Fréderike Geerdink - independent journalist

Extinguish a fire

17/11/2007/1 Comment/in Other /by fgeerdink

You could have seen it coming: Turkey’s highest prosecutor will start a procedure to close down the pro-Kurdish DTP (Democratic Society Party). They are accused of taking orders from the PKK and promoting its aims and therefore being a threat to national unity. The DTP denies having ties with the PKK and says its aim in politics is to make a contribution to democratization in Turkey, but on the other hand they refuse to call the PKK a terrorist organisation, they call PKK fighters ‘brothers’ and the PKK ‘a valid interlocutor’. The party has come under stronger attack since ties with the PKK were revealed by its successful negotiation of the release of Turkish soldiers from PKK captivity.
More than ten years ago, in 1994, the predecessor of the DTP, the DEP, was banned for having ties with the PKK. As a result the DTP was formed, and when that is closed down, some other party will be established to take its place. In the meantime, Kurds will once again be unrepresented in parliament. The writer Vedat Türkali said when the DEP was banned, (and it reflects perfectly the current situation with the DTP), that closing down the DEP was the worst thing that could have happened. He explained: “We were trying to extinguish a fire, but they cut the hose.”

Slow life

11/11/2007/0 Comments/in Other /by fgeerdink

Life in Üsküdar is slower than around Taksim on the European side of town, where most foreigners live. Friendlier too, I think. Now that I hop around on one healthy foot and the other one broken – (three weeks ago, I ran to catch the last boat to Üsküdar and stepped into a hole in the pavement) – people in Üsküdar look at me in pity and say ‘geçmiş olsun’ (get well soon). If I go to ‘the other side’ people seem to be a bit irritated by this slow woman on crutches not able to adapt to the speed of life. Yesterday, I needed to go to the European side. Unfortunately, the boats weren’t operating due to weather conditions. I could have taken a bus, but I decided my trip was not that necessary and I stayed at home. Üsküdar’s more relaxed way of life suits me perfectly.

Hostages

07/11/2007/0 Comments/in Other /by fgeerdink

It’s quite a mystery what happened during the abduction of eight Turkish soldiers by PKK militia a bit more then two weeks ago. They have now been released, but were soon afterwards arrested because questions arose about their loyalty to the Turkish state. Were they really kidnapped, or were some of them moles for the PKK, telling them of their whereabouts? Did they really, as they themselves say, run out of ammunition and thus become unable to fight on? Or did they disobey orders from their commander to keep on fighting and by doing so endanger the lives of their fellow soldiers? Nobody knows, and only an investigation into the matter can tell.
In the meantime, some of the public have already formed an opinion. The soldiers are not only accused of being moles and cowards, but of actually collaborating with the enemy. They are supposed to have not behaved like real hostages, for example, because they had tea with their captors. It irritates me, to say the least, that people can so easily judge a situation they don’t know anything about. The fight against the PKK makes some people lose their ability to think in shades of grey. You are either on the good side or the bad side, and the smallest things are sometimes used to label somebody as a friend of the terrorists. Luckily, public opinion doesn’t decide whether the soldiers neglected their duty or not.