.jpg)
Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) Dossier:
Introduction:
On the 24th of July, 2015 Turkey launched a war against the Kurds, orchestrated by the conservative AKP government and led by Tayyip Recep Erdogan. Turkey has been notably reluctant to join the anti-ISIS coalition, despite calls by the Western powers and countries. When Turkey did finally join the international coalition, it instead attacked the Kurds rather than ISIS. Turkey is using the cover of fighting against ISIS as an excuse to fight and attack the Kurds. Erdogan’s main objective is to limit and weaken the Kurdish people and unity, at the cost of long term peace, stability and cohesion in the country. His so called war against ISIS is seen by the public opinion as an obvious cover to attack the Kurdish forces and the PKK, and one that has strengthened ISIS terrorism.
Since his election into power in 2002, the Erdogan government has reversed many of the democratic and positive steps taken earlier and taken concrete steps towards authoritarianism. Oppression of the media, reducing freedom of speech, human rights violations, arbitrary arrests, accusations of corruption are just some of the issues that Erdogan has been accused of by human rights groups and democratic opposition movements. Efforts to undermine rule of law and basic democratic rights now define the Erdogan government. Freedom of speech, religious and ethnic freedoms remain major concerns. The positive changes that occurred early in his leadership period as a result of efforts to join the EU were soon reversed, and a major crackdown of all democratic opposition groups, women’s groups, environmental groups, and the press and human rights organisations occurred.
The major protests during the May 2013 Gazi Park Protests demonstrate the arbitrary, oppressive and authoritarian measures that the Erdogan government will adopt in order to silence peaceful and legitimate protestors. Likewise, in 2013 following revelations of a corruption case worth US$100 billion, which led to the resignation of at least four ministers, a tape recording was revealed between Erdogan and his son, where Erdogan was heard providing instructions to his son to remove large quantities of money. Despite the nature of the scandal no major newspapers dared to write about the corruption. As a result, many angry citizens took to social media, including twitter and YouTube to express their anger. This resulted in a block of social media by Erdogan, effectively silencing dissent and social criticism. These ongoing blocks of social media are repeatedly and systematically implemented as a continued and ongoing part of the curbing of freedom of speech and human rights.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely!