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. We don't separate any ethnicity in Turkey in our hearts and minds. The area is harsh geographically with little settlements distributed over a wide area and it's difficult to protect them. The villagers have been relocated in other parts of southeastern Turkey. . . . It's done in the interests of the people living there to provide them with better security and more services.
Turkey is a unitary state that brooks no claims for minority status by any group.
Speaking Kurdish was illegal until 1991 and the language still cannot be legally taught in schools or broadcast on radio or television. Yet their record is very similar. If you do Kosovo, you have to do Turkey. Otherwise, you've got a double standard. The situation in southeastern Turkey can be compared to that in Kosovo before the start of NATO bombings, when Serb forces engaged in actions against the Kosovo Liberation Army, which the Serbs said aimed to shatter the territorial integrity of Serbia.