Gulan: The first war and the second war in Southeast Turkey

The text in Kurdish

At the end of last January I asked in my column whether Turkey is turning back to the nineties. It was the time of murder of Hrant Dink. The appearance of political murders is just one sign of this. Another is that Turkey has declared a state of emergency rule again in the Kurdish area.

Last decade there was a state of emergency rule (OHAL) in biggest part of Southeast Turkey. Last week the state declared an emergency rule again in three Kurdish provinces: Hakkari, Siirt and Sirnak. It is valid from the 9th June to the 8th September. This is the area where the army is ready to cross the boarder to Iraq. No journalists are permitted to enter there.

The first war in Southeast Turkey was 1984-1999 and the second war started autumn 2005. They are totally different types of wars.

On Tuesday the 12th June Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that "Turkey should focus on battling Kurdish guerrillas at home rather than in Northern Iraq". It seems that Turkey has accepted the international opinion which is against an attack to South Kurdistan. How many times the Turkish army went across the boarder during the first war? I have not counted. But during the second war this has not happened.

Why the wars are different? The Kurdish movement has developed but also the world has changed a lot in fifteen years. Due to modern communication technology no place can be so isolated than the OHAL-area last decade.

There is lots of ethnic tension and hate in Turkey. What will happen when Turkish nationalists can not express it by attacking South Kurdistan? There is big danger that they will pour it towards their own Kurds. They are not protected by the international community the same ways as the Kurds beyond Turkey´s boarders. I am afraid that there could happen even a genocide. Most genocides happened last century in states which where collapsing. What is happening nowadays in Turkey is one step in the collapse process of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey is a genocidal society. There were two genocides last century: the Armenian genocide 1915 and the Dersim Genocide 1937.

The model is clear. The columnist of newspaper "Radikal", Professor Murat Belge from Bilgi university spoke last April in a conference in London. He described the feelings Turkish nationalists like this: "Nationalists say: Yes, we did the Armenian genocide. And we will do it again. And Kurds, if you are not careful, your turn will be next."

Genocidal process develops so that first there are milder forms of it before the actual killing starts. Now Turkey is practising cultural and linguistic genocide against the Kurds. A harder form of genocide is possible development.

I really hope I am wrong with my pessimistic thinking. I hope the Turks understand how dangerous this situation is. A genocide would destroy also the Turkish country and society. And I believe European Union and other countries do not close their eyes for ever from the atrocities which happen in Turkey.