Attacks feared on Kurdish population – GfbV calls for observers to be sent and asks for the presence of the media in the south-east of Turkey

The threat of attacks by Turkish security forces on Kurdish civilians during the Kurdish New Year Celebrations on 21st March has caused the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) to call for the EU to send observers to the Kurdish region of Turkey. The human rights organisation has already sent this urgent request to the embassies of the European states in Ankara. The GfbV is now appealing to the media to demonstrate presence in the south-east of the country, which is populated by Kurds. "The past has shown that the presence of foreign observers and journalists does a great deal to protect the Kurdish civilian population”, said the Chair of the German section of the GfbV, Tilman Zülch, on Thursday in Göttingen.

The impending elections in the provinces may well be the occasion for violent conflict. There could indeed be a "showdown” between the state and the radical Workers’ Party of Kurdistan (PKK), warned the GfbV. The point is that each side wants to "conquer Kurdistan”. With a view to the coming elections the pro-Kurdish party DTP will also be testing its influence on the people of the Kurdish region. Ankara will therefore do all in its power, including the use of violence, to prevent any demonstrations or rallies initiated by the PKK or the DTP.

The Kurdish Newroz celebrations for spring and New Year take place traditionally on 21st March. Many Kurds use the celebrations to draw attention to their political situation. There have been in recent years various cases of conflict and unapproved demonstrations, against which the Turkish security forces have reacted quite ruthlessly.

Last year disturbances which had only a loose connection with the feast resulted in two young men being shot dead by the Turkish police. Many people were injured and over 100 arrested. In the same year young people who burned a Turkish flag during the Newroz demonstration in the Mediterranean town of Mersin sparked off a crisis throughout the country. The tensions between Kurds and Turks increased. The background to the protest campaign in Mersin was the arrest of six Kurdish teenagers during the celebrations three years before. They were accused of burning a Turkish flag. The incident produced a wave of nationalistic riots against the Kurds. Later a member of the Turkish extremist Union of Patriotic Forces (VKGB) was identified as the criminal. The six accused were released from custody after two years, but they were neither acquitted nor given any compensation.