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By Arian Mufid:
During Erdogan’s recent US visit he addressed Turkish media outlets stating that there isn’t any problem in Turkey regarding the Kurds; “I’ve said this dozens of times before and will say it again: There is no Kurdish issue in Turkey. We are here to defeat terrorism in all forms.” Expanding upon the alleged national “terrorism problem”, he said, “There is a brand new Diyarbakır, Siirt, Hakkari and Şırnak because we are here to serve the people. We came for the peace of the people and are here to remove terrorism and terrorists.”
A decade of Erdogan in power has left not only the Kurds in the south of Kurdistan under Turkey’s military junta but also Kurds in the West. Erdogan’s military machine has its presence in all parts, apart from Iranian Kurdistan. The effects of this military presence have completely destroyed several cities such as Shirnak, Afrin, areas around Duhok and Zaxo, most recently and most disturbingly in 2020 the complete obliteration and flooding of Hasankeyf, an ancient 12000 year city thought to be the oldest continually inhabited place on earth. For all Erdogan’s claims of peace building, it seems that Turkey runs a relentless campaign against the Kurds with no clear limits, not even that of an invaluable archaeological and historical site.
Erdogan has arguably created one of the most corrupt governments Turkey has ever seen. 50,000 women supporters of the Gulen movement are imprisoned in Turkish prisons alongside leaders of the HDP, all sent to jail without fair trial.
The AKP leader is taking the country through its darkest period in the history of its political leaders. In 2021 Erdogan released his book “A Fairer World is Possible: A Model Proposal for United Nations Reform,” particularly ironic considering how the whole world is witness to his blackmail of Europe, killing children and women in the three parts of Kurdistan and attacking the democratic forces in Turkey, the HDP. For the world to be fairer, surely one must lead by example. Erdogan is a dictator in the same ranks as Saddam and Hitler. The man wants to control all sectors of life in Turkey, Turkey’s finances are manipulated by Erdogan as shown by Turkey’s reduced interest rate (by 1%) in the face of the world’s rising inflation instead of increasing the interest rate. Even though the inflation is 19.5%, observers concluded that the economic orthodox in Turkey is very much manoeuvred by Erdogan.
The AKP party and Erdogan’s leadership has no ambition to solve the Kurdish issue even though he previously deceived the Kurdish voters by promising them to do so. Erdogan as a leader is regarded as fundamentally dishonest.
The current Turkish state is heading for mayhem and disaster under his leadership. From the destruction and deception of the last few years on the “Kurdish Issue” it is clear through the AKP’s constant denial and subsequent state violence on the Kurds that they are not aiming for any real action towards peace or taking steps forward in solving the Kurdish cause.
