Youth living in Turkey want peace
Due to a few months lasting Turkish-Kurdish clashes, hundreds of people are killed and thousands have emigrated. In recent days, the situation is tense in the eastern part of Turkey. Because of the blast in Diyarbakir days before, six people were killed, of which three children.
“Aravot” has talked to the citizens living in our neighboring country about the events going on there. Turkish citizen and Kurdish by origin 24-year-old Nayif Yilmaz is now in the United States and receives information about his habitat Cizre not only from the media but also from his family and friends, “There was a curfew announced, no electricity, it was cold. My family has abandoned our hometown. Some of my friends are still living there, even though I do not understand how it was possible to live there. Every day, more than 10 people are dying. Everyone is waiting for its turn, – says Nayif Yilmaz, noting that the situation in the Kurdish-populated areas of Turkey is more than tense, – “There is a war. People are dying, even a five-month-old child is killed. Approximately, a 100 thousand people emigrated.”
Our interlocutor noted that the Kurds actually are wishing to have a secure governance but are using a wrong method. “They deny the Turkish government which is a big mistake. Turkish forces are very-very strong and cruel. The fighters for independence do not care of anything. The citizens are not important for the Turkish army. There is only one important thing here – “the Kurds’ death,”” says Nayif. He noted that the international community does not also care about the Kurdish problems, saying, “There is only one problem for Europe – the “refugee crisis.”
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All this time, it seemed that the US is balanced but now it also needs Turkey.” Comparing the terrorist attacks in the eastern part of Turkey and last week in Istanbul, our interlocutor says, “These were different attacks. It was done by the brothers of the Turkish Government – the ISIS.” According to him, now Turkey has become dangerous for everyone, “Whom could it be safe: for the students – no, for the Kurds – no, for those who are engaged in sciences – no, for the journalists – no, for the writers – no? No for everyone. But yes for the sheep. We become a Nazi Germany,” says Nayif adding, “This problem will be resolved only after our Hitler’s death. And if we are talking only about the Kurdish problem, then there’s only one solution here – independence.”
28-year-old Turkish Deniz Hizal, in an interview with “Aravot”, noted that although she is living in the southern Marmara region of Turkey, which relatively is a small town and less populated, she is personally interested in the events going on in the eastern part of the country and the recent events in Istanbul. “We are watching TV and are worried about all that is happening around us, especially the events in Istanbul, however, I cannot say that there is great panic. I think that it is not easy to reach us. This is a city with 350 000 people and we all know that terrorists are interested in big cities. On the other hand, life is going on in Turkey, especially in the West,” says Deniz.
Referring to the event in the east of Turkey and the attitude of Turks to it, she says, “I think we cannot know the real information going on in the eastern part of Turkey as the government uses restrictions over the media. Therefore, the Turkish press is silent. Even on the day when the blast took place in Istanbul, it was banned to report information by the media, therefore, we are following the outside media. However, not everybody is able to follow the international media because of the language barrier. So, many people even have no idea what is going on.”
Our interlocutor thinks that the biggest culprit in all of this is the Turkish government for concealing what is going on. “If we are talking about the event happened in the eastern part of , Diyarbakir and Cizre, then the government is also to blame. Now civilians and even children are killed every day, but Istanbul’s case is different. It is more like the terrorist attack in Paris.” She notes that today, Turkey highlights the normalization of relations with Russia. “Because we are connected with it in different ways: commercial, tourist… and also the Syrian problem.” Deniz sees the way to come out of this situation, “The Turkish government and the president are acting in the same way that has nothing to do with the negotiations. The first thing that they should do is to negotiate with the help of the Kurdish party. But they prefer to respond about militarist and the party which complicates everything … it’s hard to do but it can be”
HRIPSIME HOVHANNISYAN,
“Aravot” daily,
16.01.2016
