E’ primavera in Turchia. Per il Nevruz, il capodanno turco, Ocalan dal carcere di Imrali ha inviato al popolo curdo un appello al “cessate il fuoco”. Ad ascoltare le sue parole sono accorsi in 200 mila a Diyarbakir. Il Pkk depone le armi, coni suoi guerriglieri che si sposteranno oltre il confine nel Kurdistan irakeno. Soddisfazione da parte del governo Erdogan, forse sta iniziando dopo trent’anni di conflitto e 40 mila morti una nuova era.

Il testo di Ocalan rivolto a curdi e turchi letto da due deputati, in curdo da Pervin Buldan, in turco dal deputato Bpd Sim Süreyya Önder.

Non mancano però i pericoli, l’uccisione poco tempo fa delle due militanti curde a Parigi è lì a ricordarlo. Qui di seguito l’articolo di repubblica.it e quello di Today Zaman (http://www.todayszaman.com/news-310318-ocalan-calls-for-cease-fire-pkk-withdrawal-in-historic-message.html):

Turchia, Ocalan annuncia il ‘cessate il fuoco’
e il ritiro dei ribelli del Pkk oltre i confini

Il messaggio del leader detenuto letto da due deputati curdi davanti a 200mila persone a Diyarbakir. “Non è la fine, oggi è l’inizio di una nuova era per passare dalla lotta armata alla lotta democratica”. Parole accolte positivamente da Ankara. Erdogan: “Stop a operazioni militari se cesseranno attacchi”

Puntuale con la festa del Newroz, è arrivatol’atteso e storico annuncio del Pkk. Il suo leader detenuto, Abdullah Ocalan, ha diffuso il documento nel quale comunica l’immediato stop alle armi e invita i combattenti del Partito dei lavoratori curdo a ritirarsi nel Kurdistan iracheno, dunque oltre i confini della Turchia. Il documento di Ocalan, riferisce il sito Zaman online, è stato letto da due deputati curdi davanti a una folla enorme accorsa al parco di Diyarbakir, nel sud-est della Turchia. “E’ il tempo della politica, non delle armi”, afferma il messaggio del leader del Pkk. Almeno 200mila persone erano presenti, con striscioni e grandi bandiere con il volto di Ocalan.

“Una nuova era inizia oggi, la porta si apre per passare dalla lotta armata alla lotta democratica”, ha detto Ocalan nel messaggio da lui stesso preannunciato come “storico” letto in turco e in curdo in occasione del Capodanno curdo: “Facciamo tacere le armi, lasciamo parlare la politica. E’ ora che le nostre forze armate si ritirino oltre i confini. Non è la fine, e l’inizio di una nuova era”. In 30 anni il conflitto turco-curdo ha fatto oltre 40mila morti.

I ribelli curdi obbediranno: lo ha annunciato il capo militare del Pkk, Murat Karayilan. In una lettera inviata a Ocalan la scorsa settimana Karayilan, secondo la stampa turca, aveva indicato che la direzione militareaderisce al processo per una soluzione politica avviato dal leader detenuto con il governo di Ankara.

Secondo la stampa di Ankara il Pkk ha circa 3500 guerriglieri nel Kurdistan turco, che dovrebbero ora ritirarsi, con salvacondotti del governo Erdogan, verso le basi arretrate dei ribelli in Nord Iraq, mentre proseguiranno le trattative di pace.

Ocalan sconta dal 1999 una condanna a morte, poi commutata in ergastolo, nell’isola carcere di Imrali, dove in dicembre ha fatto partire una trattativa di pace con il governo turco del premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan attraverso il capo dei servizi segreti del Mit Hakan Fidan.

La prima reazione del governo del premier Erdogan all’appello di Ocalan viene dal ministro degli interni turco Muammer Guler: “il linguaggio usato è quello della pace”, ha detto secondo quanto riferisce l’agenzia Anadolu. Guler ha aggiunto di attendere “le conseguenze pratiche” dell’annuncio di Ocalan.

L’appello di Ocalan, ha aggiunto poco dopo lo stesso Erdogan, “è stato accolto positivamente”. Il premier islamico, in visita ufficiale in Olanda, ha rilevato in una conferenza stampa che la dichiarazione di Ocalan “è uno sviluppo positivo”. Ma è molto importante, ha aggiunto, l’applicazione. Quando l’appello (che prevede fra l’altro il ritiro dei ribelli dal territorio turco, ndr) sarà applicato, l’atmosfera in Turchia cambierà molto” e “se ci sarà la rinuncia alle armi, cesseranno anche le operazioni dell’esercito”, ha detto.

21 marzo 2013

TodayZaman.online

Öcalan calls for cease-fire, PKK withdrawal in historic message

21 March 2013 /TODAYSZAMAN.COM, İSTANBUL

Jailed leader of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Öcalan called on PKK forces for a cease-fire and withdrawal from Turkey, in a long-awaited, historic announcement during celebrations of Nevruz, a spring festival, in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Thursday.

“Our fight has been against all kinds of pressure, violence and oppression… A door is now opening on a democratic process after a period of armed struggle. Guns should fall silent and politics should come to the foreground. The stage has been reached where our armed forces should withdraw beyond the borders… It is not the end, it is the start of a new era,” Öcalan said in a statement read by Kurdish politicians at Nevruz celebrations attended by a quarter of a million people in Diyarbakır’s Nevruz Park.

Öcalan began his message by saluting Kurds, people from the Middle East, Central Asia and all others who celebrate Nevruz, which he called “a day of awakening and resurrection.”

“This struggle, which began with my insurgency against the slavery, ignorance and desperation we were born into, aimed to be against any kind of pressure and oppression. Today I see that this cry was not to no avail. Our fight has not been against any kind of race, sect or group and will not be. Our fight has been against ignorance, injustice, being despised and oppressed,” Öcalan said in his message.

