Kemal Burkay about Pan-Kurdish National Conference & PKK

Sofia Barbarani – Basnes – 20.10-2013 – DIYARBAKIR, Turkey’s Kurdish region,— Kurdish former-exile, journalist, poet and founder of the Kurdistan Socialist Party Kemal Burkay, revealed what he recently discussed with president of the Kurdistan Region, Massoud Barzani. At a seminar in Stockholm (Sweden), Burkay mentioned that, the Kurdish President told him that the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) has been pushing for the pan-Kurdish National Conference to be held in Erbil, in order to apply its own agenda to the event. Barzani responded by saying that if the PKK kept pushing only for its own agenda, then the conference should be held elsewhere.

Burkay also said that jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and Hakan Fidan, the undersecretary of Turkey’s governmental intelligence agency, have already tried to organize four conferences; in Erbil, Ankara, Diyarbakir and Brussels. It appears that conferences in Ankara and Diyarbakir have already been held.

The Kurdish leader reiterated that neither him nor his party had participated in PKK-run conferences. According to Kurdish news portal Nefel, Burkay quoted Massoud Barzani as saying that southern Kurdistan (Iraqi Kurdistan) has its own government, and not be ruled by PKK agenda. Burkay also spoke of the current situation in the Kurdish areas of Turkey, saying that the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) demand for a democratic solution is nonsense.

He went on to claim that BDP has glorified Ocalan and put him on a pedestal, despite the fact that he is no longer helping the Kurdish cause. He used to ask for Kurdish independence, but has done little for the Kurdish cause since he was arrested and imprisoned in 1999, said Burkay. Syria was also touched upon, and Burkay claimed that the policy of the Democratic Union Party (PYD – Syria’s leading Kurdish party) is wrong, and dangerous for the Kurds because of the support the party receives from Assad. The PYD’s power is dependent on the regime’s support, he said.

Burkay also mentioned that, his party Hak-Par will take part in the upcoming Turkish elections. Kemal Burkay had to flee Turkey in 1980 due to his political views and activities. He lived in exile for 31 years, until 2011 when he returned home.