[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 10 (Thursday, January 25, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E95-E96]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SUPPORT PEACE, DEMOCRACY, AND JUSTICE FOR ALL OF TURKEY'S CITIZENS

                                 ______


                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 25, 1996

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer a 
resolution advocating a peaceful end to the conflict between the 
Turkish Government and Kurdish militants. The ongoing war undermines 
the very foundations of both the Turkish State and our bilateral 
relations and its persistence challenges the desires of the United 
States and Turkish Governments to establish a secure, long-term 
relationship. For the sake of the people of Turkey, the end of the 
conflict will strengthen Turkish democracy, help eliminate the scourge 
of terrorism, resuscitate a shaky economy and promote regional 
stability.
  Mr. Speaker, Turkey is home to half of the world's 25 million Kurds 
and has experienced 28 Kurdish uprisings in the past century. Since 
1984, more than 20,000 people have died in clashes among security 
forces, the Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK] and shadowy Moslem 
fundamentalist groups. In the past 3 years, security forces forcibly 
evacuated or destroyed more than 2,650 villages in southeast Turkey and 
displaced more than 3 million people. Villagers have been rounded up by 
security officials and subjected to beatings, mass arrests and 
intimidation. Death squads, believed connected to security forces and 
fundamentalists, have been responsible for hundreds of extrajudicial 
killings and disappearances. PKK fighters have also snuffed out the 
lives of innocent civilians. Each month there are reports of 
individuals killed in detention and torture remains widespread in cases 
involving political charges. Eight southwestern Turkish provinces are 
under a constant state of emergency authorizing local authorities to 
curb political and media activity.
  Mr. Speaker, successive Turkish Governments have viewed the PKK 
solely as a terrorist phenomenum undermining its sovereignty and 
dividing the country along ethnic lines. The Government has dismissed 
as propaganda recent PKK statements renouncing violence and separatism 
and calling for peaceful and lasting political solutions. Turkey's 
Government has given the military free reign in responding to the PKK, 
and its heavy-handed approach has also stifled legitimate Kurdish 
political voices.
  Mr. Speaker, in southeastern Turkey, citizens are often forced to 
choose between supporting the guerrillas and risking violent reprisal 
by Turkish security--or not helping and facing equally harsh PKK 
retribution. Locals believed to be sympathetic to Turkish authorities 
have been executed by the PKK. Eleven years of violence has polarized 
Turks and Kurds and threatens to rend Turkish society along ethnic 
lines. Kurds, resentful of military abuses, become more supportive of 
the PKK. Turks, angered by the costs and brutality of terrorism, become 
increasingly intolerant of the rights of Kurdish citizens.
  Mr. Speaker, no one disputes Turkey's key role in preserving U.S. 
strategic, political and economic interests in a critical region. 
However, the inability of successive Turkish Governments to resolve the 
Kurdish crisis remains an obstacle to improved ties and enables 
persistent human rights problems to stunt Turkey's democratic 
development. The time has come for Turkey's true friends and supporters 
to call on all sides in the conflict to abandon violence and settle 
their differences peacefully, democratically and within the framework 
of the territorial unity of the Republic of Turkey. Following recent 
elections, Turkey's Government finds itself in a state of protracted 
paralysis. Observers believe that any new government is unlikely to 
offer substantially new approaches to the Kurdish issue because of 
prevailing nationalist sentiments and the possibility of new elections 
in the near future. Additionally, Turkey's military supports the war in 
southeast Turkey, although its approach has failed to do anything but 
foster local support for the PKK.
  Mr. Speaker, I have learned from our experiences dealing with the PLO 
and Israel, the ANC and South Africa, and the IRA and Britain, that the 
longer it takes to begin reconciliation, the harder it becomes to look 
beyond the bloodshed and suffering. Mr. Speaker, violence will not 
resolve this conflict. The time for dialog is long overdue.
  Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Government has often been instrumental in 
promoting peace in troubled areas. So too should we demonstrate our 
commitment to encouraging the resolution of this destructive and bloody 
conflict. The resolution which I am introducing, along with Mr. Steny 
Hoyer, ranking minority member of the Helsinki Commission, is an 
important first step in this direction. I would ask our colleagues to 
join us in cosponsoring this resolution. I ask that the language of the 
resolution be printed in the Record at this time.

