“It is not right for us not to solve problems among ourselves, allowing some external party to interfere in our affairs. It is not right for us to be silent in the face of these realities, and still ask why Kurds oppress each other,” he said.
Turk was born in 1942 in Mazi Mount in Merdin, North Kurdistan as Kurds call the Kurdish regions of Turkey.
He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1973, standing for the Republican People’s Party (CHP). He later founded the Democratic Society Party (DTP), a Kurdish nationalist party.
Turk spent three years in prison after the 1980 coup along with hundreds of other activists, an imprisonment he has frequently addressed in his public speeches and writings.
In 2009, the Constitutional Court shut down the DTP for alleged links to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), sparking deadly riots.
In 2014, Turk was elected mayor of Merdin. In November last year, he was arrested among a wave of arrests of pro-Kurdish politicians.
He was released in February this year, suffering from ill health. Shortly after his release, he told Rudaw that a peace process is not possible in Turkey as long as pro-Kurdish politicians are jailed and called on the Turkish government to change its politics towards the Kurdish nation.
Rudaw: There has been for some years a peace process in North Kurdistan, but it stalls from time to time. Did leaders from South Kurdistan [Kurdistan Region], especially Jalal Talabani and Masoud Barzani, have direct roles in building the process?
Ahmet Turk: They tried. They wanted to see a peace process in the North. But the characters running the process are the ones from the North. If Kurdish politicians in the North and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) do not take steps for peace, there won’t be any impact from the outside. Jalal Talabani and Masoud Barzani have good relations with Turkey, and should therefore try to achieve peace. We will be trying what we can for the sake of peace.
You know there have been meetings many times. The question is whether these meetings had any result. I don’t know about this. A
Turkey will not be democratic unless the Kurds are free in their own regions 
How was Öcalan’s health when you saw him first?
We didn’t see Öcalan in his room when we visited him. He was taken somewhere different to speak to us. They recently moved him to a better place. He didn’t look like a person who has been in prison for 20 years when we saw him. He once told me that a woman, married seven times, had been elected Member of Parliament. I started to laugh and asked him whether he had been enquiring about these things, too.
We spoke mainly about politics, what we should do and say and how the Turkish state was approaching him. I once told him that the Turkish state had not promised us anything and he said that he was aware of that too, saying that they occasionally visit him and discuss many things together. This finally led to a written agreement.
You have relations with many people. How are your relations with current Turkish President Erdogan and former President Abdullah Gul?
I met Erdogan several times. I saw him after the peace process was initiated. I was accompanied by Amina Ayn. Erdogan said he was prepared to do anything to resolve the Kurdish question, and we thanked him for that. And Abdullah Gul was willing to meet me anytime. In our meetings, we discussed many things and were also being critical. His father passed away a few days ago. I went to Qaisari to attend his mourning. He was very happy to see me there. When Gul was going on overseas trips, he would inform me, telling me that he wanted me to be with him.
What are your demands? Do you think the PKK has taken the necessary steps?
The PKK is calling for an autonomous and democratic region. Many people criticize the PKK arguing that what the PKK is calling for can also be achieved through political engagement. They argue that this doesn’t need an armed conflict.
Do you think what the PKK is calling for can also be achieved without an armed conflict?
The Kurds need to defend themselves. However, a war that destabilizes the peace of nations is useless. The Kurds should have their own roadmap to defend themselves. However, a war should be fought to achieve peace. And if today’s route for peace is political
The truth is that the Kurds are not that organized to build a state
You have met with foreign ambassadors many times in Turkey. Is there something you have discussed together that the media doesn’t know about?
Many topics are discussed. They sometimes ask why we are calling for an autonomous system and not independence. When we look at the situations of the Middle East, we will realize that the Kurdish nation should first be democratic among themselves. And the truth is that the Kurds are not that organized to build a state. They also don’t have the force, ability, or mentality to do so. In addition to this, there is too much pressure on the Kurds, namely from Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. Thus, an independent state will be targeted by these states.
But thousands of Kurdish youth have sacrificed their lives in order to realize this objective.
That is right. But politics is done through logic. We should look at the situations of the world and the region, and organize ourselves accordingly. The Kurds might declare an independent state in about 20 to 30 years.
What did Erdogan mean when he said that the problem of the Kurds was his?
They exercise some kind of politics in Turkey from time to time to silence the Kurds through torture and imprisonment. And sometimes they say they want to embrace the Kurds. This is not only Erdogan’s policy. This is the policy practiced by the Turkish state. This policy has been in existence since the republic was established. Even Mustafa Kemal [Ataturk] had said in the past that the Kurds and the Turks were brothers and that the Kurds had rights. Turgut Ozal had his own say, too. Tanso Chilar had also spoken about a model to resolve the question. Moreover, Masoud Yilmaz had also said that the route for peace goes through Diyarbakir. But these statements were not sincere. Rather, they are made according to political conditions on the ground. Hence, they don’t follow through with their statements.
What do you think the Kurds should do then?
The Kurds should unite. The Kurdistan Region wouldn’t exist if the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) were not united in the past. Where will a war between the PKK and the KDP take us? Now that they respect the
The PKK, KDP, PUK and the parties in Rojava should all resolve problems among themselves
How do you think the Shingal problem will be solved? The PKK have said they won’t leave Shingal, as they have made sacrifices in liberating the area. And the Peshmerga have said the PKK should leave Shingal in the same way the Peshmerga left Kobane after they went to the aid of their fellow Kurds in Rojava.
The problem of Shingal can be settled through dialogue. There is an authority in Shingal now that is eyeing its rights. Some parties opposed the mass murder committed in Shingal. And we should take this into consideration. Problems emerging from there can be resolved through dialogue. I believe the problem of Shingal wouldn’t have gone this far if some talks were held at the time between the PKK and other parties. Shingal is the territory of South Kurdistan and we should recognize this. It is the right of the Kurdistan Region. However, it is not right to be silent when warplanes bomb Qandil and Shingal, yet ask why the PKK do not leave Shingal.
But they say Turkey will not bomb these areas if the PKK fighters are not there.
Okay. But we should solve these problems ourselves. This is our aim. The PKK, KDP, PUK and the parties in Rojava [Kurdish Syria] should all resolve problems among themselves. It is not right for us not to solve problems among ourselves, allowing some external party to interfere in our affairs. It is not right for us to be silent in the face of these realities, and still ask why Kurds oppress each other.
The PKK confronted and fought against ISIS when ISIS invaded Shingal. They therefore have the right to remain there. It’s not right to ask why the PKK is there while we see Turkish jets bombing these areas. This shouldn’t be said. They don’t have the right to ask the PKK to leave Shingal while the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) doesn’t oppose Turkish jets and the sending of mercenaries to there. If this was done, then I would be the first person to say that the PKK has no right to remain in Shingal.
Complexities emerged in Shingal where people were killed and women were sold. Which Kurdish force opposed this? Masoud Barzani told me there would be problems for them running Shingal even if the PKK were to leave the area. I didn’t wish to tell him this, but I still said that the solution is to go and see Öcalan, who is the only person who can settle this problem. I told him that Öcalan wouldn’t say no to whatever he was to say to him.
