A Kurdish Peshmerga soldier stands guard near the Iranian border.

 

 

Kurdish Media, Northern Iraq

Dear Mr. Bush: You Force

the Kurds to Oppose You …

 

"The Kurds are not and don't want to be enemies of the United States. Like any other people, the Kurds only want to live freely in their own country. And the PKK is the defender of these rights."

 

January 31, 2008

 

Iraqi Kurdistan - Iraq - Original Article (English)

To President George W. Bush

 

Dear Mr. President,

 

During your meeting on November 5 with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan, you announced that the Kurdish Worker's Party [the PKK ] was the joint enemy of the U.S. and Turkey. On January 8 you repeated these words during your meeting with Turkish President Abdullah Gul.

 

The PKK is the most popular political party in Kurdistan and everywhere Kurdish people live. The PKK is a people's movement and at the forefront in the Kurdish struggle for freedom. When you declare the Kurdish struggle for freedom "terrorist," you not only insult the Kurds, but you put them in the position of opposing you. This not only has a negative effect on America's already tarnished reputation, but it is in conflict with U.S. interests in the Middle East. By adopting this stance, you become a collaborator with Turkey's policies of assimilation and annihilation, which are implemented with the most inhumane of methods such as torture, forced migration and genocide.

 

Distribution of the Kurdish Population [Click for larger version]

The Kurds are not and don't want to be enemies of the United States.

 

Like any other people, the Kurds only want to live freely in their own country. And the PKK is the defender of these rights.

 

This is why we simply cannot understand the foundation on which you base these claims. During its thirty year struggle, The PKK has never targeted a single American citizen or U.S. interest. On November 17, 2007, your Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Matthew Bryza, made a statement to the Turkish Press acknowledging that "the PKK had not attacked a single American," and declaring that, "the PKK an enemy would only put us at risk."

 

As well as anyone else, you must know that the Kurds are a historical problem awaiting a solution; you know that it's not merely an issue of terrorism or security; you know that it's about the struggle of a people that have not been given even the most basic rights; and that theirs is a struggle for existence itself.

 

We would also like to remind you that your current position only condones the gridlock that the Turkish State's militarist approach encourages, which can only mean a further loss of life.

 

With Respect.

 

The Confederation of Kurdish Associations in Europe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[WORLDMEETS.US Posted February 1, 2008]