In some cases, they've been the victims of massacres and disappearances. These aren't Kosovo Albanians - they are Kurds from southeastern Turkey. The Turkish government insists that it is fighting an insurgency movement that threatens the country's unity and has led to more than 30,000 deaths.
Authorities argue that it's a purely internal matter and none of the outside world's business.
The treason trial of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, which began May 31 on a prison island south of Istanbul, has brought the Kurdish problem back into focus. Yet the emphasis here has been solely on the brutality and atrocities attributed to the PKK and nothing has been said in the court or the press about the military's harsh reaction to the rebellion and the effects of its actions on the civilian population. B. Firat Dayankili, a member of parliament representing Turkey's Democratic Left Party, a member of the ruling coalition, declines to even speak about a Kurdish problem. The area is harsh geographically with little settlements distributed over a wide area and it's difficult to protect them. Turkey is a unitary state that brooks no claims for minority status by any group.