Tweet
Turkey's First Assyrian Mayor Wants to Make a Difference
By Elif Merve Yediyildiz
http://www.dailysabah.com
Posted 2014-04-25 22:29 GMT
Februniye Akyol, the first Assyrian mayor in Turkey. MARDIN --
Twenty-five-year-old Februniye Akyol was born and raised in a Syriac
[Assyrian] family in Mardin's Midyat. She was not active in politics
before the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) proposed her as a candidate
to attract the attention of minorities and to declare itself as a
comprehensive party. Although she was criticized for being appointed
by Abdullah Ã-calan, head of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and
not being the people's preference directly, her step into politics as
a young female was praised by several social and political groups.
Daily Sabah also spoke to Hafize Aymelek who was appointed as
candidate before Akyol but was replaced by a demand from Ocalan.
Aymelek is positioned as a municipality board member.
Elif Yediyildiz: Congratulations on your new position. Properties
belonging to minority groups have started to be returned to their
rightful owners. How do you evaluate this development?
Februniye Akyol: It happened after many legal struggles. A case was
filed in 2008. We struggled for six years for this.
Elif Yediyildiz: These regulations started as a part of the fourth
democratization package?
FA: Yes, the package finally passed.
Since it is very popular, the press placed special attention on the
Mor Gabriel Monastery.
However, there are many other cases that have been filed by Syriacs.
Elif Yediyildiz: Exiled Kurdish politician Yasar Kaya (one of the
founders of the pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DE P)) returned to Turkey
after 21 years with the guarantee of a trial without arrest. What does
the Kurdish diaspora think about this?
FA: The reconciliation process has been a unilateral struggle.
However, seeing that the necessary steps have started to be taken by
the government is still promising, despite its slowness.
Elif Yediyildiz: Do you think the government has not keep up its end
of the reconciliation process?
FA: There has been a unilateral ceasefire, a unilateral reconciliation process.
However, our friends (the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) detainees)
have been released, and the Specially Authorized Courts have been
abolished... et cetera.
These are of course very promising developments.
Elif Yediyildiz: Do you think that the Syriac diaspora would return
following the reconciliation process?
FA : The government calls on them to return but does not do the ground
work for returnees. When they come back, they find neither their homes
nor properties.
Their houses have been demolished or preyed upon.
Elif Yediyildiz: There is some criticism of the joint mayor project,
saying that it does not have a real function; it is only a showpiece.
What would you say against this criticism?
FA : I consider this criticism as a meaningless argument just to
create a false agenda. This project did not just pop up.
Previously, the BDP had a 40 percent female rule. Now we call it equal
gender representation.
The number of female representatives must be equal to men's because
life does not consist of only the one sex.
Elif Yediyildiz: What do Syriac people expect from the reconciliation process?
FA: I believe the current developments are very belated. As Syriac
people, we are given the right to represent ourselves only by the BDP,
only by Kurdish people.
I stand here as a proof of the BDP's sincerity regarding its motto as
a political party representing all the people. Ã-calan himself
suggested my candidacy.
All Syriacs want to gain their basic rights. They do not want to be oppressed.
They want to live freely with their own identity.
Here, we have such a harmonized society.
Until my candidacy, Kurds or Arabs who have Syriac relatives were
ashamed of confessing this. They generally had a tendency to conceal
it as much as possible.
But after I was elected, they started to confess it by saying things
such as, "My grandmother was also a Syriac," et cetera.
We raised this awareness. I was elected in a district with no Syriac,
no Christian residents.
People needed this change; they had been expecting it.
Elif Yediyildiz: In his Nevruz letter, Abdullah Ã-calan praised the
stability of democracy in Turkey and said it is a solid base for
reconciliation. Previously, Erol Dora, the BDP Mardin deputy in
Parliament, said Turkey must remain as a single state. However, there
are other voices raised inside the party pointing to guns and a
separate state as a solution. Does the BDP have an internal conflict
regarding its reaction towards the state and the reconciliation
process?
FA: This is not a conflict. Everyone inside the party knows what is
really happening.
All we want is to freely exist with our natural identity.
Elif Yediyildiz: The government has already taken some steps regarding
freedom of language and religion...
FA : No, not only those. What we want is democratic autonomy. We are
already against the state and its centralized administration.
