ANKARA, 23 March 2005 — Turkey’s military General Staff, which views itself as the ultimate guardian of national unity, yesterday condemned the burning of the Turkish flag by pro-Kurdish protesters as “traitorous”. Demonstrators set fire to the national flag in the Mediterranean port city of Mersin on Sunday while celebrating the Kurdish “Newroz” festival to mark the advent of spring. Six people were hurt in clashes with police and 35 were detained.
The ancient festival of Newroz, or Nevruz in Turkish, has long served as a rallying cry for Kurdish nationalism. “This is traitorous behavior,” the General Staff said in a statement on the flag-burning. “Everyone should know very well that neither this country’s indivisible integrity nor the glorious Turkish flag, which is a symbol of that unity and integrity, will ever be left without their protectors.” The General Staff has seen its political clout eroded by reforms aimed at preparing Turkey for European Union membership, but it remains the country’s most respected institution and its statements carry weight.
Moderate Kurdish leaders including Nobel Prize nominee Leyla Zana have also condemned the flag-burning incident. “We have to show respect for the country’s shared values. The flag, for which lives are sacrificed, is the most important value,” the Hurriyet daily quoted Zana as saying. Zana, a former lawmaker freed from jail last year under heavy EU pressure after serving 10 years behind bars for alleged links to Kurdish rebels, attended a peaceful Newroz celebration in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir on Monday.
Turkey’s generals are increasingly worried about a possible revival of Kurdish separatism in southeastern Turkey, where security forces battled an armed uprising in the 1980s and 1990s. More than 30,000 people were killed in the violence. Fighting declined sharply after the 1999 capture of rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, but clashes have ticked up again since the guerrillas called off a unilateral truce last year. The General Staff has watched with concern as the government has conceded greater cultural rights to Turkey’s large Kurdish minority as part of its EU-inspired reforms, fearing it could help reignite political separatism.
Meanwhile, Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos warned yesterday that Turkey must extend a European Union customs accord to include Cyprus before October if it wants to start accession talks with the 25-member bloc. He said signing the protocol would be the “first significant step in normalizing relations between the Cyprus Republic and Turkey.”
Cyprus is the only EU member with which Turkey has no formal diplomatic ties. “Turkey must sign the protocol extending the customs union to all new EU member states, including Cyprus, before Oct. 3 when it is set to commence accession negotiations,” Papadopoulos told reporters in Nicosia before leaving for Brussels where he will also meet Greek Premier Costas Karamanlis.
