ISTANBUL - Stating that they will start a struggle based on the brotherhood of peoples by condemning the Treaty of Lausanne, FEDA Co-Chair Demir Çelik said that the organized power of the Kurds should also be mobilized.

 

The Treaty of Lausanne, signed on July 24, 1923, between Turkey, England, France, Italy, Japan, Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia, which divided the Kurds among the four states, is entering its centennial year. The Kurds, whose lands are divided and shared between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, continue their struggle for existence against the policies of destruction and denial that have been put into effect during this century. PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who determined that the Kurdish-Turkish historical brotherhood was lost with the Treaty of Lausanne, emphasized that Lausanne should be updated with the emphasis on "Social Lausanne" and that both Kurds and Turks would win with it.

 

The Kurds, on the other hand, will discuss the treaty based on destruction and denial in Lausanne, Switzerland, in its centennial year. On this basis, a two-day "Great Kurdistan Conference" will be held on July 24 under the leadership of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK). 56 political parties, institutions, intellectuals, writers, artists and academics from four parts of Kurdistan, Ezidi, Christian, Alevi beliefs, as well as independent Kurdistani institutions were invited to the conference. Symbolic figures from different countries of South Africa, South and Latin America, Greece and Europe will also attend the conference. More than 500 invited guests are expected to attend the conference.

 

ROAD MAP WILL BE DETERMINED

 

The "Roadmap" of the struggle against the concept of annihilation and denial towards the Kurds will be determined and announced to the public with the conference's final declaration with this conference. Demir Çelik, Co-Chair of the Democratic Alevi Federation (FEDA), one of the organizers of the conference, made evaluations about the Lausanne Treaty and the importance of the conference to be held.

 

Stating that on the first day of the conference, the process of going to Lausanne, its historical importance and the reasons for not representing the Kurds will be discussed, Çelik said: "Its invalidity will also be explained to the peoples at the same time. On the second day, it will continue with the statements of the peoples and faiths aggrieved in Lausanne. Lausanne is a social, ecological, political and cultural destruction and how to fight against it will be discussed at the conference."

 

THE IMPORTANCE OF LAUSANNE

 

Emphasizing the importance of Lausanne for Mesopotamian peoples, especially the Kurds, Çelik said: "The traumas of nationalization and nationalization before the First World War before Lausanne represented an important historical process. The Ottoman Empire lost its hegemonic power spread over three continents and was squeezed into Anatolia. The 'imperialist' powers such as Italy, France and England turned to the areas of sharing. Sevres was signed under conditions where the Turkish nation-state was not yet shaped. For this reason, the Ottoman State is the addressee in the Treaty of Sèvres; however, the Turkish nation-state did not accept the Treaty of Sèvres, which was against itself, and sought alternatives because one of the important articles of the Treaty of Sèvres was that Armenia and Kurdistan could declare their independence a year later if they wanted to. The Union and Progress mentality did not accept this and turned it into an opportunity according to international conjunctures.”

 

THE RIGHT OF SELF-DETERMINATION

 

Stating that the international powers, in principle, defend the right of nations to self-determination, they do not care about this for the Kurds, Çelik said: “The Kemalist mentality turned this into an opportunity. İsmet İnönü was sent to Lausanne as the representative of the Kurds; however, İnönü is not a person who has the right to defend the rights of the Kurds, and he played a very serious role in the signing of Kurdistan's being an international colony once again, by manipulating the affairs and denying the rights of the Kurds. Sykes-Picot was registered once again with the Treaty of Lausanne." 

 

TREATY OF MASSACRE AND GENOCIDE

 

Stating that the division of Kurdistan into four parts was registered with Lausanne, Çelik said: "This is a denial, massacre and genocide agreement. The Kemalist mentality closed down Kurdish madrasas and Kurdish Alevi hearths in 1925 with the power taken from the Treaty of Lausanne, and put the Orient Reform Plan into effect. They suppressed the Şêx Said resistance, which took place before that, with heavy political, social and cultural massacres, and caused the execution and massacre of hundreds of people. The Ağrı, Zilan and Dersim genocide took place. The great pressure was applied against Kurds, Alevis, those who resisted and all those who demanded their rights within the possibilities and possibilities provided by this agreement."

 

'WE WILL BUILD OUR OWN CHOICES'

 

Stating that they will start a struggle based on the brotherhood of peoples by condemning the Treaty of Lausanne in the eyes of rights, Çelik said: “We are against the task of constructing our own options without expecting anything from the imperialist states and without sheltering at their mercy. It is clear that those who are dividing the Middle East and colonizing Kurdistan today will not give much consent to the status of the Kurds. We as Kurds have work. If we cannot provide our own unity, if we do not explain the reasons for our status, historical and political data to international institutions, if we cannot mobilize the organized power of being together instead of our fragmented stance, they will continue to defend their own interests even after a thousand years. We will carry out international diplomacy, we will be involved in a work that carries and convinces legitimate international institutions of our legitimate rights.”

 

GREAT RALLY ON JULY 22

 

Underlining the necessity of Kurdish national unity as we enter the centennial of Lausanne, Çelik said: “For Kurds, ensuring national unity is as important a need as bread and water. The Kurds have to put an end to the hostilities stemming from some of the contradictions and small simple problems of the past, and to act together with the autonomous structure of the struggle by coming together at the minimum common of the status of the four parts of Kurdistan.

 

Sharing the information that they will hold a rally in Lausanne on July 22 before the conference, Çelik said: “We can reflect our strength to the Swiss public and the world public opinion. If we can bring this power to the agenda of both political and cultural fields, some opportunities and opportunities can turn in our favor.”

 

MA / Esra Solin Dal