Turkey: German Chancellor should take a stand for democracy

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has asked Chancellor Angela Merkel to meet up with representatives of the Kurds and the democratic opposition during her visit to Turkey this Thursday. “Many Kurds, Alevites, Christians, Yazids, and Turkish democrats see Chancellor Merkel’s visit as direct support for the controversial policy of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,” said Kamal Sido, the STP’s Middle East consultant in Göttingen on Wednesday.

“The country is facing an important referendum that is supposed to reinforce Erdogan’s authoritarian power,” Sido said. “Members of the minorities as well as Turkish Democrats would have more understanding for Merkel’s Turkey policy if she were to set a sign by visiting Selahattin Demirtas, the imprisoned leader of the pro-Kurdish opposition party HDP.”

The human rights organization has repeatedly warned that Erdogan’s ruthlessness against the democracy movement and his war against the Kurdish population in the south-east of the country could, if there are no counter-measures, once again escalate – with thousands of victims. The Kurdish HDP continues to support a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question, and has been calling on the PKK and the Turkish government to put an end to the violence and start a political dialogue immediately. Demirtas has repeatedly advocated for an end to the armed conflict. Since the conflict flared up again in 2015, more than 500,000 people have been forcibly resettled, and more than 7,000 members, executives and elected representatives of the pro-Kurdish party HDP have been imprisoned.

The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been in power for 14 years, and he is leading the country in an increasingly uncompromising manner. His politics have become more repressive and authoritarian, especially since the coup attempt of July 2016. Since then, almost 120,000 civil servants, prosecutors, and judges have been dismissed, more than 2,000 educational institutions have been closed down, and more than 100,000 people have been arrested. Almost 200 media have been closed down – including 15 Kurdish media – and 146 journalists are still in custody. Religious and ethnic minorities such as the Alevis, the Yazidis, the Christians, Armenians, Assyrians, Arabs and Greeks are still being suppressed.

Header poto: OCHA/Salih Zeki Fazlioglu via Flickr