The View of the Kurdish Issue from Diyarbakir in the Latest ICG Report The report, which gives an overview of the issue and offer solutions accordingly, was discussed at TEPAV.

ANKARA – International Crisis Group’s (ICG) latest report, titled “Turkey’s Kurdish Impasse: The View from Diyarbakir,” was discussed during a meeting at TEPAV on Friday, 7 December 2012. Didem Akyel Collinsworth, ICG Turkey and Cyprus Analyst, shared the chief findings of the report with the audience.

The meeting was moderated by TEPAV European Union (EU) Institute Director Nilgün Arısan Eralp. During her opening speech, Eralp said, “You might be wondering why I am moderating this meeting as the EU Institute Director,” and cited former prime minister Mesut Yılmaz, who said, “the road to the EU passes through Diyarbakir.”

Delivering a presentation on the ICG report, Collinsworth stated that Diyarbakir, with the majority of its population being Kurdish speakers and it being the city where the Kurdish Hezbollah was rooted, was an important city. She addressed the position of Diyarbakir within the Kurdish issue in terms of the socioeconomic structure of the city as well as the demands of the Kurdish population and the response of political parties in this regard.

Stressing that Turkey was prejudiced against Kurdish demands and that the majority of the Kurdish population was marginalized, Collinsworth said that among the group there was a dominant belief that the problem would be solved with democratic tools. She touched upon the main demands of the Kurdish population, which she summarized as the recognition of the Kurdish identity and ethnicity, the right to mother-language in education and public services, decentralization, and the removal of discrimination in laws. Recalling that despite its declining appeal the AKP still had won an average of one-third of the vote in the Kurdish-speaking provinces (as opposed to the BDP’s average of sixty percent), she said that the Kurds were expecting the government to take the lead role in the solution of these problems. She stressed that the local community wanted to be a part of Turkey with their own identities. Referring to the steps the government had taken regarding the use of mother languages in education, she emphasized that although those were important for easing the tension, the implementation required a long time.

Economic needs of Diyarbakir…

Didem Akyel Collinsworth also assessed the investments in the region and the impact of the ongoing atmosphere of violence and said that the government had to take steps to enhance education, transportation (international airport and railroad lines) and industry (industrial zones). She added that as the enthusiasm about the EU accession process had been lost, willingness to solve the Kurdish issue had weakened.

The meeting ended after a session of comments and questions by the audience.

Please click here to the see the ICG report.