Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-26-Speech-2-221"
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"en.20060926.24.2-221"2
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"Mr President, last week, together with other colleagues from the Subcommittee on Human Rights, I was in Akari province in the extreme south-east of Turkey, just a few mountain peaks away from Iraq and Iran. In that region we met parents, desperate parents powerless to stop their young sons leaving for the mountains. We were told that more than 200 young men have joined the armed bands of the PKK in the last few weeks. We also met young girls fighting against family feudalism, fighting against economic and social isolation and everyday violence. Many spoke of young girls committing suicide.
It was not hope, let alone enthusiasm for the future, that we found in Akari and elsewhere. There are many extremely precise facts bearing witness to the violence of the security forces, including against farmers, but also to extra-judicial arrests and the torture of young people as in Diyarbakir this year. The forced resignation of the public prosecutor of Van for demonstrating the responsibility of army members for the Semdinli bombing was also very traumatic. Quite apart from the dirty war exploits it reveals, the frustration of the independence of the judiciary is unacceptable.
Everyone says, everyone knows, there is no military answer to the Kurdish question, and yet, with its checkpoints, tanks, soldiers and armed assaults it is the only one that seems effective. The PKK must call a unilateral ceasefire. If that call is heeded and kept, as we hope, it will have to be followed by a wide-ranging political proposal. The attention and support of the European Union will be crucial. The deteriorating situation in the south-east is affecting the human rights situation in the country as a whole. The anti-terrorist legislation was unanimously criticised by the non-government people we spoke to. It does not comply with international law. It may even cancel out some of the progress made in the latest legislative reforms.
The situation in the south-east is also rekindling a nationalism that is clearly and sometimes violently opposed to democratic aspirations. The writer Magden Perihan talks about a forest fire. She speaks of hooligan lawyers. Immediate action is required, in particular the abolition of Article 301 of the penal code, bringing anti-terrorist legislation into line with international law, the fight against impunity – in 2005 only 2 out of 305 accused policemen were sentenced – the compensation law must be put into effect – 2 000 cases out of 3 000 have been processed in Akari province – and, lastly, the 10% national voting threshold must be abolished, since it prevents popular democratic expression."@en1
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