Margarita Windisch, Melbourne
On October 3, the Victorian Kurdish Association is hosting a conference titled "Political and Human Rights Dimensions of the Kurdish Question". Mahmut Kahraman told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly that the conference aimed to bring politicians, academics, human rights advocates and lawyers together to discuss the Kurdish struggle.
Discussions will focus on the struggle in Turkey, since it joined the European Union, and the Australian government's listing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as a terrorist organisation.
Keynote speakers will include Kerim Yildiz from the Kurdish Human Rights Project in London, Mark Muller from the Human Rights Committee of England and Wales, Aysel Tugluk from the Democratic Society Party in Turkey and NSW Greens Senator Kerry Nettle.
Human rights abuses against Kurdish people will be another central theme. "Kurds are still being oppressed by Turkey, Iran and Syria. For centuries hundreds of thousands of Kurds have been killed by the governments of these countries, who insist on trying to assimilate and humiliate Kurds", Kahraman said.
He described how Kurds in Turkey have been denied the possibility of being educated in their language and are being prevented from freely practicing their culture. "The Turkish government is against any Kurdish movement, including legal and pro-Kurdish political parties."
The gathering will also discuss the implications of the Howard government listing the PKK, the largest Kurdish party in Northern Kurdistan, as a terrorist organisation. "The PKK has been advocating democratic, peaceful solutions. It has called for a unilateral cease-fire at least four times since 1993, all of which have been rejected by the Turkish government", explained Kahraman. "Still, the majority of Kurds support the broad aims of the PKK, and a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question."
The Australian Kurdish community is now fearful of being labelled terrorist and prosecuted, Kahraman said. "Many Kurds had to flee torture and persecution because of their support for Kurdish rights. Now they are coming under pressure for defending their rights." Kahraman admits that attaining an independent Kurdish homeland will be hard and cites jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan who said that history shows that nation states have often created, rather than solved, problems. Still, he added, "the Kurdish people must have the opportunity to decide on this themselves".
[For more information about the conference, phone (03) 9379 5679 or email <kurds@optusnet.com.au>.]