Elif Yediyildiz: There are some historical wrongs, and the government
claims it is rectifying some regulations and laws.
FA: As people, we do not feel any better.
Currently, there are properties whose deeds have been transferred to
other people or to the Department of the Treasury.
These have not yet been returned.
Elif Yediyildiz: So are you promising to solve all such problems once
democratic autonomy is adopted?
FA : The state should take some steps regarding the territorial
problems of its people. We do not have any authority on land as a
municipality. We only promise them that the people will rule the city
with them.
The Syriac people of this region have suffered greatly. Their villages
had been evacuated; people had been forced to emigrate.
Is this an act of the state alone? No, the Kurdish people also caused
suffering to Syriacs for certain periods of time, but the Kurds are
now criticizing themselves.
Elif Yediyildiz: Do you not think this is also the case for the state?
Does the state not criticize its wrongdoings today?
FA: No, it does not. Who recognizes the Syriac people in the real
sense? Yes, the state recognizes Syriacs to some extent.
What does the BDP do here? It gives Syriacs the right to represent themselves.
Elif Yediyildiz: There is some criticism that says the BDP remains too
regional as a political party and has no vision apart from ethnic
politics. What would you say against that?
FA: I have never heard such an argument.
If there were, I would say check the BDP's candidates and check the
people's pulse. As a Syriac, I do not agree with the criticism.
Elif Yediyildiz: So are you saying that the BDP has policies towards
other ethnic groups of Turkey such as the Laz and Albanians and
Circassia?
Hafize Aymelek: Prejudice against the BDP has not allowed the party to
express itself. From the outside, the photo seems blurred, but as you
get closer, the photo becomes clearer.
Elif Yediyildiz: Don't all mayors say the same thing?
FA: We do things differently. We traveled from village to village as
part of our electoral campaign. We say the people should rule us, lead
us towards the real problems. If there is need for infrastructure in a
district, we will provide it. Ruling the city along with the people is
what we call democratic autonomy.
Elif Yediyildiz: Aren't you already able to do the things you promise
in the current situation, without democratic autonomy, without a
special arrangement of law or permission?
FA : The joint mayor system needs a special legal arrangement.
Formally, I cannot be the joint mayor. But we put it in action, and we
will keep it that way.
Elif Yediyildiz: BDP members of Parliament have joined the Peoples'
Democratic Party (HDP). Do you think being palsy-walsy with the
Turkish left is helpful to the reconciliation process?
FA : Joining the HDP does not mean being palsy-walsy with leftist
groups. We should not think narrow-mindedly. Although the BDP has
never stuck only to the Kurdish issue, the party could not move beyond
people's perceptions. But the HDP is more extensive, an umbrella
party.
Elif Yediyildiz: Does that mean the BDP accepts the criticism
regarding its lack of national reach?
FA : No, it does not; however, this perception is considered to
pertain to the Kurdish people's party alone.
Elif Yediyildiz: Has the BDP ever nominated a candidate in Trabzon for example?
HA: Party candidates are chosen according to voters' tendencies.
Elif Yediyildiz: So do you believe that the BDP cannot produce a
policy that embraces Turkey as a whole?
HA: Due to some obstacles, the BDP cannot communicate with certain
regions of Turkey.
Elif Yediyildiz: What policies of the BDP targeting the Black Sea or
Aegean regions of Turkey remain unanswered by the public?
HA: We do not consider democratic autonomy as just a regional regulation.
If they need it, people living in the Black Sea or Aegean regions of
the country can adopt this regulation. This is the project of the
century.
Elif Yediyildiz: How do the Kurdish people feel about the BDP-HDP union?
HA: The Kurdish people do not have a problem with it. No one in Turkey
is ever always happy anyway.
Elif Yediyildiz: Lastly, as the new joint mayor, what are your
concrete projects for the city of Mardin?
FA : Primarily, we want to build an international congress center.
Mardin is in a strategically important location. We are planning to
build a sports complex. We want to establish public houses, public
assemblies in every neighborhood by which we can rule the city with
the citizens. We want to provide what the public really wants; we do
not want to implement predetermined projects.
Besides these, there is the BDP's joint mayor project that aims to
include women in every aspect of life and enable them to be as active
as possible. We will establish cooperation houses for women in order
to raise awareness.
