ELAZIĞ - In the letter DTK Co-Chair Leyla Güven wrote to Dedeoğulları Family from Konya who lost 7 members of their family in a racist attack, said: "We will respond to all kinds of discrimination against us with national awareness and organized action."

 

Democratic Society Congress (DTK) Chair Leyla Güven held in Elazığ Women's Closed Prison wrote a letter to the Dedeoğulları family who lost 7 of their members as a result of a racist attack in Meram district of Konya on 30 July. Güven expressed her condolences to the family in the letter.

 

The letter published in Jinnews is as follows: 

 

"Really, are there any Kurds in Konya?

 

Dedeoğulları family whose hearts have bled from 7 different points, first of all, I share the indiscribable pain of yours and kiss you from your bleeding hearts. We are very angry at the racist attack against you because we have suffered a lot in this country because of our identity. What did those who caused us this pain say? ‘We have lived together for a thousand years. We are like brothers and sisters" and other clichés. Those words were lies in the past, and are lies today.

 

WE COULDN'T SAY WE ARE KURDISH

 

We were never brothers and sisters in a real sense. All Kurds know this fact but us, the Kurds live in Anatolia know this truth with a pain in our hearts. You know this discussions about the refugees lately. We were always refugees in this country. We were never 'locals' in Konya which we settled five hundred years ago. We have always been defines as refugees. Because we were not Turkish. We were not from there, but we couldn't say we were Kurds. Underlining this fact considered to be discrimination. It was not acceptable for the locals for us to defind ourselves as Kurds. And lately they started to launch investigations against those who say they were Kurds. And now we are being lynched.

 

WE WERE THE ONES WHO CRIED SECRETLY

 

So, who were we? We were the Kurds exiled to Anatolia hundreds of years ago to be assimilated. We were those who were surrounded by people we did not know their languages. We were the ones who cried secretly listening to Erivan radio and music in Kurdish. We were those humiliated and insulted in the big cities by the people calling us peasants. We were those who experienced once again the feeling of being an asylum seeker, a refugee after we migrated to Europe. We never got used to suggestive questions we were asked like, 'Oh are you really Kurdish, you don't seem like it. But that's ok. That's how God made you' or 'You are not like those terrorists on the mountains, right?'

 

Thousands of Central Anatolian youth who saw, knew, lived and never accepted this fascistic, exclusionary language rebelled and went to the mountains. Now, despite all this, those who blame us irresponsibly and say that they want to start a Kurdish-Turkish conflict are pathetic people who want to distort the truth and do not get their share of humanity.

 

THIS IS WHY THEY ARE SO IMMORAL

 

Those who murdered the Dedeoğulları family in their house know very well that it is not a crime to kill a Kurd in this country. They know this from 17 thousand murders, the perpetrator of which is the state. They know this from Ceylan, Uğur, Taybet Inan, Şenyaşar family and Roboski families.  Those who represent fascism are addicted to their inexhaustible egos, racist mentalities and the power they have seized. Because as they sink with the anger and despair of hitting the bottom in the swamp of their crimes, they struggle in the pit of mud they have created. For this reason, they target the Kurds as the cause of all evil. Just as the needle of the compass constantly points north; The index finger of politicians from AKP and MHP is constantly pointing at the Kurds. As they speak with their poisonous tongues, we are killed. As we die, they speak again. And now we say, it is time for us to speak now, not you the powerful and the almighty!

 

In this sense, no one should advise us that what we experience is destiny, that it is in our nature, so we must be patient. We are by no means at that point anymore. We will respond to all kinds of discrimination against us by acting in unity, solidarity, with national consciousness and we will be organized all over the world.  We also know that fascist racist attacks have taken place against Kurds in recent years, not only in Konya but also in many parts of the country. They killed our comrade Deniz Poyraz a few months ago and tore our hearts apart.  Everyone should stand against these attacks with candor and courage, not only the Kurds.  If we create a democratic, free, egalitarian and woman-oriented life, everyone will be able to live in peace and tranquility with their own identity. This is not too difficult, as long as we get rid of the prejudices. Let's act with the perspective of being human.

 

On this basis, I once again express condolences to the Kurdish people and the Dedeoğulları family and offer my respects to all people feeling this pain."