Madam, - Having read the letter headed "Bush, Turkey and the Kurds" (July 6th), which gives a distorted account of affairs, I would like to bring the following to the kind attention of your readers.
The PKK, whose terrorist activities since 1984 have caused the death of over 30,000 Turkish citizens, including many teachers, public servants and children, as well as causing significant economic losses, is one of the most dangerous terrorist organisations.
It has resorted to violence in all parts of Turkey. Though the majority of its operations were directed against citizens of Kurdish origin in the south-east, the PKK organised bombings in metropolitan areas and also staged operations in western European countries.
The PKK and its aliases KADEK and KONGRA-GEL are on the EU and US list of terrorist organisations. Therefore to suggest releasing Abdullah Ocalan, chief of the PKK is absurd, to say the least. Mr Ocalan was imprisoned after his capture in 1999 for the atrocities he committed as the leader of the said organisation and not because he is a Kurd. No democratic country where the rule of law prevails would allow such terrorist acts to go unpunished.
Turkey, having struggled against terrorism for many years, is determined to exercise its legitimate right to fight it and believes that international cooperation is vital in this. It was within this framework that the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, requested assistance from US President Bush during his recent visit to Turkey to end the use of Iraq as a terrorist haven by PKK/KADEK/KONGRA-GEL.
The US government has confirmed that security forces will treat these groups as terrorists and that there is no place for terrorism or terrorist organisations in the new Iraq.
Turkey is a unitary state and Turkish citizenship is a judicial concept, encompassing all citizens, granting them equal rights and obligations. Citizens of Kurdish origin, like all other Turkish citizens, enjoy equal rights guaranteed by the constitution and actively participate in Turkey's political, social and economic life. Contrary to allegations, the Kurdish identity in Turkey is not being rejected. No one in Turkey is punished or ostracized if they declare themselves to be Kurds or if they choose to speak Kurdish.
The allegations that Kurdish people are prevented from participating in politics are a gross distortion of the truth. Citizens of Kurdish origin, like all other Turkish citizens, have been using the right to vote and to be elected since the establishment of the Republic.
Furthermore, one of the basic objectives of the Turkish state is to secure a fair distribution of its political, social and economic services throughout Turkey. It is PKK terrorism, which Turkey has been combating since 1984, that has caused the disruption of these services in south-eastern Turkey. - Yours, etc.,
GULSEREN CELIK, Counsellor, Turkish Embassy, Clyde Road, Dublin 4.