Lawyer Taylan Ertaş, who ranks eighth in the candidate list of the Green Left Party in Van province, is continuing his election campaign. The life story of Ertaş is a summary of all the sufferings that the Kurds have been subjected to in the last 30 years. The Ertaş family was forced to migrate after the evacuation of their village in 1990. The family stayed two years in Istanbul and Taylan faced difficulties during his education. The fact that he managed to study at university and become a lawyer despite difficulties explains his great success and persistent spirit.

Ertaş spoke to ANF about his views on the AKP-MHP fascism, the Kurdish question and Van. Citing the massacres in Zîlan Stream and Dersim, which were carried out against the Kurds with the purpose of their assimilation and annihilation, Ertaş said: “Even though they had not been involved in the 1960 military coup, prominent Kurdish figures were taken to the Sivas camp and exiled. In the 1980 military coup, the Kurds were again killed, jailed and exiled. Most recently, in the 2016 military coup, the Kurds and their elected politicians were unlawfully imprisoned, dismissed from their jobs and exiled.”

Ertaş pointed out that in a country where 20 million Kurds live, the 66th article of the coup constitution says that "Everyone bound to the Turkish State through the bond of citizenship is a Turk ". The lawyer added: "The 3rd article of the constitution says that the official language of the Turkish state is Turkish", while the Kurdish language is ignored. The Kurdish question has been carried over to these days with many dimensions including social, political and economic. Now that these problems are well known, it is time to find solutions. In other words, it is time for a constitutional recognition of the Kurds and the Kurdish language, and the Kurdish question can be easily resolved in the parliament."

WE WILL RE-INTRODUCE THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION

Ertaş remarked that the women's issue in Turkey cannot be separated from the Kurdish question. He continued: “The murder of Deniz Poyraz in public and the impunity granted to the murderers of mother Taybet can be cited as the male-dominant violence. Moreover, in KADES (an emergency support application for women), there is no Kurdish interpreter despite the availability of interpreters in all other languages, and the state will be responsible for all Kurdish women killed and harassed by men from now on.”

Ertaş stated that women were subjected to verbal and physical harassment in business life, and they did not get equal pay even though they did the same job as men. He said: “Women's struggle for their identity started with the Kurdish struggle and gave great strength to them. Categorizing women with different symbols or names is one of the biggest obstacles to their emancipation.”

Ertaş underlined that the reintroduction of the Istanbul Convention was not enough. He said: "Law No. 6284 to Protect Family and Prevent Violence Against Women should also be implemented in its strongest form."

‘WE WILL FIGHT DRUGS’

Emphasizing that one of the biggest problems in Van province was unemployment, Ertaş remarked: “Because of the economic crisis, the purchasing power has decreased. Youth unemployment and inflation are on the rise in Van. Most young people working in textiles receive half the minimum wage (about 220 Euros). Citizens can barely afford basic needs. It has become impossible to buy meat in our city, where animal husbandry is very popular. The incompetence in recruitment of workers in institutions, the traffic problem and the ring road that remains unfinished are other problems in the city.”

Ertaş emphasized that they will fight drugs in the city where children and young people are forced to become addicts.

The lawyer revealed their goals concerning the May 14 elections: “The Green Left Party will win all 8 seats in the city. The party will have more than 100 deputies across Turkey by getting more than 15 percent of all votes.”

WHO IS TAYLAN ERTAŞ?

Taylan Ertaş was born in Van in 1989. His family had to migrate to Istanbul from the Dikbıyık village of the Gürpınar district as a result of the forced displacement policy of the Turkish state in the early 1990s. His family returned to Van two years later, despite the massive state pressure.

Ertaş graduated from Izmir 9 Eylül University’s Faculty of Law in 2017. He took part in the democratic struggle during his university years and has been working as a lawyer in Van downtown since 2018 after completing his law internship in the city. In 2019, Ertaş worked for the children and women commissions of the Van Bar Association.