PKK hails Turkish poll “great victory” for Kurds

Erbil, June 13 (AKnews) – A spokesman for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said on Monday that the Kurds, represented by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), achieved a "great victory" in Turkey's election by increasing their representation in parliament.

The PKK's foreign relations officer, Ahmet Deniz, said that the BDP will now present a real opposition to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by Prime Minister Recep Teyyip Erdogan, who secured a third term in power.

Independent candidates, representing the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) in the country's predominantly Kurdish southeast, polled 5.9% of the national vote (36 seats), failing however to assure a seat in the National Assembly which under the Turkish electoral system, requires a minimum 10% vote.

The AKP fell short of its 330 seat target in Sunday's poll which would have allowed the AKP to unilaterally re-write the Turkish constitution, the 49.9% victory affords the party 326 seats in the 550-seat house.

The Republican People's Party (CHP), the main opposition, bagged 25.9% of the votes - 135 seats – while the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) came away with 13% which gives them 53 seats.

"The BDP's victory is great, because there were big challenges facing them and they were under pressure," said Deniz, "the state cooperated with all parties except the BDP, yet the BDP was able to secure 36 seats for its 43 candidates, thus raising Kurdish representation in parliament."

"Now the task of BDP is even greater. They have to focus on two points; changing the Turkish constitution and finding a solution to the Kurdish issue in the country".

Deniz said the Turkish state needs to change its constitution - long criticized by the country's Kurds for failing to recognize their cultural and political rights - because it is not democratic.

The Kurds want the new Turkish constitution to recognize a form of 'democratic autonomy' in the predominantly Kurdish southeast as well as addressing wider issues such as the recognition of a 'Kurdish identity' or the right to education in the Kurdish language.

"The Kurdish issue is a constitutional one that needs to be addressed. Not resolving it will bring about big complications," Deniz said.

In his victory speech, Erdogan was quick to evoke the question of replacing the constitution introduced under martial law in 1982.

"We will discuss the new constitution with opposition parties. This new constitution will meet peace and justice demands," he declared.

Erdogan's opponents say however that the AKP wants to re-write the constitution in order to reinforce its hold on power, and that the Prime Minister is seeking to afford the country's presidency - a post they accuse him of coveting - more executive powers.

The PKK was formed in South-east Turkey by Abdullah Ocalan in 1978.
Formerly a peaceful group made up of students, the PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.
The group has been fighting for greater political and cultural rights for Turkey's 20 million Kurds for nearly three decades.

Around 40,000 people have died in the war against the Turkish military so far, many of them civilians.

Ocalan was arrested in Nairobi in 1999 and is still imprisoned under Turkish custody on the remote Imrali Island.

Since this time, the PKK's struggle has been continued on the political arena

Turkey has officially refused to negotiate with the PKK which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the U.S.

Written by Raber Y. Aziz, reported by Sarbaz Salih

Ka/AKnews

Barzani "concerned" about feuding bloc leaders

Erbil, June 13(AKnews) – Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani is said to be concerned about Iraq's political process and has called on rivaling political blocs to settle their disputes through dialogue.

Presidential office head, Fuad Hussein, said Barzani was particularly worried about the ongoing row between the two major political blocs led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

Tensions between the two leaders came to a head on Friday when a group of pro-Maliki demonstrators, calling for the execution of the perpetrators of the al-Dujail wedding massacre, clashed with anti-Maliki protesters in Baghdad.

Maliki's supporters were allegedly paid by the government to chant pro-Maliki slogans.

The two groups eventually clashed and Maliki's supporters ripped and burned Allawi's photos and struck them with their shoes, a highly disrespectful gesture in Arab Culture.

Yesterday the al-Iraqiya bloc expressed outrage at the burning of photos of its leader with spokesman Shaker Kattab describing the act as "unacceptable".

The Sunni-backed al-Iraqiya list then announced yesterday its boycott of parliamentary sessions following a brawl between the list's spokesman and a leader in the State of Law Coalition (SLC) led by Prime Minister Maliki.

The scuffle is said to have broken out when a leader from the State of Law (SLC), Kamal al-Saadi, allegedly hit al-Iraqiya spokesman, Haider al-Mulla, with his walking stick.

Hussein said these tensions pose a serious threat to the political process and the country's security.

Al-Iraqiya, led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, narrowly beat Maliki's State of Law Coalition in the March 2010 elections but Maliki controversially overcame Allawi's list by forming a super-bloc, the National Coalition (NC), with the Sadrist Current after the results of the poll were announced.

Following a nine-month political impasse with both leaders refusing to relinquish claim to the country's leadership, Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani stepped in with a model for a national unity government and a power-sharing deal.

Under the agreements signed in Erbil, Maliki and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani – a Kurd – were to retain their offices for a second term, while al-Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi, who secured a narrow majority of votes in the elections, would head a new executive body called the National Council for Strategic Policies (NCSP) as an attempt to maintain balance.

With the NCSP still un-formed six months after the Erbil accord was signed, the al-Iraqiya list has several times threatened to withdraw from the partnership government, accusing Maliki of monopolizing power and failing to implement all terms of the deal.

This view was also shared by the Kurds. MP Mahmoud Othman accused the government of failing to honor the prerequisite demands of the Kurdistan Blocs Coalition (KBC), submitted to the feuding political blocs in September 2010.

"None of the 19 demands handed to Maliki have been implemented," Othman said on June 6, "…the most important of which are the application of article 140, the hydrocarbon law and the Peshmarga issue".

Article 140 outlines a three-stage process to resolving the disputes over areas contested by the Kurdistan Regional Government and the central government in Baghdad.

In recent weeks, a number of Iraqi politicians, most notably from among the leadership of al-Iraqiya, have appealed to President Barzani to intervene once more and oblige the political blocs to adhere to the terms of the Erbil accord.

 "Part of Barzani's initiative has not been implemented," Hussein said, "and it is up to the political blocs to resolve that".

Written by Raber Y. Aziz, reported by Fryad Mohammed

Ka/AKnews