Yesterday, Peace in Kurdistan Campaign sent this letter to Prime Minister David Cameron. It was drafted in response to the Ankara bombing and the UK government’s continued support for President Erdogan, despite all evidence of his divisive and dangerous politics that has threatened the very stability of Turkey – and Syria. We call on him to urge Turkey to heed the PKK’s ceasefire and return to the peace process immediately.
In just a few days, the letter was signed by 95 of our campaign’s long-time supporters, as well as friends of the Kurdish movement from across the world. We have published the letter and signatories below in full.
Rt Hon David Cameron MP
Prime Minister
21 October 2015
Open letter to David Cameron on UK policy towards Turkey
Dear Prime Minister,
You sent words of condolences to President Erdogan on the news of last week’s twin suicide bombing at the trade union organised peace rally in Ankara which left over 100 people dead and many more mutilated. Erdogan himself however has shown no signs of grieving, compassion or humility in response to this latest in what has been a series of horrific attacks on mainly Kurdish political organisations in recent months.
The scene of carnage in Ankara was so appalling that it has traumatised the nation which was still barely recovering from the aftermath of July’s massacre of students in the border town Suruc which left more than 30 victims of another ISIS-inspired suicide bombing.
The reality is that it is the Kurds who have been bearing the brunt of these attacks from terrorist groups linked to ISIS and al Qaeda who appear to freely operate inside Turkey. At best, it is a failure of security, but many Kurds have concluded that these incidents are manifestations of the work of what is called the “deep state”, accusing the authorities of collaboration with the terrorists.
Suspicions turned to anger when Turkish leaders refused to accept any responsibility for security lapses and even sought to blame the PKK for the attack in Ankara, which is bizarre in the extreme. Most of the victims were Kurds and they were all calling for the resumption of peace talks between the government and the PKK to end the violence. It is absurd to suggest that the PKK would have had any involvement in such a brutal attack.
The massacre has exacerbated the deep divisions that have opened up in Turkish society in the months following the June election which left the AKP falling short of an absolute majority to rule alone. The sectarian policies pursued by the government, particularly since the election, have contributed to the renewed conflict and the divisions in Turkish society are today clear for all to see. Erdogan needs to be challenged on where he is taking the country. Erdogan is a very divisive figure and has even been described by Turkish novelist, Elif Shafak, as “the most divisive leader in Turkish history”.
The prospects of peace with the Kurds have been squandered mainly through Erdogan’s Machiavellian machinations and his obsession with changing the country’s constitution in order to give more power to himself as the president. The victory of the pro-Kurdish HDP in June’s election enraged Erdogan who saw it as an obstacle to be removed at all cost, rather than grasped as an opportunity to resolve the Kurdish conflict by democratic means. Talks with jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan had been put on hold before the election, but now there is little sign of Erdogan wanting to return to the negotiating table any time soon, if at all.
Conflict has been deliberately stoked for political gain in a grotesquely irresponsible and cynical way. As such, Kurdish people have been right to question the timing of the Ankara bombings which came within hours of the announcement from the PKK of a ceasefire. This offer of a halt to the conflict which has claimed an estimated 700 lives in the past few months was immediately rejected by the Turkish government and its bombing of Kurdish positions in Iraq was actually stepped up.
The reality is clear for all to see: Erdogan and the AKP are obstructing the achievement of peace not only in their own country but in Syria too where they are pursuing a sectarian war against the Syrian Kurds who are fighting ISIS.
The UK must realise that Turkey’s current policies are deeply divisive and fuelling conflict at home and abroad. It is high time that Turkey’s allies ended their silence on Erdogan’s abuses of power and authoritarian rule. In this respect it is deeply dismaying that the EU seems prepared to make so many concessions to Turkey in order to seal a deal on the Syrian refugees. Turning a blind eye to Erdogan’s increasing authoritarian regime will be a recipe for disaster and simply ensures even greater instability in the region. We will all pay a very heavy price indeed.
The UK needs to tell Erdogan to return to the peace process with the Kurds and to call a halt to its divisive sectarian policies, stop bombing the Kurds and end its curbs on human rights. Only this course of action can end the climate of fear and start to heal the ruptures that are today tearing Turkey apart.
