Israel Or Turkish State Terror?

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis

Thursday June 03, 2010 22:42

by Latif Serhildan - KURDISTAN SOLIDARITY IRELAND

Both Turkey and Iran have accused Israel of state terror against the activists on the high seas. From a Kurdish point of view I salute the brave peace activists and I sympathize with the situation of the Palestinian people in the face of oppression by the Israeli state. Yet we cannot forget that both Turkey and Iran continue to commit atrocities against the Kurdish population.

Both Turkey and Iran have accused Israel of state terror against the activists on the high seas. From a Kurdish point of view I salute the brave peace activists and I sympathize with the situation of the Palestinian people in the face of oppression by the Israeli state. Yet we cannot forget that both Turkey and Iran continue to commit atrocities against the Kurdish population.

Turkish war planes and helicopters regularly bombard Kurdish villages in South Kurdistan. In the past thirty years Turkey has evacuated over thirty thousand Kurdish villages, a figure confirmed by a Turkish parliamentary commission on human rights. Thousands of Kurdish politicians have been imprisoned since April 2009 and are still awaiting trial. Minors have been sentenced to 8-12 years imprisonment for their alleged political allegiance. Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan gave security forces the order to attack Kurdish women and children to protect the state. The Turkish Prime Minister claims he sent toys for children on the flotilla while he uses weapons against Kurdish children, including weapons which were procured in dealings with the Israeli state. Yet he is very quick to criticise Israel’s state terror.

The Islamic Republic of Iran hanged 5 Kurdish activists for enmity against God last month, and two more are at imminent risk of execution. Turkey and Iran have no credibility in proclaiming selective human rights when it happens to coincide with their interests.