Arrests of peace group members deal another blow to peace
Arrests of peace group members deal another blow to peace
With the arrests yesterday of ten peace delegates of Peace and Democratic Solution Group (BDCG) in Diyarbakýr, clearly things will get even harder for any kind of peace talk to become reality.
The policy the Turkish government seems to have chosen indeed since March 2009 (i.e. when local elections took place) is one of war, not certainly one of peace.
No efforts have been made on the Turkish side to ease or even just to show some kind of readiness at least to listen to what the Kurds have to say. The BDP (Peace and Democracy Party), established after the ban imposed on the DTP (Democratic Society Party) by the Constitutional Court on 11 December 2009, has tried (and still is) to bring the Kurdish issue on the parliament's agenda. But so far every effort has been frustrated. The so called 'democratic initiative' presented by the AKP (Justice and Development Party) has soon reveal itself for what it is: an empty box.
The arrests yesterday of ten members of the Peace and Democratic Solution Group (BDCG) go in the direction of pushing for an escalation to the conflict.
Upon hearing the news of the arrests, protest demonstrations were immediately started all over Turkey.
The first hearing of 17 members of the BDCG started in early hours of Thursday morning in Diyarbakir. The BDCG members, who had come back to Turkey from Kandil and Maxmur to show their faith in peace and contribute to the peace process, were on put on trial for their speeches. Those prosecuted members of the BDCG are mostly former guerrilla. There were massive protests and support activities continuing in front of the Diyarbakir Court Building which hundreds of people waiting outside all night. Many lawyers from Diyarbakir Bar Association had also attended the trials as well as many peace activists from all over the country.
The policy the Turkish government seems to have chosen indeed since March 2009 (i.e. when local elections took place) is one of war, not certainly one of peace.
No efforts have been made on the Turkish side to ease or even just to show some kind of readiness at least to listen to what the Kurds have to say. The BDP (Peace and Democracy Party), established after the ban imposed on the DTP (Democratic Society Party) by the Constitutional Court on 11 December 2009, has tried (and still is) to bring the Kurdish issue on the parliament's agenda. But so far every effort has been frustrated. The so called 'democratic initiative' presented by the AKP (Justice and Development Party) has soon reveal itself for what it is: an empty box.
The arrests yesterday of ten members of the Peace and Democratic Solution Group (BDCG) go in the direction of pushing for an escalation to the conflict.
Upon hearing the news of the arrests, protest demonstrations were immediately started all over Turkey.
The first hearing of 17 members of the BDCG started in early hours of Thursday morning in Diyarbakir. The BDCG members, who had come back to Turkey from Kandil and Maxmur to show their faith in peace and contribute to the peace process, were on put on trial for their speeches. Those prosecuted members of the BDCG are mostly former guerrilla. There were massive protests and support activities continuing in front of the Diyarbakir Court Building which hundreds of people waiting outside all night. Many lawyers from Diyarbakir Bar Association had also attended the trials as well as many peace activists from all over the country.
