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» » » Letter from Nuriye Kesbir from Prison

Letter from Nuriye Kesbir from Prison

To my people and to the democratic public!
On the 7^th of May I officially started a Hunger Strike to protest against the judgement of the Highest Court in the Netherlands in The Hague that enables my extradition to Turkey. With my protest I want to prevent any more injustice, in the spirit of the slogan “To live in freedom or not to live at all!”

I want to briefly explain, why I made this decision:
On 25^th of September 2001 I came to the Netherlands and applied for political asylum. Up till now my asylum application has not been accepted and there has been a struggle, in the name of the law, to get me out of this country. After 15 months of confinement I was released because of the judgement of the court in Amsterdam.
The court rejected the appeal of the Turkish government to extradite me, because it considered the accusation of the Turkish government against me as inappropriate. But because of an appeal against this judgement by the asylum authority and the prosecutor to the highest Court the whole procedure started again from the beginning. In this context I was again arrested on the 5^th of March 2004 on the basis of the decision of the Highest Court in The Hague.

It is clear, that this decision does not contain any legal dimension. This judgement is a political one and only expresses the same general ignorance towards the legitimate struggle of the Kurdish people. 15 years of armed struggle has been ignored in the same way as the five years of unilateral ceasefire to promote a process of peace, democracy and a solution to the Kurdish question. This judgement approves the recent repression of the Turkish state of our people, the massacres and the destruction policy. More than 4000 villages have been depopulated and destroyed, millions of people have been violently dispelled, ten thousands of revolutionary and democratic people as well as intellectuals have been arrested, and notably the Chairman Apo to whom the Kurdish people show their loyalty, is isolated in solitary confinement since five years. As our chairman Abdullah Öcalan continues even under the strengthened conditions of isolation to promote efforts towards peace and democracy, the international community reacts like the three monkeys: hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. There is no intervention against the terror and the illegal practices on the Kurdish people. The peace initiatives of Abdullah Öcalan have been ignored.

For all this the European Union has to be held responsible. The irresponsibility has been shown best, when they did not accept chairman Apo, who came to Europe in 1998 in order to find a solution to the Kurdish question. Europe dispelled him to Africa. Instead of correcting their mistake, they did the biggest mistake in their history when they put the Kongra-Gel on the list of terror organisations. With the judgement against me the efforts are accelerated to hand over members of the democratic organisation of the Kurdish people Kongra-Gel to Turkey. I see the judgement against me as a judgement against the Kurdish people.

Only few days ago Dutch and other representatives of the European Parliament declared that the court procedure against Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, and their other friends was not just. However today my extradition was decided on the basis of a guarantee that Turkey might supposedly give. What they call guarantee, is probably a willingness of inter-state cooperation. It is the economic interests that makes the recent AKP-government willing to offer any kind of concessions to Europe. The Turkish government sells Turkey out. In order to liquidate the Kurdish liberation struggle a sell out of Turkey takes place. The recent AKP-government plays a dangerous game. Unfortunately some European countries join that game.

I appeal to the Dutch public. Do not allow that shadow falling on your reputation for justice, democracy and human rights. Try to understand what the Turkish state did to the Kurdish people and decide yourselves, whether I as an individual is guilty or not.

In the last time I thought a lot about what my offences might be. I can enumerate what my offences are:

To be born as a human being and to struggle for a human life.
To be born as a Kurd and to participate in a struggle that enable the Kurdish people to determine their own fate. If this is a crime – well, then I am guilty.
If it is a crime to fight as woman for the aim that women can live in freedom and equality, then I am guilty.
If it is a crime that I fought against any kind of discrimination because of my religion, then I am guilty.
If it is a crime that I do not regret to lead a legitimate, democratic struggle for my people to live a life amongst others in human dignity then I am a criminal.

It is clear, that the judgement on me goes far beyond the question whether I am guilty or not. This judgement is an absolute political decision and based on certain economic benefits expected from Turkey. I declare once again: I wish that the Dutch state and its government will not condescend to do such a thing. I ask the responsible people, who did emphasize the dirty character of the Turkish government many before, to stick to their words.

My further course of action depends on the decisions that are to be made. As long as there is no progress and positive developments, I will continue my unlimited hunger strike. I declare my approach once again towards the whole international public. I appeal to all progressive, democratic, intellectual people and institutions, who are fighting for human rights, justice and peace, to show solidarity.

The human will will win over violence!
To live in freedom or not to live at all!

My greetings and my respect,
Nuriye Kesbir

In a Dutch prison
10.05. 2004