Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-04-06-Speech-4-136"
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"en.20060406.23.4-136"2
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"Mr President, the situation in south-east Turkey is indeed extremely worrying but should not surprise anyone. Violence and gross abuse of human rights, largely by the Turkish State, have been practised on and off in that region for decades and they will continue to occur for many years to come unless the Turkish Government recognises that the Kurdish problem will not go away simply by giving the army generals a free hand to deal with it in the only way they know how: by brute force.
The Turkish Government must understand that the millions of Kurdish people living in the region must have their human rights fully respected. They must have the right to use their own language, Kurdish, and to uphold their traditions and culture. Furthermore, the Turkish Government must accept that the Kurdish people are entitled to a degree of autonomy. If such an eventuality were to be negotiated, it would not adversely affect the wellbeing of the Turkish people; through the establishment of long-lasting stability, it would bring peace and prosperity to the whole of Turkey. In addition, the Turkish Government must take the brave step of acceding to the recent request by Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Masood Barzani to accept the federal structure of Iraq and to declare a general amnesty for PKK militants.
Mr Erdogan’s Government has given signs of aspiring to achieve drastic democratic reforms in Turkey. We know that such reforms are greatly resisted by the deeply entrenched military establishment. The Turkish people must understand that those who resist change are in fact the real enemies of Turkey. Mr Erdogan is fighting a difficult battle, full of danger, with the army generals. We must encourage and support him because, if the generals win, Turkey’s progress towards democratisation will be halted, as will its progress towards EU accession, and the country will sink once again into the backwardness of military totalitarian control."@en1
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