Madam, - While speaking a lot about democracy in Dromoland President Bush mentioned a few times that he was on his way to "democratic Turkey". He held Turkey up as a beacon of hope in the region!
The Turkish government hasn't taken any practical steps to grant the Kurds their cultural rights, yet being an important ally of the United States apparently confers automatic democratic credentials in the eyes of the President, who declared "Turkey has found its place in the community of democracies by living out its own principles" (Irish Times, June 30th).
The fact is that Turkey is not a functioning democracy, and will not be until the Kurdish question is properly debated, analysed and solutions sought with the engagement of all parties.
Unresolved issues such as the life sentence passed on Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, teaching and broadcasting in the Kurdish language in state schools, and the legalisation of PKK as a political party.
For Turkey, the Kurdish question lies beyond the realm of wills and intentions. It is intimately connected to the very roots of Kemalist ideology, and touches on such sensitive matters as the nature of the Turkish nation state that was established in 1923 to replace the multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire. In this context, the Kurds are only seen as an integral part of the Turkish people.
Eighty years of Kemalist policies that denied the very existence of a Kurdish minority in Turkey, as well as to constant Kurdish rebellions against Ankara, an entrenched state of hatred and mistrust now exists between the two communities that cannot be easily eradicated. The Turkish government hasn't taken any practical steps yet to grant the Kurds their cultural rights.
Yet despite that, and despite the fact that conventional Turkish thinking vis-à-vis this issue hasn't changed. When President Bush arrived in Turkey the first request of Turkish premier Erdogan was for US help with the eradication of Kurdish insurgents.
President Bush should tell his chum that in a democracy political engagement is to be favoured over military intervention in seeking to overcome difficulties that present a threat to the citizens or state of the country. He should stress that peaceful dialogue is always preferred and that military intervention is not an option there. But given the President's recent record, what are the chances of that? - Yours, etc.,
LATIF SERHILDAN, Glasheen Rd., Cork.