From: hrcoord@igc.org (Human Rights Coordinator)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.turkish
Subject: TURKEY: A project for stability or
Date: 28 Jul 92 16:54:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1475100139:000:4617
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Jul 28 09:54:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: TURKEY: A project for stability or 

/* Written 12:04 am  Jul 28, 1992 by newsdesk in
cdp:ips.englibrary */ Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all
rights reserved.  Permission to re- print within 7 days of
original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: TURKEY: A project for stability or instability?/SERIES/

an inter press service feature

by nadire mater

att editors:   the following item is the second in a series of
three features on the controversy surrounding construction of a
massive irrigation project in                   south- east
turkey. the first was transmitted                      earlier
saturday and the third will follow during             the day.

istanbul, jul 25 (ips) -- for all the government boasts about the
benefits to be reaped from the south-eastern development project
(sdp), there are many of the view that it will bring social
unrest, rather than stability to the troubled region.

prime minister suleyman demirel, the 'godfather' of the multi-
billion dollar irrigation project says it will bring new jobs for
3.5 million people, agricultural and industrial development in the
region and demographic stability to turkey by integrating the
kurdish minority.

but economist adnan baser kafaoglu, charges that the whole
development project is simply being done to ''impress'' the kurds
and the public at large, but in truth and fact,''it will lead to
nothing but increased social injustice''.

kafaoglu argues that 90 percent of the electric power  generated
by the system will be transferred to the west, and claims that
neither the state nor the private sector has any intention to
invest in the region.

a central issue to the debate is whether or not government will
come true on its plans for land redistribution in the region. if
they don't, kafaoglu and others argue, the irrigational and
agricultural benefits will only be derived by the rich land-
owners, and not the poor kurds.

more than 50 percent of arable land is currently in the hands of
eight percent of the population, those being the 'agas'  (feudal
landlords). as much as 40 percent of the peasants do not have any
land at all, while the remaining 10 percent toil on tiny and
scattered scraps of barren land.

land reform, which has been pledged by successive governments
since the 1940's, has been painfully slow and up to now the
ministry of agriculture has redistributed only 140,000 hectares of
land -- most of which is back in the hands of the agas -- since
the peasants lacked the financial and material support to work
it.

the project itself will bring irrigation to two million hectares
of land. (more/ips)

turkey: a project for stability or instability?/series/(2-e)

turkey: a project (2)

mahmut alinak, of the pro-kurdish people's labour party (hep),
also believes that without radical land reform, the new investment
will deepen the prevailing social instability in the region.

''while the feudal relationships may be dissolved, the kurdish
peasants will now be converted into wage labourers in big
plantations,'' said the sirnak deputy.

''this will increase the antagonism between the rich and the poor.
the region will be exploited by a handful of agricultural
entrepreneurs and industrialists.''

surprisingly, in last year's general elections, the hep did not do
well in the urfa region, where the project is being concentrated.
according to alinak, this is because people in the region have put
their faith in government's project to bring prosperity to the
area, and an end to the kurdish uprising.

the kurdish workers party (pkk), the guerrilla arm of the kurds,
believes the sdp will bring about some positive changes in the
region although it also envisages a widening of class
differences.

''sdp brings a lot of positive changes and developments for our
people. although the project will generate a new parasite class
among the kurds... it will mould a strong working class movement
in kurdistan,'' says an editorial in 'serxebun' the official organ
of the pkk.

yasar kaya, publisher of the daily 'gundem' which is reputed as a
united journal of kurdish and turkish leftists, however believes
that the sdp, rather than accelerating kurdish integration, will
bring out more nationalist feelings in the region.

''it is not only the problem of welfare. it is a complex problem
of national identity, human rights, culture and mother tongue. it
is absolutely a mistake to believe that economic development will
immediately bring the kurdish problem to its conclusion,'' kaya
said. end/ip (story received incomplete) 0020
Xref: sparky soc.culture.turkish:8157 talk.politics.mideast:17453 talk.politics.soviet:6474 soc.culture.greek:6925 soc.culture.europe:6712 soc.rights.human:2770 soc.culture.iranian:6592