PM Erdogan’s Deputy Says Why Kurds Should Vote Yes in Referendum

ANKARA, Turkey: Hüseyin Çelik is a prominent Turkish politician serving as deputy chairman of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s Party of the Justice and Development (AKP). In an exclusive interview Rudaw talked to him in his office in Ankara about the forthcoming referendum over the long unchanged constitution. The referendum will determine whether the people of Turkey approve an amendment the AKP has proposed. The amendments are mainly about undermining the role of the military in judiciary. Though, the Kurds have long considered Turkish constitution exclusive and “racist”, the main pro-Kurdish parties in Turkey have decided to boycott the referendum believing that the package has nothing to offer for the Kurds. 

RUDAW: A referendum on the Turkish constitution will take place next week on September 12. People can vote “yes”, “No” or boycott it. How do you think the result might turn out to be?

Hüseyin Çelik: This is the first time a free discussion takes place over amending the constitution. In 1961, for instance, when a referendum was about to be held over the constitution, you were free to vote "yes" as well as to mobilize people to support it. However, you were prohibited from campaign against it. That of 1982 was the same. This is the first time in Turkey that the constitution would go through a civilized change. The previous constitutions were imposed by force through military coups.

For our part, we have made our own calculations coming to a point that, God Willing; the result will be a “yes”. Though there will be people voting “no” [for the amendments]. Those who vote “no” have in the first place no problem with the constitutional amendments we have made. They actually have a problem with [the Justice and Development Party] AKP and intend to encourage a no-confidence vote against it. Amid this, [the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party] BDP has decided to boycott the referendum.

It is difficult for us to understand why the BDP does this. It has been for many years that all the people of Turkey extremely suffering from the imposition of a dominant militaristic mentality.  But the Kurds in the South and Southeast of Turkey have had a much greater share of the suffering. While they have to applaud for any step taken towards advancing [Turkish] democracy, they have unfortunately decided to boycott the constitutional changes that make the Constitutional Court, which has closed their parties many times, a democratic body. However, I believe that the people of the South and Southeast are going to consider their consciousness then vote. I hope there will be no pressure imposed on the people.

RUDAW: As a Kurd from Turkey, what sort of benefits do you see in the AKP’s constitutional amendments?

Hüseyin Çelik: I had a seminar discussing the situation of human rights at length. One of the guests stood up saying "you have being talking about human rights since the morning. But why don't you talk about Kurdish rights?" I replayed: “When I talk about human rights, this will include Kurds as well since they are also humans.”

We, as the AKP, say no matter what belief, religion, ethnic identity and mother language you have, you are all equal, free and respected citizens of the Turkish Republic, as far as you hold a Turkish citizenship. Was this mentality previously in place? No. In Turkey, there is chauvinist-racist mentality. But we as the AKP put aside this way of thinking. We reject three kinds of racism, that is, ethnic racism, xenophobic chauvinism as well as religious chauvinism.

RUDAW: The BDP says that the AKP did not take its demands into consideration in the constitutional reform package. Would not have been better for you to have had promoted a mutual understanding between each other?

Hüseyin Çelik: That's not true. Everybody looks at the issues from their own prospective. In this referendum what are the issues that BDP and the Kurds don't like? For example, we say there should be facilities provided for children, woman and martyrs families as well as disabled persons. Why should this bother BDP and the Kurds? Discrimination should no longer be tolerated. Is that a bad thing?

Furthermore, we have demanded to stop prosecuting the civilians by the military courts. Is this wrong? Should this concern the BDP? I don't think so.

The Turkish Constitutional Court, which has closed 25 political parties, is going to be more democratic and multi-colored.  Should not all these please the BDP?  There was an article making the closure of the political parties more difficult, but the BDP did not vote in favor of that article. Most of the closed parties have been predecessors of the BDP. DEHAP, DTP, DHP, and OZDEP have all been Kurdish parties closed by that court.

RUDAW: Your party has been in power since 2002 for two terms. This means that people have increasingly been satisfied with your performance. Have you decided to make more constitutional amendments if this referendum turns to be in your favor and your party gets elected once again in next year’s elections?

Hüseyin Çelik: When we came to power, the situation in Southeastern part of the country was formally considered “insecure” by the state. We lifted that on the region. We dissolved the State's Security Court (DGM) and shortened the arrestment period to only four days. In those regions the PKK were coming and asking for food and the people would have given it to them. Those who helped the PKK would have been arrested and jailed. We ended that law. Mothers weren't allowed to visit their jailed sons talking to them in Kurdish. We removed that [law] as well. In the past we, the Kurds, wanted to name our children Kurdish names. But we were not allowed to do so. Our authority has removed all that.  Even now the Turkish Ministry of Culture is busy with publishing the work of the past great Kurdish writers. We have tolerated Kurdish newspapers, radios, TV channels (TRT6). But because this channel was not promoting PKK’s [ideology], the BDP made a lot of mockery comments about the channel.  During our tenure, we have invested nearly 18 million dollars to develop that region. 

RUDAW: When Prime Minister Erdogan visited the Kurdish city of Van, he said that the AKP represent the Kurds not the BDP. He said we have 70 Kurdish lawmakers not the BDP. But BDP says when Turkish parliament made a decision to launch a border assault on the Kurdistan region, the only members of parliament to have been against the parliament verdict were the 21 members of representing the BDP not the AKP. Indeed, the BDP views the AKP as “traitors.” What is your response to this?

Hüseyin Çelik: I want to say that the [decision regarding] a military operation on the North of Iraq was not about attacking the people of the Northern Iraq, because they are our brothers. We share one heart with them. We have no problem with them. I do say that there are people living in Turkey viewing people of the Northern Iraq in a racist and chauvinist way. In Turkey there are Turkish chauvinists as well as Kurdish chauvinists. 

RUDAW: Do you mean that the BDP is a Kurdish chauvinist?

Hüseyin Çelik: No I don't mean that. I don't consider BDP a Kurdish chauvinist nor MHP a Turkish chauvinist. But anybody acting racist is a chauvinist. In Turkey there are people who don’t like the fact that Turkey maintains a relationship with the North of Iraq. There are Turks who don't like to see Barzani visiting Turkey or [Turkish  Foreign Minister] Davutoglu and [Turkish Foreign Trade Minister] Zafer Çağlayan visiting the North of Iraq.  I mean that there are Turks who see all Kurds as the enemy and there are Kurds who see all Turks as the enemy. There is a militant group, which has bases in the North of Iraq, launching attacks on [our] police and military forces. They sometimes attack the civilians as well. Does not this country have the right to protect itself? That's why AKP's parliamentarians supported the operation. 

RUDAW: There are a few Kurdish Parties supporting your reform package and vote “yes” in the referendum. But, they are also not satisfied and asking for more changes to be made regarding the Kurdish issue.

Hüseyin Çelik:  We want more as well. In Islam when a person can't find a water to wash his face and pray, they are allowed to wash their face with sand. Those 26 articles are not our ultimate goal. In a book we published regarding the constitution, we said that if we are elected by the people in 2011’s elections, we would change all the constitution.

RUDAW: The PKK fighters says that if they vote "yes" for the package, the European Union would say that the Kurdish problem in Turkey ended. What is your view on this?

Hüseyin Çelik: In the past, the PKK used to say that they wanted an independent Kurdistan, after Ocelan and other PKK leaders said they did no longer want independence. Then, they asked for federalism. They later gave up that demand as well. I don't know what they want. Now the PKK and the BDP say if they vote in favor of the reform package in the referendum, the EU will say Kurdish problem is over. That's not true. The Europeans know that there is still a lot of anti democratic elements existing in our constitution.