Derya Ren-Rozerin Gültekin

 

DİYARBAKIR - The people of Diyarbakır, to whom we have handed the microphone regarding the racist attacks against the Kurds, underlined that the repetition of the attacks in the 90s is still alive today, and said: ‘’The policy of private war is being implemented. The system needs to change.’’

 

Racist attacks against Kurds continue to increase day by day. Finally, on July 20, a racist attack was carried out on a Kurdish family in the Kavaklı Neighborhood of Altındağ district of Ankara. On July 21, a citizen named Hakim Dal was killed when a group of 60 people, including the mukhtar of the neighborhood, attacked a family from Diyarbakır in the Çarıklıköy Neighborhood of Konya's Meram district.

 

It was a striking point that the state tried not the perpetrators but the relatives of the murdered people as perpetrators for these increasing attacks.

We handed a microphone to the people of Diyarbakır against the increasing attacks. Citizens stated that the government's use of discriminatory language was the reason behind the attacks and that the Kurds should be united against the attacks.

 

‘If we are siblings, we should have equal rights’

 

Sevda Izol: The Kurds have not just started living together. They form the basis of something. These attacks did not start out of nowhere. They are consciously preparing them. If this continues like this, the Kurds will defend themselves. We say the Kurdish and Turkish problem, but there are those who created this problem. I am a Kurd, do not insist on siblinghood to me. If we are siblings, we should have equal rights. The scale of these attacks is different. The Kurds, who came to Mersin from Erbil in the past months, were attacked by 60 people. Later, the governor made a statement saying 'it is a judicial event'. But no, it was not a judicial event, it was deliberately planned. These attackers are never ordinary people, they act in an organized manner. The Kurds must also be organized. It's not an ordinary Turkish attack. These events will get bigger. Those in the field of politics will fix this problem. Let those who have imposed siblinghood on us for 40 years solve the problem. Let those who want votes from me come out and solve this problem.

 

‘Respondents are politicians’

 

The addressees of the problem are politicians. One side rejects siblinghood, the other side says they are your sibligns. They don't want it, will we be sibling by force? When rights are equal, other problems are solved. They marginalize us. My identity is forbidden, we can't even speak Kurdish. In the 90s, the tapes were hidden, now we go back to the 90s. Those who want the votes of the Kurds should not leave the blood of the Kurds on the ground.

 

‘They are implementing a special war policy’

 

Merve Mutlu: For years, Kurds have been viewed from a different perspective. It is Turkish nationalism that does this. These events take place under the direction of the state. There is no punishment by the state. They also think they are doing something good, and they continue to do so. If there are opportunities to work here, it would be better if they work here. They practice a special war policy.

 

‘The reason is the media’

 

Zeynep Özkul: The main reason for these events is the media. Because they are constantly making news of conflict and terrorism for the East. They don't report good events here. This is how they introduce us to the West. They show only good developments that are happening in the West. Maybe these events happen there, but we don't know. This is actually psychological warfare. The people who go there are crashing. It is necessary to ask the state why this is so.

 

‘The system needs to change’

 

Nedim Evran: I am a person against discrimination. People should be equal. Everyone needs to treat each other with respect. The images I see always make me sad. Everyone should be treated equally. Everyone should look at each other with human eyes. Me, you, it doesn't matter. The system needs to change. As a society, everyone should be embraced. Not everyone should work for their own benefit. It should not say only for myself.

 

‘We should not be surprised’

 

Merve Özer: This is not nice at all. Everyone is after their bread. This situation cannot be sabotaged. It is unfair to them. They do this because of their upbringing. So that's how they were raised. What is the state punishing that it should also punish? This should not be surprising. It is not in the state's interest to get into these events and deal with families. They turn a blind eye and do nothing.

 

‘Everyone is defending their own nation’

 

Ayşe Kızıltoprak: Everyone defends their own nation. But we do not have a state. It is my call to our people that they should not go and do their work. If our people do not go there, they will need us. But we always call humanity. While we always go to them with tolerance and understanding, they abuse our situation. This is what lies behind the racist attacks. We do not deserve these attacks in any way. The West is making the regions we live in disgusting.

 

‘Government needs to provide job opportunities’

 

Gülşah Demir: People need to be more conscious. They need to do this especially for people who try to plow their land by falling on the roads from their own land. People go to different cities because they cannot find a job or a place to work in their hometown. The government needs to provide job opportunities to people here as well.

 

Young, who does not want to be named: Why does no one explain why people have to go to a city other than their own? People from abroad can live very comfortably here. First, they need to provide welfare for the people in their own country. They present on television as if there is a constant war and a bad place for Diyarbakır. When people come and see it, they see that it is not actually like that.

 

‘As an Ordu people, I was not treated with racism in here’

 

Ayşe Demirci: As a citizen of Ordu, I think that people should live together. I have never faced such racist treatment here. People have to respect each other. They should live in solidarity with each other without discrimination of language, religion or race.