Most excellent.
Mizgin, a Kurdish blogger, has drawn some interesting paralells between the ceasefire announced by ETA, the alleged willingness of Rodríguez Zapatero to find a democratic solution, and the situation between the Kurds and Turkey in his post "The ETA example" at his blog Rasti.
For those of us who believe on the right of the Kurds to a free and independent Kurdistan, I recommend you read this post in particular and his blog in general.
Here I present to you the part I liked the best about his post:
Mizgin, a Kurdish blogger, has drawn some interesting paralells between the ceasefire announced by ETA, the alleged willingness of Rodríguez Zapatero to find a democratic solution, and the situation between the Kurds and Turkey in his post "The ETA example" at his blog Rasti.
For those of us who believe on the right of the Kurds to a free and independent Kurdistan, I recommend you read this post in particular and his blog in general.
Here I present to you the part I liked the best about his post:
Now this makes me think: What if someone or some group had been talking with some seriousness to Kurds under Turkish-occupation for four years, especially with PKK, especially after 1999? What if the five-year unilateral ceasefire had been a time when Turkey allowed the Irish, for example, to act as mediators? Where would we be now? Here we have a country, Spain, who has suffered some 850 deaths as a result of ETA operations, yet it is willing to negotiate. Or we have Northern Ireland, where some 1800 died as a result of IRA/Sinn Fein operations, yet they managed to negotiate with the British.
The problem appears to be one in which the British government and the Spanish government seek peace, seek negotiation, seek to end grievances, with Spain willing to consider more autonomy for Spanish provinces, while the Basque province enjoys a number of rights that Kurds under Turkish occupation can only dream of. The Basque Country enjoys its own language rights, education and health care systems, police force and radio and TV stations. It enjoys one of the best economies in Europe, with the GDP per capita at 20.6% higher than the European average.
Today, the Basque provinces have their own regional police force, television station and education and health systems, and collect their own taxes. Euskera is taught in schools and universities, though only one-quarter of Basques speak the language. It is unclear whether most Basques even want full independence.
On top of all this, it became clear that Tony Blair, as well as the Norwegian foreign ministry facilitated and encouraged secret talks between the Zapatero government and ETA.
We are constantly reminded that ETA was considered by the US and the EU to be a "terrorist" organization, but that didn't stop Northern Ireland, Britain and Norway from spending time and effort in order to get ETA and Spain to talk to each other.
Let Zubeyir Aydar go to Northern Ireland and seek to begin a process of negotiation for PKK. Then let Murat Karayilan go too. In the meantime, let someone from the Turkish government go to Spain to learn what negotiation is. If this doesn't happen, what shall we make of the UN scheme for "Alliance of Civilizations," which Spain and Turkey have recently agree to co-chair? What good will it be?
Am I dreaming? Is it not possible for these things to happen for Kurds?
.... ... .
Thanks, Aleksu.
ReplyDeleteI hope the process goes smoothly and equitably for the Basque people. After watching how the process has gone in North Ireland, I would not be disheartened if there were some starts and stops because I think with the help of the outside mediators, they may function as a kind of safety net to keep negotiations going.
As for the 850 allegedly killed by ETA, the thing that stands out for me is that with such a low number, still there is hope here for negotiation with the Zapatero government. In North Kurdistan, during the 1990s, the estimate is almost 40,000 killed, mostly Kurds, by the Turkish army and 3 to 4 million forcibly displaced by the same. At the same time there has been no willingness by Ankara to negotiate.
I guess this is why I'm amazed that there seem to be indications of willingness for negotiations on the part of the Spanish government.
I will watch to see what happens and maybe we can learn something from the Basque experience that will help the Kurdish situation.
Mizgin, thanks for your comment.
ReplyDeleteThe think is, Ankara counts the Turks that died as a result of the Kurdistan conflict, but they do not count the Kurds killed in the same conflict, nor the displaced.
Well, same thing with Spain, Madrid counts the 850 and the international media is all too happy to repeat the figure again and again. But Madrid does not count the Basques killed, nor the Basque displaced by Madrid's violence.
Just in Gernika, in three hours, 1600 Basques were murdered by Madrid. Just in three hours.
Suddenly, the 850 can bee seen from a different perspective.
I am sorry to hear of these deaths, Aleksu, and I do understand what you mean about the international media and your frustration with it. I have felt the same thing myself. You are correct that the figures of the deaths from Gernika put the media's figures into a whole new light.
ReplyDeleteIf you could recommend a good site in English for the situation of your people, I would be happy to read it.
Kaixo Mizgin,
ReplyDeleteTo the right of my blog I've listed a number of link to web pages that talk about the Basque Country.
If you want more specific information I will be glad to provide you with other links.
Once again, thanks for your interest.
Dear Tengri,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thanks for your comments, they are always appreciated.
It would be good the get an Spaniard as intelligent as you to discuss these issues.
Rest assured that I will not delete your comment, I can only wish that more and more Turks and Kurds would consider this space as a place for dialogue.
I will answer to your question, there is a lot of them and I'm considering an entire post to respond to all of them.
Peace.