By Elif Merve Yediyildiz
http://www.dailysabah.com
Posted 2014-04-25 22:29 GMT
Februniye Akyol, the first Assyrian mayor in Turkey. MARDIN --
Twenty-five-year-old Februniye Akyol was born and raised in a Syriac
[Assyrian] family in Mardin's Midyat. She was not active in politics
before the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) proposed her as a candidate
to attract the attention of minorities and to declare itself as a
comprehensive party. Although she was criticized for being appointed
by Abdullah Ã-calan, head of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and
not being the people's preference directly, her step into politics as
a young female was praised by several social and political groups.
Daily Sabah also spoke to Hafize Aymelek who was appointed as
candidate before Akyol but was replaced by a demand from Ocalan.
Aymelek is positioned as a municipality board member.
Elif Yediyildiz: Congratulations on your new position. Properties
belonging to minority groups have started to be returned to their
rightful owners. How do you evaluate this development?
Februniye Akyol: It happened after many legal struggles. A case was
filed in 2008. We struggled for six years for this.
Elif Yediyildiz: These regulations started as a part of the fourth
democratization package?
FA: Yes, the package finally passed.
Since it is very popular, the press placed special attention on the
Mor Gabriel Monastery.
However, there are many other cases that have been filed by Syriacs.
Elif Yediyildiz: Exiled Kurdish politician Yasar Kaya (one of the
founders of the pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DE P)) returned to Turkey
after 21 years with the guarantee of a trial without arrest. What does
the Kurdish diaspora think about this?
FA: The reconciliation process has been a unilateral struggle.
However, seeing that the necessary steps have started to be taken by
the government is still promising, despite its slowness.
Elif Yediyildiz: Do you think the government has not keep up its end
of the reconciliation process?
FA: There has been a unilateral ceasefire, a unilateral reconciliation process.
However, our friends (the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) detainees)
have been released, and the Specially Authorized Courts have been
abolished... et cetera.
These are of course very promising developments.
Elif Yediyildiz: Do you think that the Syriac diaspora would return
following the reconciliation process?
FA : The government calls on them to return but does not do the ground
work for returnees. When they come back, they find neither their homes
nor properties.
Their houses have been demolished or preyed upon.
Elif Yediyildiz: There is some criticism of the joint mayor project,
saying that it does not have a real function; it is only a showpiece.
What would you say against this criticism?
FA : I consider this criticism as a meaningless argument just to
create a false agenda. This project did not just pop up.
Previously, the BDP had a 40 percent female rule. Now we call it equal
gender representation.
The number of female representatives must be equal to men's because
life does not consist of only the one sex.
Elif Yediyildiz: What do Syriac people expect from the reconciliation process?
FA: I believe the current developments are very belated. As Syriac
people, we are given the right to represent ourselves only by the BDP,
only by Kurdish people.
I stand here as a proof of the BDP's sincerity regarding its motto as
a political party representing all the people. Ã-calan himself
suggested my candidacy.
All Syriacs want to gain their basic rights. They do not want to be oppressed.
They want to live freely with their own identity.
Here, we have such a harmonized society.
Until my candidacy, Kurds or Arabs who have Syriac relatives were
ashamed of confessing this. They generally had a tendency to conceal
it as much as possible.
But after I was elected, they started to confess it by saying things
such as, "My grandmother was also a Syriac," et cetera.
We raised this awareness. I was elected in a district with no Syriac,
no Christian residents.
People needed this change; they had been expecting it.
Elif Yediyildiz: In his Nevruz letter, Abdullah Ã-calan praised the
stability of democracy in Turkey and said it is a solid base for
reconciliation. Previously, Erol Dora, the BDP Mardin deputy in
Parliament, said Turkey must remain as a single state. However, there
are other voices raised inside the party pointing to guns and a
separate state as a solution. Does the BDP have an internal conflict
regarding its reaction towards the state and the reconciliation
process?
FA: This is not a conflict. Everyone inside the party knows what is
really happening.
All we want is to freely exist with our natural identity.
Elif Yediyildiz: The government has already taken some steps regarding
freedom of language and religion...
FA : No, not only those. What we want is democratic autonomy. We are
already against the state and its centralized administration.
