[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 147 (Thursday, October 15, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10987-H10988]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  THE KURDISH CEASE-FIRE: AN OPPORTUNITY THAT SHOULD NOT BE SQUANDERED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) is recognized for 5 minutes.

[[Page H10988]]

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support for what 
many in this country do not know has occurred, but is exceedingly 
important. That is the unilateral cease-fire that was declared on 
August 28, 1998, by the Kurdish rebel leader, Abdullah Ocalan.
  Taking part in a live broadcast on Med-TV from his base in the Middle 
East, Mr. Ocalan noted that, effective September 1, 1998, he has 
ordered his guerillas to cease their operations and silence their guns 
until further notice. This is a momentous opportunity, Mr. Speaker, for 
the advocates of peace, the defenders of human rights, and the 
champions of trade with the oil-rich countries that surround this 
explosive region called Kurdistan.
  For several years now, Mr. Speaker, I have risen on this floor to 
draw the attention of my colleagues to the enduring struggle of the 
Kurds for peace, democracy, and human rights. I have strongly supported 
their inalienable right to self-determination. Who among us has not 
heard of the brutality exercised against the Kurds by Saddam Hussein?
  The theocracy in Iran has targeted the top leadership of the Kurdish 
resistance, and murdered many of its ablest leaders. Turkey, a country 
that we supported as a bulwark against the Soviet expansion during the 
Cold War, has left its own trail of desolation in the land of the 
Kurds.
  We cannot afford to call a country a friend, ally, and partner, Mr. 
Speaker, if it refuses to practice the most basic dictates of 
democracy, such as the freedom of expression and assembly. Kurds, who 
constitute one-third of the population of Turkey and number some 20 
million, are denied their basic human rights, such as the expression of 
their identity, the use of their own language, the practice and 
perpetuation of their culture, as a distinct and indigenous people that 
has its roots in the dawn of history.
  The Turkish constitution, the solemn document binding the peoples of 
Turkey together, makes no reference to the existence of the Kurds. Its 
Article 3 expressly forbids the use of the Kurdish language in print 
and in official settings. The Kurds, thus, can write books in English, 
French, or German, but not in their native Kurdish. Those who do end up 
with a prison sentence that can run into a century. The noted Turkish 
sociologist, Ismail Besikci, who has merely written about the Kurds, 
has accumulated prison sentences of more than 100 years.
  Many of us are well aware, Mr. Speaker, of the historical abuse of 
the Armenians. In 1915, the Armenians were systematically exterminated 
in the Ottoman Empire. A similar strategy is now being carried out 
against the Kurds.
  Mr. Speaker, the time has come for a bold departure from the old 
policy of entrusting a blank check to Turkey to do whatever it wishes 
with its Kurdish minority. The government in Ankara has abdicated its 
responsibility, and entrusted the entire Kurdish region to the rule of 
uncompromising Turkish generals for the last 18 years. They have killed 
more than 40,000 people, and have driven 3 million from their homes. 
More than 3,000 Kurdish villages have been destroyed. Duly-elected 
Kurdish parliamentarians are now rotting in jails. The voices of 
compromise and reconciliation have been silenced. We are witnessing an 
historical tragedy.
  Now the offer of the cease-fire by the Kurdish rebel leader has the 
potential to bring peace to this troubled region, and open the way for 
the coexistence of the Kurds with the Turks. Mr. Ocalan has stated that 
he is ready to disband his forces if Turkey takes steps to 
constitutionally recognize its 20 million Kurdish population.
  Some courageous leaders in Turkey now recognize the crisis must be 
solved. On September 11, 1998, Husamettin Cindoruk, leader of the 
Democratic Turkey Party, a member of the ruling coalition in the 
Turkish government, actually admitted that negotiations must begin. As 
he said, Turkey will get nowhere by masking this problem and delaying a 
solution.
  He suggested that the talks that produced the good Friday agreement 
between Ireland and Britain can be the model for his own country. 
Members of the largest Turkish party, the Virtue Party, Recai Kutan and 
Hasim Hasimi, have also expressed similar sentiments. These deputies 
ought to be commended for their courage. Their words carry the real 
promise of peace.
  Mr. Speaker, I cannot help but bring to the attention of this body 
the plight of a group of Turkish and Kurdish women who have gathered in 
front of Galatasaray High School to protest the disappearance of their 
loved ones over the last 3 years. Known as the Saturday Mothers, they 
were visited this past January by our colleagues, the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. John Porter) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Steny 
Hoyer), and the President of the Human Rights Alliance, Kathryn Porter.
  Under the U.N. Declaration of Protection of All Persons from Enforced 
Disappearance, the authorities are obliged to carry out prompt, 
thorough, and impartial investigations into every report of 
disappearance. According to Amnesty International, no investigations 
satisfying these criteria have been carried out. This sad state of 
affairs was compounded on August 29 when police detained 150 people.
  With the declaration of this Kurdish cease-fire, we now have an 
opportunity. We helped to make possible the Good Friday Agreement, the 
Dayton talks, and the Israeli-Palestinian accords. We must do no less 
for the Kurds.

                          ____________________