                          H. Con. Res. ______

       Whereas armed conflict has existed in southeastern Turkey 
     since 1984, and the entire region has been placed under a 
     state of emergency since 1987;
       Whereas the human toll of this conflict has been great, 
     with the loss of more than 20,000 lives, the displacement of 
     more than 3,000,000 civilians, and the destruction of more 
     than 2,650 Kurdish villages;
       Whereas free expression in Turkey is restricted by laws 
     which criminalize nonviolent expression, resulting in the 
     incarceration of journalists, writers, academics, human 
     rights activists, and others as political prisoners;
       Whereas in the past 2 years, 13 Kurdish members of Turkey's 
     parliament have been removed from office, jailed, or exiled 
     for expressing political opinions or having alleged contacts 
     with the illegal Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK);
       Whereas Kurdish citizens of Turkey have been denied certain 
     basic political and civil rights such as the right to full 
     and free participation in political life, the right to be 
     educated in their mother language, and the right to freely 
     write and publish materials in the Kurdish language;
       Whereas the conflict between Kurdish guerrillas and Turkish 
     armed forces has spilled over Turkey's borders and threatens 
     the stability of the region;
       Whereas the escalating conflict poses grave threats to 
     economic stability and the existing political order and 
     prevents realization of full-fledged democracy;
       Whereas international and local humanitarian organizations, 
     including the International Committee of the Red Cross, have 
     been denied access to southeastern Turkey;
       Whereas terrorism poses a grave threat to human rights and 
     violates international law;
       Whereas Turkey's leaders have made commitments to building 
     a democratic society and have made significant progress in 
     realizing this goal;
       Whereas the Government of Turkey has acceded to upholding 
     international human rights agreements, including the United 
     Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva 
     Conventions, and the Helsinki Final Act;
       Whereas Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty 
     Organization and the Organization for Security and 
     Cooperation in Europe, is an important strategic and economic 
     partner of the United States;
       Whereas long-term strategic and economic interests of the 
     United States are jeopardized by the continuing conflict in 
     Turkey;
       Whereas after 11 years, Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) 
     guerrilla leaders have offered to lay down their weapons;
       Whereas a military solution to the Kurdish question in 
     Turkey is not possible, and only a nonviolent political 
     solution can bring peace, stability, full democracy, and 
     prosperity to Turkey; and
       Whereas such a solution must be sought and implemented 
     within the framework of 

[[Page E96]]
     the territorial unity of the Republic of Turkey: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that--
       (1) the Government of Turkey should immediately release all 
     political prisoners and lift restrictions on free expression 
     and thereby enable all Turkish citizens, including those of 
     Kurdish origin, to enjoy the political and cultural rights of 
     peoples in all democratic countries;
       (2) the President should take every opportunity to 
     encourage the Government of Turkey to initiate steps to end 
     the armed confrontation in that country;
       (3) the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) should declare a 
     cease-fire and restate support for resolution of the conflict 
     through democratic means and within the framework of the 
     territorial unity of the Republic of Turkey;
       (4) the Government of Turkey should declare a cease-fire 
     and reaffirm a foundation upon which its Republic is based: 
     ``Peace at home. Peace in the world'';
       (5) upon cessation of hostilities, the International 
     Committee of the Red Cross and other appropriate humanitarian 
     and monitoring organizations should be given access to 
     southeastern Turkey;
       (6 ) the Government of Turkey should take steps to further 
     reduce the potential for future confrontation, including--
       (A) allowing all political parties committed to nonviolence 
     to participate in Turkish political life;
       (B) repealing the state of emergency in southeastern 
     Turkey;
       (C) dismantling the paramilitary ``village guard'' system;
       (D) lifting all constraints on the dissemination in the 
     Kurdish language of television and radio broadcasts, print, 
     music, and other media;
       (E) allowing schools to offer instructions in the Kurdish 
     language; and
       (F) establishing consultative mechanisms to defuse sources 
     of conflict and propose strategies to resolve current crisis 
     in southeastern Turkey; and
       (7) the President should support providing technical 
     assistance to carry out paragraphs (1) through (6).

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