Journalist-writer Mete Çubukçu and Middle East expert Faik Bulut spoke to ANF about the walls of shame Turkey has recently started to build on Nusaybin-Qamişlo, Serêkaniyê-Ceylanpınar and Efrin-Kilis borders.

Çubukçu and Bulut remarked that the construction of these walls meant nothing but putting up a barrier to the solution of the Kurdish issue.

Mete Çubukçu said that the demolition of the Berlin Wall raised hopes for a world without walls, but this failed as the construction of walls has continued ever since, with the most remarkable one being the 700 meter long fence Israel built in Palestine. Çubukçu stressed that the so-called security fence financed by the U.S. was exactly a wall of shame.

“It should not be forgotten that walls are built to be demolished, and they shall all be demolished sooner or later”, he underlined.

Çubukçu pointed out that it needs to be questioned why Turkey is building walls in the areas bordering the Kurdish populated region in Syria, and why these walls were built not during the conflict process with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) but while the peace process is still going on. He remarked that the construction of these walls would not lead to favorable consequences for the ongoing process.

According to Çubukçu, the building of the walls also constituted a contradiction to Turkey's ethical stance and foreign policy vision while it strongly criticized Israel for building a wall of shame.

Journalist Çubukçu stressed that Turkey was still confused about Kurds -despite its relations with the PYD (Democratic Union Party)- and had no policy on the current situation, still following its old security policies against Kurds.

The peace process in Turkey is parallel with the future of Kurds in Syria, Çubukçu said and added that; “The walls which are being built on the grounds of security matters serve nothing but separating peoples and societies from each other. These walls will strengthen the doubts of Kurds in Syria and Turkey about Turkey's policy.”

Middle East expert Faik Bulut evaluated the building of the walls on the border as the manifestation of the government's contradiction and dilemma and its sincerity concerning the solution of the Kurdish issue.

According to Bulut, the government would not manage to come up with a solution to the Kurdish question unless it abandoned its present mindset aiming to keep Kurds away from each other.

Bulut said these walls exposed the ideological mindset of the ruling AKP government, adding that; “The government had intended to prepare the ground for a conflict between Kurds and Arabs or Kurds and Islamists by organizing some armed gang groups -which it provides with logistic and political support as well-and sending them to Rojava where it can currently not intervene. Today the government is building these walls because of its failure with this plan, which means its threats and attempts of siege against Rojava have failed.”

Bulut warned that theTurkey-backed armed gang groups might aim Turkey itself in the coming term, as has been witnessed many times in history, and that it would be a disaster if these armed gangs head towards Turkey one or other day.