All the people should have the right to their own language, culture and identity; should have the right to exist. But many do not have. The Kurds do not have it yet...

It was to ask for Kurdish people rights’ that politicians, human rights defenders, Peace Award Laureates and representatives of several nongovernmental organizations gathered today, in the same room of the European Parliament.

Many speakers and supporters could not be present, for practical or political reasons, but all left a message of hope in the VI International Conference of the “UE, Turkey and the Kurds”.

“I wish for all the people in the world, what we have obtained in South Africa” – were the first words of Desmond Tutu’s message. The year of 1990 marked the life of the South Africans, as 2010 can mark the life of the Kurds, the Archbishop added, in a written communication: “things have changed for better. In somehow, it will never be the same again. But to reach this it was necessary to have the involvement of the people, of the politicians and of the exiled ones. It was this that made political prisoners, as Nelson Mandela, be freed, it was this that made the change in South Africa history.”

Emine Ayna, DTP's co-president (Turkish Party Democracy and Peace), explained, nonetheless, that Turkey still doesn’t show maturity for the peace process: “There is a visible lack of will in ending the military operations. We cannot speak in “openness” when a barrier of police forces exists. But Kurdish people are ready for Peace and bigger efforts must be made”.

For Professor Dogur Ergil, from Ankara’s University, Turkish authorities are still considering the Kurds as “second class people”. He pointed out the need to work in order to stop military actions: “We have to take politics away from violence”, through civilians’ initiatives. Those initiatives should have three goals:  the reintegration of Kurdish political group to social life, the building of efficient local governments and the possibility to chose education in Kurdish language.

 Since 2005, Turkey has been asked to accept European Union adhesion conditions, but this means to recognize the value of the human rights and the respect for minorities. “A process that has been moving forward, but that where we cannot wait for a sudden resolution”, stated Hasan Cemal, Turkish journalist.

However the question of the Kurdish minority recognition passes for perceiving the relevance of the oppression felt in the small routines, it “passes by going to the bakery without fear of the military airplanes that fly over our head. If this is possible in Ankara or Bodrum, it must be possible for us as well”, defended Leyla Zana, winner of the Sakharov Prize for the Freedom of Thought. And if in Europe the coexistence of different states is possible, with its cultural and national differences, why cannot it be in Turkey? “Peace can only be reached with the support of all the involved parts. And this is my cry for Peace”, said L. Zana.