You tell a lie often enough, you end up believing it

Turkey's president Mr. Gul was recently interviewed by Euronews. Here is the full interview. I will be touching on a segment of the interview, which of course happens to be related to the Kurdish issue.

euronews: “One new question is the Kurdish issue in the north of Iraq. Is Turkey prepared to give any ground over that?”

Abdullah Gul: “To be able eradicate terrorist organisations you have to apply sophisticated programmes and plans ..and Turkey does that.

Sometimes we do it in a public way.. sometimes behind the scenes. Those who want to fight to death and not give up their weapons, then our military must tackle that and fight these people to the end. I must say this.

But there are people on the fringes of terrorist organisations without knowing why they are part of them. It is important to try to get these people back on the normal path.

Until now the Kurdish Regional Government in the north of Iraq has refused to do what is necessary but I am pleased to say during our meetings with them over the last few months they realise that these terror groups are bad news for them as well.”

Yeah, the KRG is so bad that she doesn't help Turkey wipe off Kurds from the face of the earth. Only a messed up and insecure bully who wants to deny people their very basic rights and expects them to help with their destruction can say such a ridiculous thing. What exactly does Turkey want from the KRG? To fight against PKK so that Turkey can persecute Kurds more?? The KRG is smart enough to know that after Turkey is done with "her own Kurds" she will move down to neutralize the KRG.

euronews: “As far as international relations go you are very close to Israel. They consider Hamas a terrorist organisation. But your relations with Hamas are very different to Israel’s. Shouldn’t Hamas be considered terrorists, the same as the PKK?”

Abdullah Gul: “The PKK, Hamas and the Palestinians…they have no links with each other.
There are many groups linked with the Palestinians
in The Middle East. In respect of the Palestinians we would never support suicide bombers. I must tell you that.

But one group, the PKK, is using military means to
create a something outside its own territory and they attack Turkey.

This is where the famous Turkish saying "if you repeat something 40 times, it will come true" plays. The Euronews speaker couldn't just say "wake up, Mr. President, the PKK is in Kurdistan!". What territory is Mr. Gul talking about?? Turkish military is conducting military operations inside the borders of Turkey all the time! Is Mount Ararat in Iraq too? Seriously, if there is no PKK inside Turkey then against whom is Turkey conducting those military operations within its borders??? Civilians (let's remember 4000+ villages Turkey razed) or the PKK? Perhaps both?

On the relationship between Israel and Turkey, it's a co-dependent relationship no different than the one between a drug dealer and an addict.

But the Palestinians on the other hand are trying to defend themselves in their own country.

Kurds ARE defending themselves inside their own country, Kurdistan. They have lived there for over 4000 years (yes LONG before they let his ancestors enter Anatolia. He needs to go read some true history!

There is no discrimination in Turkey against the Kurds. Ethnic indentity doesn’t interest us.”

Whoa! Did he just say that pigs fly? Or did I just hear Ahmedinejad saying there are no gays in Iran?? So, why is that Turkey still denies Kurds their very basic rights?? Record speaks for itself. It's enough to look at the court cases against Kurds' use of letters q, w, x, and other letters. When stupid thugs use those letters it's all fine but when it's Kurds, security forces don't waste a minute. When did President Gul ever speak against such practices??

euronews: “Mr President. The question wasn’t about the moral value of the PKK and Hamas movements. The question is simply that Turkey has a bad relationship with the PKK and yet has a good relationship with Israel which in turn considers Hamas a terrorist organisation. This is a little contradicatory isn’t it? They are, after all, two movements which are struggling over territory.”

Abdullah Gul: “Palestine is a state under occupation and the Palestinians are using military means to end the occupation. Even after United Nations rulings, Palestine is still under occupation.”

Kurdistan has been under occupation by Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq. Despite all the resistance. Mr. Gul needs to go and check Ottoman archives and see "Kurdistan" state on Ottoman maps!

euronews: “ No, excuse me, because, perhaps…

Abdullah Gul: “Wait a minute. I must explain this important question. When Hamas carries out a terrorist attack, we condemn it. But don’t forget what Israel has done in Gaza.

They killed between 1,300 and 1,800 people ..this is something we can never accept. So if you are comparing Hamas and the PKK you are making a big mistake.”

So, what would Mr. President say about over 17,000 individuals, including women and children who were detained by Turkish security forces and never heard from again? Children and older women included. This figure is aside from civilians, including children killed by Turkish police and military. It's true one shouldn't compare Hamas with PKK as Hamas receives a lot of external support while PKK is supported by the Kurdish people alone.