Elif Yediyildiz: There are some historical wrongs, and the government
claims it is rectifying some regulations and laws.
FA: As people, we do not feel any better.
Currently, there are properties whose deeds have been transferred to
other people or to the Department of the Treasury.
These have not yet been returned.
Elif Yediyildiz: So are you promising to solve all such problems once
democratic autonomy is adopted?
FA : The state should take some steps regarding the territorial
problems of its people. We do not have any authority on land as a
municipality. We only promise them that the people will rule the city
with them.
The Syriac people of this region have suffered greatly. Their villages
had been evacuated; people had been forced to emigrate.
Is this an act of the state alone? No, the Kurdish people also caused
suffering to Syriacs for certain periods of time, but the Kurds are
now criticizing themselves.
Elif Yediyildiz: Do you not think this is also the case for the state?
Does the state not criticize its wrongdoings today?
FA: No, it does not. Who recognizes the Syriac people in the real
sense? Yes, the state recognizes Syriacs to some extent.
What does the BDP do here? It gives Syriacs the right to represent themselves.
Elif Yediyildiz: There is some criticism that says the BDP remains too
regional as a political party and has no vision apart from ethnic
politics. What would you say against that?
FA: I have never heard such an argument.
If there were, I would say check the BDP's candidates and check the
people's pulse. As a Syriac, I do not agree with the criticism.
Elif Yediyildiz: So are you saying that the BDP has policies towards
other ethnic groups of Turkey such as the Laz and Albanians and
Circassia?
Hafize Aymelek: Prejudice against the BDP has not allowed the party to
express itself. From the outside, the photo seems blurred, but as you
get closer, the photo becomes clearer.
Elif Yediyildiz: Don't all mayors say the same thing?
FA: We do things differently. We traveled from village to village as
part of our electoral campaign. We say the people should rule us, lead
us towards the real problems. If there is need for infrastructure in a
district, we will provide it. Ruling the city along with the people is
what we call democratic autonomy.
Elif Yediyildiz: Aren't you already able to do the things you promise
in the current situation, without democratic autonomy, without a
special arrangement of law or permission?
FA : The joint mayor system needs a special legal arrangement.
Formally, I cannot be the joint mayor. But we put it in action, and we
will keep it that way.
Elif Yediyildiz: BDP members of Parliament have joined the Peoples'
Democratic Party (HDP). Do you think being palsy-walsy with the
Turkish left is helpful to the reconciliation process?
FA : Joining the HDP does not mean being palsy-walsy with leftist
groups. We should not think narrow-mindedly. Although the BDP has
never stuck only to the Kurdish issue, the party could not move beyond
people's perceptions. But the HDP is more extensive, an umbrella
party.
Elif Yediyildiz: Does that mean the BDP accepts the criticism
regarding its lack of national reach?
FA : No, it does not; however, this perception is considered to
pertain to the Kurdish people's party alone.
Elif Yediyildiz: Has the BDP ever nominated a candidate in Trabzon for example?
HA: Party candidates are chosen according to voters' tendencies.
Elif Yediyildiz: So do you believe that the BDP cannot produce a
policy that embraces Turkey as a whole?
HA: Due to some obstacles, the BDP cannot communicate with certain
regions of Turkey.
Elif Yediyildiz: What policies of the BDP targeting the Black Sea or
Aegean regions of Turkey remain unanswered by the public?
HA: We do not consider democratic autonomy as just a regional regulation.
If they need it, people living in the Black Sea or Aegean regions of
the country can adopt this regulation. This is the project of the
century.
Elif Yediyildiz: How do the Kurdish people feel about the BDP-HDP union?
HA: The Kurdish people do not have a problem with it. No one in Turkey
is ever always happy anyway.
Elif Yediyildiz: Lastly, as the new joint mayor, what are your
concrete projects for the city of Mardin?
FA : Primarily, we want to build an international congress center.
Mardin is in a strategically important location. We are planning to
build a sports complex. We want to establish public houses, public
assemblies in every neighborhood by which we can rule the city with
the citizens. We want to provide what the public really wants; we do
not want to implement predetermined projects.
Besides these, there is the BDP's joint mayor project that aims to
include women in every aspect of life and enable them to be as active
as possible. We will establish cooperation houses for women in order
to raise awareness.