The Kurdish version of Öcalan’s message was read out by pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputy Pervin Buldan, while the Turkish text was read out by BDP deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder.

“We have given years for this people [the Kurds] and paid a big price. No effort or sacrifice has gone down the drain. The Kurds won their identity back. Let guns be silenced and politics dominate,” he said to a sea of red-yellow-green PKK flags.

Appealing to all the people of Turkey, Öcalan said they should keep in mind that Turks and Kurds’ 1,000-year-long coexistence under the flag of Islam is based on brotherhood and solidarity.

“In this relationship of brotherhood, there is no and there should be no conquest, denial, rejection, forced assimilation and elimination,” he said, adding that pressure and assimilation policies of a group of power elite, which have nothing to do with people, have rejected the historic bonds between Turks and Kurds throughout a century.

Öcalan said he is calling on Turks and Kurds, which he described as two fundamental powers of the Middle East, to make a joint exit from the “mangle of tyranny” and rebuild democratic modernity together in compliance with their own culture and civilization.

“This is not a time of disagreements, clashes, insulting one another but alliance, solidarity, embracing each other and reconciliation. Turks and Kurds who fell during the Battle of Çanakkale shoulder to shoulder carried out the [Turkish] War of Independence together and opened Parliament together in 1920,” said the PKK leader, recalling the historic ties and alliance between the two peoples.

PKK chief commander Murat Karayılan said the terrorist group will comply with Öcalan’s call and withdraw their forces.

Noting that this year’s Nevruz was embraced at a historic juncture, Karayılan said the PKK is ready for a peace settlement and 2013 will be the final year for the Kurdish dispute to be settled, either through a peaceful solution or via war.

“Everyone must know the fact that the PKK is ready either for war or for a peace settlement. We are confident in ourselves. We will realize the process launched by our leadership, Öcalan, with great determination. This period of our struggle is not only critical for Western Kurdistan but also for all regions of Kurdistan,” Karayılan said in a statement to the PKK-affiliated ANF news agency.

Erdoğan criticizes absence of Turkish flags

In comments on the Nevruz celebrations and Öcalan’s message, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed frustration with the absence of Turkish flags. “The lack of Turkish flags was contrary to Öcalan’s message,” said Erdoğan, speaking during an official visit in the Netherlands. Erdoğan has taken considerable risks since being elected in 2002, breaking taboos deep-rooted in a conservative establishment by extending cultural and language rights to Kurds.

he PKK leader’s announcement follows months of talks with Turkish intelligence officers and Kurdish politicians on a prison on İmrali Island in the Marmara Sea where he has been held since his capture by Turkish special forces in Kenya in 1999.

Öcalan’s statement is expected to cement peace talks with the Turkish government that have been edging forward since October, possibly commanding PKK members to withdraw to Northern Iraq where most of its several thousand PKK militants are based and used as a launching pad to attack Turkey.

Öcalan’s PKK, regarded by the United States and the European Union as well as Turkey as a terrorist organization, launched its campaign in 1984, demanding an independent Kurdish state in the Southeast of Turkey. But in recent years it has moderated its demands for political autonomy and broader cultural rights in an area where the Kurdish language has long been formally banned.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict with the PKK so far. Over the past years, Turkey has taken significant steps to expand the cultural and political rights of Kurds, who have suffered much from the Turkish state’s harsh policies against them over the past decades.

Truces have been declared and secret talks held with the PKK in the past, but expectations this time have been fuelled by the openness with which the process has been conducted.

On Thursday, people from 85 different parts of Diyarbakır gathered at Nevruz Park, where the celebrations take place. They were carrying posters of Öcalan and Kurdish flags, while there were no Turkish flags flying. The area was decorated with green, yellow and red clothes, the colors of the PKK.

Masked PKK militants appeared on the platform and chanted slogans in favor of Öcalan and the PKK during the event.

A huge bonfire was lit as Kurdish “Nevruz” new year celebrations began, a soundtrack of Öcalan’s past speeches playing over loudspeakers.

Nevruz, which heralds the arrival of spring, is celebrated across Central Asia, some parts of the Caucasus and the Middle East, but in Turkey it has symbolic importance for Kurds. Nevruz is not an official holiday in Turkey but has been celebrated officially over the past few years.

Police took tight security measures in the area and conducted extensive body searches in case of a provocation.

Some 5,000 security contractors tasked by the organizing committee helped the police in the area, where hundreds of “Happy Nevruz” banners both in Turkish and Kurdish welcomed participants.

The entrance to the park was restricted by police barriers and dozens of vendors were taken to a special area. More than 500 foreign and national journalists were accredited to cover the event, which was jointly organized by the BDP and Democratic Society Congress (DTK). Dozens of TV networks broadcast the celebrations live.

Diyarbakır Police Chief Recep Güven also took part in inspections at the park. After police reported to Güven that they had prevented a man with a knife from entering the celebration area, the police chief ordered security forces to take any necessary measures to prevent any disruption of the peaceful nature of the event.

BDP Co-chairpersons Selahattin Demirtaş and Gültan Kışanak; Co-chairpersons of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) Ahmet Türk and Aysel Tuğluk; Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir; and pro-Kurdish deputies Leyla Zana, Ayla Akat Ata, Sebahat Tuncel, Pervin Buldan, Nursel Aydoğan, Esat Canan, İdris Baluken, Sırrı Sakık, Demir Çelik, Hasip Kaplan, Adil Kurt, Özdal Üçer, Ertuğrul Kürkçü and Erol Dora, many of whom donned traditional clothes, were among the prominent figures in attendance at the celebration.

(21 marzo 2013)