Trial against Kurdish Politician Stirs up History

Upon the demand of defendant Mahmut Alınak, the 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Kars (north-eastern Turkey) is going to investigate the historic background related to Kurdish politics and the referring utterances made by Alınak. The Kurdish politician stands accused of "inciting the public to hatred and hostility" and faces imprisonment.

Alınak argued that he is prosecuted because he lodged a complaint with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Chief of General Staff, İlker Başbuğ, at the United Nations (UN). "If the questions of the court will be answered correctly, many things may change", he said.

"Penal code does not work for state officials"

Alınak accused the Prime Minister and the Chief of General staff of misconduct in office and believes that both officials should be in the dock right now instead of him. "The penal code applied to us does not work for government officials. I did not expect it to be otherwise anyway", Alınak indicated.

According to a decision made on 21 April this year, the court ordered the prosecution to send a complete list of all unsolved murders registered after 1993 in the districts and provinces of Diyarbakır, Batman and Şırnak in the pre-dominantly Kurdish region of south-eastern Anatolia.

The court requested another list from the prosecution regarding casualties during mass demonstrations in the districts and provinces of Diyarbakır, Van and Hakkari for the year 1997. The trial was continued on 11 May.

Court requests report prepared for Atatürk

Moreover, the court accepted the demand to ask the Presidency of the Republic for the report prepared by İsmet İnönü (successor-to-be of Atatürk) in 1935. The report was prepared for Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Turkish republic and then President, and was an analysis of the "Kurdish issue".

Additionally, the court decided to request the report about the Kurdish issue prepared and presented to the parliament by Marshal Fevzi Çakmak in 1930 from the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM). The court furthermore ordered to obtain a transcript of Atatürk's unaltered Address to the parliament.

Investigating history

In his statement to the court Alınak claimed that the confidential report presented to Atatürk by İsmet İnönü stated the following: "Turkish and Kurdish people should study at the same schools. This will be an effective measure to make the Kurds more Turkish. Diyarbakır is ready to easily take action in respect of forming a strong centre of 'Turkishness'".

The Kurdish politician maintained that Marshal Fevzi Çakmak "suggested expelling the Kurdish people form Kurdistan for the sake of Turkicizing them". Alınak stated that this proposal was approved. (EÖ/VK)