International Initiative
Freedom for Ocalan – Peace in Kurdistan
P.O. Box 100511, D-50445 Koeln
E-Mail: info@freedom-for-ocalan.com
Url: www.freedom-for-ocalan.com

Cologne, 15 December 2003

INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVE BRIEFINGS:
The Kurdish Question - A Touchstone for European Democracy

On the occasion of Human Rights Day on 10 December 2003 an international Kurdish conference took place in the Italian mission of the European Parliament. The conference was organised by the Kurdistan Information Centre in cooperation with the Italian section of the International Initiative and the Italian deputies Luigi Vinci, Silvan Pisa and Elettra Deina. The event offered
several lectures on the issue of. The Turkish accession process to the European Union and the situation of the Kurds. There was unanimous agreement that the implementation of the Turkish
reforms was still wearing on. Human rights violations were still widespread. As to a date for the beginning of accession talks there was agreement that Turkey still had a long way to go before really becoming compatible with Europe in particular with a view to the situation of the Kurds which hadn't changed much. Only after complying to the Copenhagen criteria could there be a
beginning of the accession talks proper.

There was no agreement, however, whether the Kurdish question could be solved by simply admitting Turkey into the Union. The was answered in the negative by the Kurdish participants and some of the European deputies. The accession process, they held, could only have a supporting function
while for a real solution it was also necessary to enter into a dialogue with the Kurds and their representatives. Europe would have to play a special role in this. Hitherto, Europe had failed to
refer to the Kurdish openly and had not responded to the talks that the Kurds had offered. If such denial of the Kurdish question was continued the issue might even be aggravated. Without a
solution of the Kurdish question democratisation of Turkey could not be successful. During the Italian presidency there had been no progress worth mentioning in this direction. Therefore, the
attending European deputies invited Ireland which is to take over the European presidency from Italy to play a more active part. The conference also discussed the critical situation of the
Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan concluding that his solitary confinement had to be condemned for being inhumane and degrading and not befitting a European candidate country. Consequently, Turkey was invited to comply with the recommendation of the anti-torture-committee of the European
Council and to abolish these conditions. The Ocalan case, it was agreed, could not be separated from the Kurdish question, and a solution could only be reached by taking into account their
mutual relations.

A final communiqui of this conference is expected to be published in the next few days.