DATE=6/25/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43729
TITLE=TURKEY / KURDS DISPLACED
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: THE TRIAL OF KURDISH REBEL LEADER ABDULLAH OCALAN HAS
FOCUSED ATTENTION ON THE 15-YEAR CONFLICT BETWEEN THE TURKISH
GOVERNMENT AND THE COUNTRY'S ETHNIC KURDS, WHO LIVE PRIMARILY IN
THE SOUTHEASTERN PART OF THE COUNTRY. BECAUSE OF THE VIOLENCE,
THE GOVERNMENT HAS MOVED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF KURDS OUT OF
REMOTE RURAL VILLAGES INTO COMMUNITIES NEAR THE CITIES. V-O-A
CORRESPONDENT SCOTT BOBB VISITED THESE PEOPLE AND HAS THIS REPORT
FROM THE REGIONAL CAPITAL OF DIYARBAKIR.
TEXT: FROM THE HIGHWAY, A HARD-SCRABBLE ROAD LEADS UP A HILL TO
A COMPLEX OF 100 APARTMENT BLOCKS, SQUATTING ON A PLATEAU OF DRY
GRASS. THEY ARE SIMPLE THREE-STORY BUILDINGS. EACH CONTAINS SIX
APARTMENTS AND ABOUT TWICE AS MANY FAMILIES.
IT IS EVENING AND MOTHERS SITTING ON THE BALCONIES WATCH THE
CHILDREN PLAYING IN THE ROAD BELOW.
///SOUND OF CHILDREN TALKING, CRYING.///
SEVERAL THOUSAND PEOPLE FROM REMOTE VILLAGES IN SOUTHEASTERN
TURKEY LIVE HERE. THEY WERE MOVED BY THE GOVERNMENT A FEW YEARS
AGO AS PART OF ITS FIGHT AGAINST KURDISH REBELS.
ON THE EDGE OF THE COMPOUND, A GROUP OF MEN SIT ON LOW STOOLS,
SIPPING TEA. THEY ARE OLDER MEN FOR THE MOST PART. THEIR LEATHERY
FACES SPEAK OF A LIFETIME OF WORK IN THE SUN. THEY WEAR KNIT CAPS
AND HEAVY CLOTHES. SOME ROLL CIGARETTES USING YELLOW TOBACCO
PINCHED FROM BATTERED TINS.
BETWEEN PUFFS OF SMOKE AND SIPS OF TEA, THEIR STORY BEGINS TO
EMERGE.
///ACT IN KURDISH OF VILLAGERS///
THE MEN SAY LIFE IN THE VILLAGE WAS GOOD. THEY WERE HEALTHY. BUT
HERE, THEY SAY, THERE IS MUCH DISEASE. THE WEATHER IS DIFFERENT.
AND BECAUSE THEY DO NOT HAVE JOBS, THEY CANNOT AFFORD MEDICAL
CARE.
THEY COMPLAIN THAT THE GOVERNMENT, WHICH TOOK THEM AWAY FROM
THEIR SOURCE OF LIVELIHOOD, DOES NOT TAKE CARE OF THEM. BECAUSE
THEY ARE DISPLACED WITHIN THEIR OWN COUNTRY, THEY ARE NOT
CONSIDERED REFUGEES, AND AS A RESULT DO NOT RECEIVE INTERNATIONAL
AID.
THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT BEGAN MOVING THE VILLAGERS ABOUT FIVE
YEARS AGO. THREE THOUSAND VILLAGES WERE EVACUATED AND DESTROYED.
THE GOVERNMENT SAYS THE VILLAGERS WERE MOVED FOR THEIR OWN
PROTECTION. ANALYSTS NOTE THE EVACUATIONS ALSO DISTANCED THE
REBELS FROM POSSIBLE SYMPATHIZERS, BECAUSE MANY OF THE VILLAGERS
ARE RELATED TO THE FIGHTERS.
///OPT/// THE VILLAGERS COMPLAIN THAT THE POLICE SOMETIMES HARASS
THEM, ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE SEEN TALKING TO JOURNALISTS OR
FOREIGNERS. SOMETIMES, THE VILLAGERS SAY, THEY ARE TAKEN AWAY AND
BEATEN. THEY SAY THAT IS WHY THEY DO NOT TELL EVERYTHING THEY
KNOW AND DO NOT GIVE THEIR NAMES.
THEIR MAIN COMPLAINT IS THE LACK OF JOBS. SOME MEN OCCASIONALLY
FIND WORK AS PORTERS, AND SOME WOMEN SOMETIMES MAKE MONEY PICKING
COTTON ON NEARBY FARMS. BUT IN A REGION WITH ALREADY HIGH
UNEMPLOYMENT, FINDING A JOB IS DIFFICULT.
///ACT OF VILLAGER IN KURDISH///
THEY SAY SOMETIMES THE YOUNGER MEN COLLECT SOME MONEY AND TRAVEL
TO ISTANBUL OR ANKARA, IN WESTERN TURKEY, TO LOOK FOR WORK. BUT
THEY SAY THE PEOPLE THERE REFUSE TO GIVE THEM JOBS, SAYING THEY
ARE TERRORISTS. AND SO, WHEN THE MONEY RUNS OUT, THEY COME BACK.
///END OPT.///
AMONG THE OLD MEN SITS A BOY IN HIS EARLY TEENS, LISTENING.
SOCIOLOGISTS SAY IF THE CONFLICT CONTINUES, MANY OF THE DISPLACED
YOUTH --LIKE THIS YOUNG MAN -- MAY TURN TO CRIME AS THEY GROW
OLDER, OR JOIN THE REBELS IN THE MOUNTAINS. THAT IS WHY THEY HOPE
THE CONFLICT CAN BE ENDED, BEFORE A NEW GENERATION COMES OF AGE
AND THE VIOLENCE ENTERS ANOTHER VICIOUS CYCLE. (SIGNED)
NEB/SB/GE
25-Jun-99 9:50 AM EDT (1350 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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