Statement of The National Platform of North Kurdistan, issued on January 10, 1999

Urgent Demands For A Peaceful Solution To The Kurdish Problem

The Kurdish problem is not the only problem confronting Turkey today. It is also facing economic, social and political problems and aggravating these problems. The solution of the Kurdish problem will also facilitate the solution of all these other problems.

The only possible solution to this problem will be a peaceful solution based on democratic principles. For this the national and democratic rights of the Kurds have to be recognised. We believe that the Kurds and Turks can live together in peace when both peoples have equal rights.

The North Kurdish National Platform, bearing in mind the national and international conditions, favours a solution within the existing borders on the basis of equality and is ready to negotiate with Turkey on this basis.

For this the following demands have to be fulfilled so that the road to peace can be opened up:

1. The war which has been the cause of economic and material disaster and caused the deaths of many in Kurdistan should be ended. To enable this a bilateral ceasefire has to be started.

2. The destruction of Kurdish villages and towns and the forced migration of the people has to cease. Compensation should be paid and conditions created to enable the return of all those who have been forced to leave their homes.

3. The state of emergency should be brought to an end. All military operations must be halted. Special military organisations such as the village guards, special teams and other special units should be disbanded.

4. There must be an end to political killings, extra-judicial killings and torture. All extra-judicial killings should be investigated and the killers brought to justice.

5. A full investigation should be made into all the state-linked gangs involved in drugs and killings and they should be brought to justice.

6. The suppression of the right of expression and the right to organise should be lifted and all bans should be lifted. All democratic political parties must have the right to conduct their activities freely, including parties with a Kurdish identity.

7. The oppression of prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in Turkey must cease and they should be released immediately.

8. The oppression and discrimination of different religions and faiths should be ended and the freedom of religious belief and conscience should be conceded.

9. An end should be put to the oppression of Kurdish culture and language. The use of the Kurdish language should be freely permitted in education, the press and in daily life. The environment and historic sites of Kurdistan should be preserved and protected. Newroz should be officially recognised as a Kurdish festival.

10. Special plans and programmes must be created to regenerate the economy in Kurdistan which has been brought to the point of utter destruction by colonial rule and the dirty war.

11. Turkey should take responsibility for the international conventions it has signed and put them into practice, conventions such as the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Human Rights Convention and the OSCE agreements. Mechanisms should be set up for international monitoring of the implementation of these conventions. These principles and norms should be implemented in Kurdistan and in relation to the Kurdish problem.

12. Turkey should make the necessary constitutional changes in order to set up all necessary democratic structures. The Kurdish identity, culture and language should be recognised in the framework of the Constitution. These rights must be secured by the Constitution and the whole legal system in Turkey must be democratised.

13. Turkey should stop the unjust accusations and smear campaigns against the struggle of the Kurdish people in the international arena.

14. All political and democratic rights that Turks enjoy should equally be shared by the Kurds.