GFTU BGCM Minutes 2017

they kill someone? Do they have a corruption allegation against them? No.

They share their opinions, they share their goals with people. In politics if I

can’t talk, if I can’t share my opinions, my ideas with people why am I in

politics? What is the meaning of being in politics? If you are going to solve

your problems with dialogue, with conversation, with negotiation, you have to

talk, you must talk. This is against the law. They cannot put our MPs into jail.

They are still MPs. Myself, I have seven cases against me. They have issued

detention warnings against me as well. Why? Because in some meetings I

have shared my opinions with people. I do not call on people, “Take your guns

and let’s go and fight against the Turkish army”. I did not say something like

that, our friends as well. If you are not going to negotiate, if you are not going

to talk about it, how are we going to solve Kurdish issues, the question of the

Kurdish issue?

I am going to talk about the UK as well. There are a lot of countries around the

world, they say they are very concerned about the situation in Turkey,

especially in regards to our MPs, but when we are looking to the UK, the UK

Government has chosen not to make any independent statement. What did

they do? They do something else? Since 2015 the UK has sold Turkey £330

million worth of arms. Yes. Turkey gets arms from the UK and Turkey uses

those weapons against us, kill us. Silence in the face of what is happening in

Turkey amounts to a complicity. The fight for democracy and the struggle for

the fundamental rights of the Kurdish people in Turkey will continue but it will

be a difficult and painful struggle. It is a struggle that deserves your support.

Thank you very much for your support. I am really, really hopeful and happy

for your support, for your solidarity, for inviting us here. I want to finish it here,

but if you have any questions I would be happy to answer it. (Applause)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much, Berdan. That was staggeringly impressive.

SIS BARBARA WHITE: We have spoken about this, but the thing is there is so little

we can do over here, but the one thing we can do is to keep raising this

subject, because it gets so little coverage and I think that is what we all need to

do. It gets so little coverage, so please raise this issue as much as you can.

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