Academics call on government to restore peace in Turkey

Police armored vehicles are seen on the streets of the southeastern town of Silopi after clashes with suspected PKK members earlier in the day. (Photo: DHA)

August 07, 2015, Friday/ 18:57:53/ TODAY'S ZAMAN / ISTANBUL

Academics from prominent Turkish universities, following statements last week made by intellectuals and the wise men Commission, in a statement on Thursday called on the government to implement a cease-fire with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to restore peace in Turkey, even as reactions grow against PKK attacks and talk of a halt to the settlement process, negotiations to put an end to Turkey's three-decade-long conflict with the terrorist PKK.

“We call on the government to stop using discriminatory and hostile language that will provoke conflicts, on rational journalists to expose their colleagues who favor war and onParliament to enact laws to guarantee the settlement process,” the statement, titled “A notice to the people of Turkey,” said.

The academics noted that they were pleased by the settlement process that was launched between the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in January 2013, viewing it as an opportunity for Turkey to face its realities, find solutions for its problems and became more democratic.

The statement said the founding of the wise men commission by the AK Party government in 2013 to increase society's support for the settlement process and their work and the Dolmabahçe meeting, during which pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) officials met with government officials to outline a blueprint to resolve Turkey's Kurdish problem, were also promising and were highly supported by academics.

The signatories pointed out they had warned the government several times not to use the settlement process as a political tool for both internal and external affairs.

Criticizing the lack of importance given to the Kurdish issue, the statement said the academics had previously advised the creation of a commission that would explore past issues and identify those responsible so that the hostilities between Turks and Kurds would end.

Referring to the increased violence in Turkey and the almost imminent end of the settlement process, the academics said the fact that the government has not enacted a law for the continuation of the settlement process, its failure to establish a transparent institution that would evaluate possible threats to the process and warn the parties against them and the fact that the process has become a tool in politics both between political parties and in the country's Syria, Iraq and Iran policies are among the reasons for the renewed clashes.

The statement also noted that the government had failed to take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of civil wars in Middle Eastern countries to Turkey despite warnings by academics, nongovernmental organizations, politicians and journalists, therefore leading the country into a war.

The academics said they had lost many students in Suruç, referring to the suicide bomb attack blamed on radical terrorist group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) that killed 33 young activists, most of them university students, on July 20. They said they will not sacrifice any more of their students, sons or Turkey's youth to a war, adding, “For us, no disagreement is more important than their lives and the future that they will build.”

The statement concluded by calling on everyone in Turkey to side with peace and democracy. The signatories include Ayşe Öncü from Sabancı University, Koray Çalışkan from Boğaziçi University, Birol Caymaz from Galatasaray University, Gençay Gürsoy from İstanbul University, Ferhat Kentel from İstanbul Şehir University and Mustafa Altıntaş from Gazi University.

Similarly, a group of intellectuals, including 30 academics and scientists, in a written statement on Aug. 2 called on deputies in Parliament to return from their vacations and convene for the restoration of peace and democracy.

The signatories had criticized the actions that would result in the end of the settlement process, saying it was becoming apparent in light of current developments that both the launch and the termination of the settlement process with Kurds were due to the "personal calculations and ambitions of a certain person who keeps the ruling party under tutelage," referring to the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan without mentioning his name.

The statement had said although terrorism cannot be tolerated or defended, it also cannot be used as an excuse for party closures, mass detentions, preventing the work of Parliament, turning tensions with neighboring countries into war or targeting politicians who are seen as an obstacle to realizing personal goals. It was also noted that such acts are not the result of a prudent government but of a failure to govern.

The statement was signed by prominent names including former Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay, professor of international relations Baskın Oran, former Tourism Minister Bahattin Yücel and former Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Sırrı Özbek.

On Aug. 1, another statement was made by members of the wise men committee. Columnist Ali Bayramoğlu, who read the statement on behalf of the committee, said weapons must be silenced and an environment free of clashes should be brought back.

The statement had noted the settlement process partly ended the 30-year-long violence by PKK, raised hopes and was supported by many people. It also said the wise men committee despite their differences had come together to try to convince people of peace.

Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) Vice President Cemal Uşşak, one of the signatories of the statement by the wise men committee, said the country is currently going through a difficult period and the government should immediately stop the operations against PKK. He said the operations would exacerbate the problem rather than end it.

Another signatory, Beril Dedeoğlu, a professor of international law at Galatasaray University, said a language free of discrimination and which extends an invitation for dialogue must be adopted both in politics and in the press. She said a political approach must be adopted in seeking a solution to the Kurdish problem.