Mert Gozde
Feb 20, 2001
Ankara - Turkish Daily News

During the second and final day of talks at the conference titled "The Kurdish Issue
and Human Rights on the Way to the European Union," chaired mostly by
parliamentarians of the socialist parties in the Italian Parliament, it was emphasized
that the Kurdish issue should be discussed in the EU and United Nations.

Lawyer Feridun Yazar, People's Democracy Party (HADEP) deputy chairman,
speaking during the conference, said they did not like discussing Turkey's problems
in Europe but added they were left with no other choice.

The two missing HADEP members -- Silopi provincial leader Serdar Tanis and
provincial general secretary Ebubekir Deniz -- were also discussed during the
conference.

According to an article published in Ozgur Politika newspaper, New Look
Communist Party member Walter de Cesaris, who chaired the second session of
the conference, requested the EU to put the Kurdish issue on the agenda and to take
decisions after political investigations.

Brunno Ficili, the chairman of the Peace Educators Society, expressed his pleasure
regarding the opportunity to discuss the Kurdish issue in the Italian Parliament.
Stating that both Turks and Kurds had paid due to the unsolved Kurdish problem,
Ficili claimed that Turkey would not be able to acquire full membership status in the
EU.

HADEP Deputy Chairman Feridun Yazar, Turkish attendee at the conference, stated
that the Kurdish people were not to be held responsible for the negative
developments in Turkey.

Yazar continued: "We do not like having to discuss problems, which Turkey should in
fact solve within itself, in the European capitals. We certainly wish we had solved the
Kurdish issue and were here talking about how to improve the EU conditions."

Stating that HADEP was not a Kurdish party and that everyone in Turkey was
struggling to defend their democratic rights and paying high prices to do so, Yazar
said that they were continuing to pay high prices and the most recent example of this
was the two missing HADEP members, Tanis and Deniz.

Stating that they had serious doubts regarding the sincerity of the current
government's intentions to join the EU, Yazar said the EU was being quite indecisive
on whether to accept Turkey's membership or not. Yazar said: "Is it Turkey that does
not want EU membership or is it the EU that does not want Turkey's membership?
This I could not yet understand. We do not regard the EU as our savior. It is for sure
that the Kurdish issue would be eased by means of EU criteria. However, if Turkey
does not practice these criteria, the issue cannot be solved by imposing them
anyway."

New Look Communist Party parliamentarian Ramon Mantovani stated that they were
in support of the Kurdish people. Italian Christian Party representative Alexandro
Forlani stated that they were ready to contribute in order to ensure peace in Turkey.
Stating that Turkey should be more determined and more actively involved in the
process in order to join the EU, Forlani claimed that the instability in Turkey delayed
a solution to the Kurdish issue.

According to the article in the Ozgur Politika newspaper, Irfan Dundar, lawyer for
terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), also attended the conference and gave a
speech. He said that the current problems stemmed from the policies that denies a
"Kurdish identity."

Dunbar continued: "The  PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan has been thinking
about how to achieve a peaceful life among the Turks and Kurds. And he has been
coming up with new solutions everyday. The name of the project which Ocalan has
been working on and which has been on the agenda for two years is 'Peace, Unity
and Democracy'."

European Parliament member Luisa Morgantini, journalist Dino Frisullo, Green Party
parliamentarian Luigi Saracani and other speakers voiced their opinion that it was
important that the Kurdish issue was discussed in the Italian Parliament and added
however that concrete steps should be taken regarding the issue.
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com