Yours sincerely,
Estella Schmid, Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
David Morgan, Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
Melanie Sirinathsingh, Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
Natalie Bennett, Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales
Derek Wall, International Coordinator of the Green Party of England and Wales
Richard Mallender, Chair of the Green Party of England and Wales
Amelia Womack, Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales
Peter Murry, Secretary of Green Left
Mark Thomas, author/comedian and activist
Lord Rea
Kate Osamor MP
Hilary Wainright, Co-editor Red Pepper and Fellow, Transnational Institute, Amsterdam
Margaret Owen OBE, human rights lawyer and director for of Widows for Peace through Democracy
Dr Thomas Jeffrey Miley, Lecturer of Political Sociology, The University of Cambridge
Nadje Al-Ali, Professor of Gender Studies, Research and admissions tutor (MPhil/PhD Gender Studies) Centre for Gender Studies, SOAS
Tony Simpson, Editor, The Spokesman, journal of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation
Stan Newens, former MP and MEP; President of Liberation; and Honorary President of Socialist History Society
Dilar Dirik, Kurdish activist & PhD student at the University of Cambridge
Martha Mundy, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, London School of Economics
Dr Felix Padel, Sussex University
Frances Webber, human rights lawyer, Vice-President of Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers
Melanie Gingell, barrister
Bronwen Jones, barrister
Alastair Lyon, solicitor, Birnberg Peirce Solicitors
Isabel Kaser, PhD candidate, SOAS,London
Kurdish Human Rights Action Groug, South Africa
Judge Essa Moosa, South Africa
Joost Jongerden, Wageningen University, Sociology and Anthropology of Development Department, Faculty Member, Netherlands
Kathryn Cameron Porter, President & Founder, The Leadership Council for Human Rights, US
Ralph D Fertig, civil rights lawyer, sociologist, author, President of the Humanitarian Law Project/Internationa Educational Development, University of Southern California, US
Nick Hildyard, policy advisor
Tim Gopsill, Editor, Free press, Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom
Yvo Fitzherbert, journalist
Stephen Smellie, Deputy Convenor, UNISON Lanarkshire
Mike Arnott, Secretary, Dundee Trades Union Council
Alain Hertzmann, Branch secretary London North West Branch 9708, Unitetheunion
Dr Keith Baker, Green Party
Shatha Besarani, women’s right activist
Diarmuid Breatnach, writer, traditional singer, Dublin, Ireland
John Hunt, journalist, Kurdistan Tribune
Harem Karem, Editor, The Pasewan
Ahmet Atas, Journalist / PhD candidate at SOAS
Retep, Secretary of the Green Left
Plan C (Rojava Solidarity Cluster)
Mark Barrett, Occupy / People in Common
Rojava Solidarity London
Leeds Friends of Rojava
Sarah Paker, Haringey Left Unity
Joe Ryan, Chair, Westminster Diocese Justice and Peace Commisssion
Peter Tatchell, Director, Peter Tatchell Foundation
Penny Papapdopoulou, journalist
Zaher Baher, Kurdish activist
Roza Salih Co-Convenor of Scottish Solidarity with Kurdistan, SNP youth equality officer and Vice Chair for Unite the Union Youth.
Yuksel Gonul, PhD Roehampton University of London
Dr Janroj Yilmaz Keles, Research Fellow, Department of Leadership, Work and Organisations, Middlesex University
Andy Higginbottom, Associate Professor, PG Programme Co-ordinator, International Politics and Human Rights, Kingston University
Amelia Womack, Deputy Leader of the Green Party
Will Duckworth, Former Deputy Leader, Green Party of England and Wales
Judy Maciejowska is the Green Party election coordinator
Dee Searle, Green Party Publications Coordinator
Manishta Sunna, joint Equalities and Diversity coordinator
Penny Kemp, Green Party
Samantha Pancheri, Green Party
Paloma Polo, visual artist and independent researcher
Vasiliki Scurfield, Rojava Solidarity
Chris Scurfield, Rojava Solidarity
Trevor Rayne, editorial board, Fight Racism, Fight Imperialism
Richard Haley, Chair, SACC
Lynn Wilde, teacher
Oliver Collenette, student
Osman Suoor, PhD candidate at Roehampton University
Yorhan Kareem, Kurdish community
Behzad Abdullah, Kurdish community
Bnar Shekhani, PhD candidate at Brunel University
Erish Ismail, Student at Swansea University
Maureen Richards, Administration Manager, retired
Paul Barbara, London 9/ 11-Truth Campaign
Andreas Gavrielides, Greek-Kurdish Solidarity
George Eugeniou, founder and artistic director Theatro Technis
Gillian Homeri, teacher
Rizgar Hmeri, engineer
Dr. Raimund Rütten, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Bob McGlynn-Neither East Nor West –NYC group, US
Eric Draitser, Founder, Editor -StopImperialism.org
Rose Lucas
Rachel Bird, human rights campaigner
Alan Brooke, Leeds Friends of Rojava
Val Swain, Netpol
Les Levidow, CAMPACC
Anne Gray, CAMPACC
Saleh Mamon, CAMPACC
Raghu Jayantiya, social scientist and activist
Anni Pues, International Committee Scottish Green Party
Lee Brown, community housing worker
Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, dr.phil, emerita, Sweden
Peace in Kurdistan
Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.com
Contacts Estella Schmid 020 7586 5892 & Melanie Sirinathsingh – Tel: 020 7272 7890
Patrons: Lord Avebury, Lord Rea, Lord Dholakia, Baroness Sarah Ludford, Jill Evans MEP, Jean Lambert MEP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Hywel Williams MP, Kate Osamor MP, Elfyn Llwyd, Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy, John Austin, Bruce Kent, Gareth Peirce, Julie Christie, Noam Chomsky, John Berger, Edward Albee, Margaret Owen OBE, Prof Mary Davis, Mark Thomas, Nick Hildyard, Stephen Smellie, Derek Wall