Ethnic politics an affront, says DTP
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Doğan News Agency
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 09, 2009 00:00
ÇANAKKALE - Engaging in politics based on ethnicity is a betrayal of the memories of those who sacrificed their lives to keep foreign powers from dividing the country in the years just before the creation of the Republic, says the DTP’s Sırrı Sakık
The policy of denial adopted by the Republic’s custodians is an affront to the memories of the fallen during the Çanakkale War, said a deputy of the Democratic Society Party, or DTP.
"It was in Çanakkale that the Turks, Kurds, Laz and Circassians stood shoulder to shoulder against imperial hegemony, and all those who fell in that struggle are buried here side by side," said Sırrı Sakık, the DTP’s deputy from Muş, at the party’s Çanakkale provincial congress yesterday.
He said the foundations of modern Turkey were laid in Çanakkale and that it was a pity that the statement made around 1921 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey’s founder, and his friends that "the nation jointly belongs to Turks and Kurds" was later ignored and it was then that the "one race, one language" notion was adopted.
He said it is now that Kurds and those who seek democracy in Turkey are standing up against such racism and paying the price for seeking their own free identity.
’We seek a nation for all’
Sakık said for the 20 years that he has been active in politics he has never sought a separate state or flag. "We do, however, want a nation for all. The DTP and the Kurdish people reject politics based on ethnicity," he said. "We want to live side by side in this country. We want a Republic that respects the souls of those fallen here."
"It is sad that since the formation of the Republic there has been no climate of peace in this region," he said.
Sakık did say that recent political developments such as statements by the president saying good things would happen point to the beginning of a new phase. "As few as they are, we are hopeful," he said.
Sakık was critical of the prime minister and said he does not have a set position.
"At one point he says things that sound like he is reaching out and then at another, like during the 2007 general election, he says ’love it or leave it’ in Hakkarı. He got his response from the Kurdish people who said that these lands are ours, too. We thought he might have learned from that and forgone racist politics," Sakık said.
"However, we see that once again he takes a stance against a peaceful project suggested by the DTP. Mr. Prime Minister, peace cannot be attained with a clenched fist," Sakık said.
"It was in Çanakkale that the Turks, Kurds, Laz and Circassians stood shoulder to shoulder against imperial hegemony, and all those who fell in that struggle are buried here side by side," said Sırrı Sakık, the DTP’s deputy from Muş, at the party’s Çanakkale provincial congress yesterday.
He said the foundations of modern Turkey were laid in Çanakkale and that it was a pity that the statement made around 1921 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey’s founder, and his friends that "the nation jointly belongs to Turks and Kurds" was later ignored and it was then that the "one race, one language" notion was adopted.
He said it is now that Kurds and those who seek democracy in Turkey are standing up against such racism and paying the price for seeking their own free identity.
’We seek a nation for all’
Sakık said for the 20 years that he has been active in politics he has never sought a separate state or flag. "We do, however, want a nation for all. The DTP and the Kurdish people reject politics based on ethnicity," he said. "We want to live side by side in this country. We want a Republic that respects the souls of those fallen here."
"It is sad that since the formation of the Republic there has been no climate of peace in this region," he said.
Sakık did say that recent political developments such as statements by the president saying good things would happen point to the beginning of a new phase. "As few as they are, we are hopeful," he said.
Sakık was critical of the prime minister and said he does not have a set position.
"At one point he says things that sound like he is reaching out and then at another, like during the 2007 general election, he says ’love it or leave it’ in Hakkarı. He got his response from the Kurdish people who said that these lands are ours, too. We thought he might have learned from that and forgone racist politics," Sakık said.
"However, we see that once again he takes a stance against a peaceful project suggested by the DTP. Mr. Prime Minister, peace cannot be attained with a clenched fist," Sakık said.