Hozat, controversially described the Armenian, Jewish
and Greek lobbies as a "parallel state," echoing Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan's accusations against the movement of the U.S.-based
Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen (Cemaat).
In the letter, Ocalan also accused anti-democratic powers "from
inside and outside of" Turkey of hampering the resolution of
the Kurdish issue. "Every time that we undertook peaceful paths,
they have interrupted it with provocations," Ocalan wrote. He cited
"capital lobbies" and "structures such the Cemaat" as groups that
sought to hamper the processes.
He also said the killing of former Agos editor Hrant Dink was
perpetrated with the same logic. "The true friend of the people Hrant
Dink was massacred by the representatives of this dirty mentality,
to serve the purpose that I have attempted to describe above," Ocalan
wrote, urging the Armenian community to stand against such networks.
"I invite everyone to be more vigilant and consider matters more
objectively against deep, open or parallel structures, and different
structures as lobbies, or the Cemaat, which intend to frustrate our
endeavor for the people," he said.
In the letter, the jailed PKK leader also urged the Turkish state to
reckon with its past "regarding the Armenian genocide."
"In our time, it is necessary that the whole world recognizes the
Armenian people's tragedy, paving the way for the mourning of their
sorrows. It is inevitable that the Turkish Republic will approach
the matter with such maturity and reckon with this bitter history,"
Ocalan said.
The letter comes amid growing uncertainty about the stalled Kurdish
peace process. Ocalan had previously argued the graft probes launched
on Dec. 17 were attempting to prevent the peace process launched over
a year ago.
January/30/2014
Hurriyet Daily News , Turkey
Jan 30 2014
ISTANBUL
The PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan (L) is seen with the BDP lawmakers
Pervin Buldan (R) and BDP co-chair Selahattin DemirtaÅ~_ (C) at
İmralı Island. DHA Photo
The jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has penned a
letter to the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, calling on the Armenian
community to support the demands of Kurds in Turkey.
"The Kurdish people's fight for freedom and the cure for the Armenian
people's sorrows have overlapped in the fight to [be able to] live
in this land as citizens who share the same rights," Abdullah Ocalan
said in the letter, published Jan. 30.
The letter came after the co-chair of the Kurdistan Communities Union
(KCK), Bese Hozat, controversially described the Armenian, Jewish
and Greek lobbies as a "parallel state," echoing Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan's accusations against the movement of the U.S.-based
Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen (Cemaat).
In the letter, Ocalan also accused anti-democratic powers "from
inside and outside of" Turkey of hampering the resolution of
the Kurdish issue. "Every time that we undertook peaceful paths,
they have interrupted it with provocations," Ocalan wrote. He cited
"capital lobbies" and "structures such the Cemaat" as groups that
sought to hamper the processes.
He also said the killing of former Agos editor Hrant Dink was
perpetrated with the same logic. "The true friend of the people Hrant
Dink was massacred by the representatives of this dirty mentality,
to serve the purpose that I have attempted to describe above," Ocalan
wrote, urging the Armenian community to stand against such networks.
"I invite everyone to be more vigilant and consider matters more
objectively against deep, open or parallel structures, and different
structures as lobbies, or the Cemaat, which intend to frustrate our
endeavor for the people," he said.
In the letter, the jailed PKK leader also urged the Turkish state to
reckon with its past "regarding the Armenian genocide."
"In our time, it is necessary that the whole world recognizes the
Armenian people's tragedy, paving the way for the mourning of their
sorrows. It is inevitable that the Turkish Republic will approach
the matter with such maturity and reckon with this bitter history,"
Ocalan said.
The letter comes amid growing uncertainty about the stalled Kurdish
peace process. Ocalan had previously argued the graft probes launched
on Dec. 17 were attempting to prevent the peace process launched over
a year ago.
January/30/2014