President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
February 18, 2016
Honorable President Obama,
When the Da’esh terrorists invaded Iraq and
captured the city of Mosul in June of 2014, and later attacked the Yezidi Kurds
in Shingal, they committed the most deplorable atrocities against an innocent
civilian population. Since then, the
Kurds from all parts of Kurdistan, including the PKK freedom fighters, have
been at the forefront fighting alongside the Peshmerga forces. The PKK has
sacrificed hundreds of its warriors to protect civilians. This, in all
practical sense, illustrates that the PKK has been fighting with the US led
coalition against the Da’esh darkness.
While the PKK voluntarily entered the war against Da’esh, Turkey’s
Erdoğan has been supporting Da’esh by giving them sanctuary, logistical, and
training support. In addition, Da’esh terrorists have been treated in protected
hospitals under direct supervision of Erdoğan’s daughter, Sümeyye Erdoğan. This
brings forward the question of exactly who is the US ally, and who is the
terrorist?
Mr. President, the Turkish Constitution in the
Article 66, defines citizenship as “Everyone bound to the Turkish state through
the bond of citizenship is a Turk,” instead of “a citizen of Turkey.” This has
stripped all ethnicities except that of “Turk” from their national/cultural
identities—committing in effect, the constitutional “genocide” against the
Kurds, Armenians, Lazs, Circassians, and others. This constitution has created
a mindset that has kept the Turkish authorities in the cycle of hate and
violent suppression against millions of people inside of Turkey’s borders.
Hence, it is difficult to see that the US continues its support to a government
that has organized its nation under such a racist constitution. So, for the US
to identify a movement of freedom fighters who resist their annihilation and
Turkish state policies of erasure as “terrorists” is morally bankrupt and goes
against every value for which America stands.
The PKK in the past three decades, has stood up for the rights of the
Kurds. It cannot be a terrorist organization by definition, since the movement
is in defense of Kurds and it is supported by millions of the Kurds in
Kurdistan-Turkey as well as in other parts of Kurdistan. Thus, if the PKK is ”terrorist,” millions of
Kurdish mothers and youth, accordingly, should be considered “terrorists.”
On January 21, 2016, while sharing the stage with
the Turkish Prime Minster, Ahmet Davutoğlu, Vice President Joe Biden stated
that the PKK and Da’esh were on the same scale of terrorism. Well, the PKK must
not be painted with the same brush or label.
This kind of labeling gives tacit approval to Turkish repression and
violence against millions of freedom-seeking Kurds. Hence, one can wonder if America also shares
responsibility for the continuance of Kurdish oppression by the Turkish state.
In the past, the US has harmed the Kurds by helping the nation states to
continue their policies of oppression against the Kurds.
Seventeen years ago, on February 15, 1999, as a
result of a US led international scheme, Mr. Abdullah Ocalan was kidnapped in Kenya and handed over to the Turks with the full collaboration of the Clinton administration.
This move presumably was assuming his capture would bring an end to the
Kurdish struggle. Mr. President, this February 15, 2016, demarcates the
seventeen anniversary of Mr. Ocalan’s imprisonment. Despite his imprisonment,
the PKK and Kurdish determination in Kurdistan-Turkey to continue Ocalan’s path
for achieving their national rights is stronger than before his imprisonment.
Consequently, the facts on the ground speak loud and clear that the Turkish
state cannot resolve the Kurdish issue militarily and with police suppression.
Instead, the Turks will have to recognize the reality in which they live that
everyone bound to the Turkish state is “not an ethnic Turk.” Therefore they
have to think about a peaceful political solution to this bloody and long
protracted conflict.
Mr. President, as a point of comparison, I might
ask you if the Egyptians in Tahrir Square were also terrorists? Or when Iranian civilians in the Green
Movement in Iran in 2009, stood up against the Iranian oppressive regime, were
they also terrorists? If they were not
terrorists, why then, are the Kurds—Kurds, who are asking for nothing more than
their God-given rights—their national identity?
Further, Mr. Ocalan’s recent call for peace and
co-existence has also been rejected by Erdoğan’s authoritarian government. Erdoğan uses the pretext of the “terrorists”
euphemism against the PKK, but in reality, Erdoğan and his government fight the
entire Kurdish nation. For instance, in
Rojava (Kurdistan-Syria), the Kurds have been the only valiant force, who
pushed back the Da’esh terrorists. But
contrary to its public slogans, Erdoğan’s government, has been aiding Da’esh.
This is a clear indication where Erdoğan and his government stand in the war
against Da’esh. So, based on the
evidence, we can see that the so-called US “ally” – Turkey, is actually
undermining US efforts in the fight against Da’esh by using it
opportunistically to attack the Kurds.
Importantly, this configuration of events actually
gives you the moral ground to drop the terrorist designation against PKK and
recognize their support of US policy and efforts against the real terrorists,
Da’esh. This will serve notice to the
Turkish state that they cannot continue their cynical policy of using the PKK
as a pretext for suppression and elimination of the Kurdish identity, which
they are currently engaged in—destroying the infrastructure and livelihood of
Kurdish civilians in the towns of Sur, Jazira, Silopî, and other towns, within
its borders. Moreover, the Turkish state
has extended this strategy beyond its borders into the Kurdish region of Syria,
while also directly contravening the US fight against the destabilization and
brutality of Da’esh.
Finally, just as you have taken a bold step to end
the futile US embargo against Cuba as an ineffective policy, I believe you
could take a step to further your legacy by calling upon the Turkish state to
end its present attacks and its old bankrupt and racist policies against the
Kurds within Turkey. You can, Mr. President, correct this policy of labeling
the PKK as a terrorist organization. It
is not in line with American Democratic values and record of protecting human
rights. Additionally, we ask that the US
negotiate the release of Mr. Ocalan from prison and pressure Erdoğan’s
government to return to the negotiating table and promote the Turkish-Kurdish
peace process. These measures could end this cycle of suppression and bloody
conflict, and help to establish long lasting co-existence.
Sincerely yours,
Kirmanj Gundi
Professor
Tennessee State University
