Ali Duran Topuz’s Address to the European Parliament

By Ali Duran Topuz
April 26, 2025

Regional Hunger: From Folklore to Reality

In a folk tale from Qochgiri, a mother and her son are having a conversation. The child desperately says: “Mother, I am hungry!” The mother responds: “Son, don’t die! Your father has gone to the field to sow seeds.”

This tale symbolizes not just physical hunger, but also a hunger for peace, freedom, security, and equality—a condition deeply felt today across the Middle East and Turkey.

Today’s Hunger in the Middle East and Turkey

Millions of children in the countries of the Middle East are genuinely hungry. I come from Turkey, and Turkey’s situation is no different. This hunger extends beyond the biological meaning—the peoples, groups, and societies of the Middle East and Turkey are hungry for peace, freedom, security, and equality.

Colonial wars, national conflicts, religious strife, and civil wars continue in every corner of the region. Simultaneously, struggles to protect labor rights, access to water and food, freedom, democracy, rule of law, justice, and women’s equality are just as prevalent. Yet a clear resolution appears unlikely in the near future.

The Peace Process: Words and Actions Diverge

For the past five months, a new peace process has been underway, beginning with hopes for peace and reconciliation. But when one listens to government officials, they speak like the mother in the Qochgiri tale: “Children, don’t die, your father has gone to the field to sow seeds.”

They speak of peace, brotherhood, democracy, and rule of law, but when these will arrive, how they will come, for whom they will be provided, and from whom they will be withheld—no one knows. Their words and actions do not align.

In the past week, Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and nearly a hundred members of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) were detained. Mass protests were forcibly suppressed, and approximately four hundred people were arrested for participating in demonstrations.

Autocracy and Kurdophobia in Turkey

Turkey’s regime has been moving toward autocracy over the past decade. Ten years ago, a democratic resolution and peace process for the Kurdish issue had begun. But President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan abruptly terminated this process and began constructing a new regime.

What happened? Why did this occur? There are various interpretations, but in my view, there is one primary reason: In the June 2015 elections, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) surpassed the electoral threshold and became the third-largest parliamentary group. The Kurds had opened the door to sharing hegemonic power.

Turkey’s system, founded on anti-Kurdish sentiment, could not accept this. Erdoğan, Devlet Bahçeli, and nationalist bureaucratic forces declared: “If parliament can no longer prevent the Kurdish freedom movement, we will either eliminate parliament or render it meaningless.” They did just that. The ruling bloc, composed of Islamists, Turkish nationalists, and Jacobin bureaucrats, is united by Kurdophobia.

The History of Kurdophobia

This Kurdophobia dates back to the founding of the Turkish Republic and continues to this day. When the republic was established, an international anti-Kurdish system was also established in the Middle East. Kurds were obscured under the shadow of four states.

Since then, Turkey’s rulers have governed with two distinct legal systems and administrative approaches: a colonialist policy for Kurds and extraordinary or exceptional law. In the past decade, something new emerged: exceptional law is no longer applied only to Kurds but to everyone.

Now everyone is treated like Kurds. Municipalities are seized from the CHP through trustee appointments, CHP politicians are detained without evidence, voting and election rights have been stripped away from everyone. Law has become anti-law, judges have become executioners, unions have collapsed, media is under governmental control, and academia is reduced to elementary education.

Kurds as Principal Actors

Yet state policy cannot remove Kurds from the political arena. Over the past decade, Kurdish parties have consistently entered parliament as the third-largest group. Moreover, whichever coalition the Kurds join moves closer to power. In the last presidential election, Erdoğan barely won. In local elections, the government alliance was defeated, losing nearly all major municipalities.

In the Middle East too, Kurds are significant actors. In Syria, the Rojava Kurds are among the most influential forces, with power not less than that of HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham). A new Syria is being formed, and Kurds are one of the principal forces. In Iran, Kurds represent a major force against the regime. In short, the international anti-Kurdish covenant established a century ago has now collapsed.

Two Paths for Turkey

Turkey’s leadership now faces two options:

1. Peace with Kurds: If Turkey reconciles with Kurds, it can defend its interests in Syria today and in Iran tomorrow. This path would bring peace and stability.
2. Anti-Kurdish Policy: Some forces wish to continue the old policy and forge new alliances with imperial powers like Trump and Israel. They say: “We will protect Israel’s security, but in return, allow us to continue our anti-Kurdish policy.” In this way, they seek to re-establish Turkey as an imperial state.

Syria: Peace or War?

In Syria, the agreement between Mazlum Abdi and Golani, which recognized the rights of Kurds and other peoples, was a good start for a unified, democratic Syria. But after three days, HTS adopted a constitution that excludes 40% of Syria’s population from political participation. This constitution is one of denial and apartheid.

Massacres against Alawites also obstruct the path to a unified Syria. Only the Rojava administration raises its voice against these injustices.

Qochgiri and Öcalan’s Isolation

In 1920, the Ankara government had prepared a constitution that recognized the existence and rights of Kurds and other peoples. They wanted Kurds to join them. That constitution included autonomy. The beys and scholars of Qochgiri wanted to implement this autonomy, but Ankara’s response came not through politics but through weapons. The army of Sakallı Nurettin Pasha and Topal Osman’s gangs killed the “thousand-year brotherhood.”

Today, a century later, Devlet Bahçeli again wants Kurds to join Turkey, but forces of war want to maintain the anti-Kurdish system. Bahçeli and these forces may have divided roles among themselves, but we cannot know this clearly.

What we do know is this: Kurds are no longer the Kurds of a century ago. They can now utilize political and diplomatic mechanisms both regionally and globally. But if support is not provided and Kurds remain isolated, the situation in the Middle East will worsen, and regional chaos will deepen.

Conclusion: Isolation Must End

Which policy will prevail, we cannot yet say. Forces that desire democracy, peace, and equality in Turkey and the Middle East must first and foremost stand against the policy of isolation. The isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan serves the forces of war. Without Öcalan, paths to peace cannot open.

Kurds, the largest stateless population in the Middle East, are now among the most influential actors. The anti-Kurdish covenant has collapsed, and Kurds will continue to play their role in Turkey, Syria, and the region.

This address was delivered by Ali Duran Topuz at a special session of the European Parliament on March 26, 2025, and prepared for Botan Times.