REP. FRANK PALLONE, JR. STATEMENT IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES "TURKISH-KURDISH CONFLICT MUST BE RESOLVED"

Tuesday, May 11, 1999

Mr. Speaker, as our military campaign in the Balkans continues, with the noble goal of stopping the ethnic cleansing that the dictator Slobodan Milosevic has perpetrated against the Kosovar Albanian people, another similar atrocity continues to be perpetrated in the mountains of eastern Turkey against the Kurdish people. There is a crucial difference between the situations in Kosovo and in Kurdistan. In the case of Kosovo, the forces of NATO are being used to stop the murderous rampage unleashed by Milosevic. But the Turkish regime that is responsible for the war against the Kurds actually is a member of NATO. Unfortunately, because Turkey is viewed as a strategic ally of the U.S. and the West, the plight of the Kurds in Turkey has not been given adequate attention by the United States. In fact, Mr. Speaker, we may actually be contributing to the oppression of the Kurds.

The issue of Turkey's war on the Kurds, and American support for Turkey, was brought into sharp focus earlier this year with the apprehension of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdish independence movement. Mr. Ocalan has been fighting for autonomy for the Kurdish people, who are victims of oppression by Turkey, as well as Iraq, Iran and Syria.

Mr. Speaker, the Turkish regime refuses to even acknowledge the Kurds' existence, referring to them as 'mountain Turks', prohibiting all expression of Kurdish culture and language in an effort to forcibly assimilate them, while jailing, torturing and killing Kurdish leaders.

Mr. Speaker, I was appalled when it was reported that American intelligence and diplomatic services actually helped a Turkish commando team to capture Mr. Ocalan in Kenya in February of this year. This shameful collaboration with Turkey has resulted in Mr. Ocalan being held in solitary confinement on an island prison in Turkey. He will be tried in a secret military-type court, with no jury and no foreign observers. The prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. There is little hope that Mr. Ocalan will receive a fair trial. In fact, the debate in the Turkish press is not about whether he will get a fair trial, but rather when he will be executed.

According to a recent report by Amnesty International, Mr. Ocalan's defense lawyers are routinely beaten and harassed by Turkish police. The police have even tried to incite public riots against the defense team. The lawyers and their families have received telephone threats. This is in violation of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of lawyers, which states the "lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients' causes as a result of discharging their functions." In the United States and in other counties where the rule of law is respected, we believe that everyone, even the most unpopular defendants, has a right to a fair trial. There is no place for a lynch mob mentality.

After three months in solitary confinement, denied proper access to his lawyers, and being constantly guarded by armed soldiers wearing ski masks, Mr. Ocalan may be suffering a psychological breakdown. All of his meetings with his lawyers are monitored. It is quite possible that he has been subjected to torture. But if Turkey does go ahead and hang Mr. Ocalan, the result would be to create a martyr for the Kurdish people and to unleash an all-out civil war that would be disastrous for all the people of the region, Turk and Kurd alike. Such an outcome is not in anyone's interests: not Turkey, not the Kurdish people, not the neighboring countries, not the United States.

Mr. Speaker, in order encourage the U.S. Government to play a constructive role in heading off a crisis in Turkey, my colleague, the Gentleman from California, Mr. Filner, and I will be circulating a letter this week asking our colleagues to sign a letter to President Clinton urging his intervention, to implore that the Turkish authorities show some basic fairness in trying Mr. Ocalan, and to spare his life.

The Government of Turkey's undeclared war on the Kurds has claimed close to 40,000 lives and caused more than 3 million people to become refugees. Before his arrest, Mr. Ocalan had announced that he was ready to renounce violence and negotiate, but Turkey did not even consider the request. Even worse, Mr. Speaker, the United States did not encourage such negotiations to begin.

Mr. Speaker, it is my belief that it would be more appropriate to have an International Tribunal prosecute Mr. Ocalan, since Turkey is at war with the Kurds and cannot be expected to conduct a fair trial. Seeking fair trial for Mr. Ocalan should be the first step in our efforts to press Turkey to enter into negotiations to achieve a political solution to this tragic struggle.

What is truly tragic about the conflict between the Turkish regime and the Kurdish people is that the Turkish and Kurdish peoples have not always lived in conflict. There is hope that reconciliation could occur -- but only if the Turkish authorities recognize the rights and the distinct identity of the Kurdish people, and finally halt their goal of controlling and conquering the Kurds.