Interview with Ertuğrul Kürkçü - Second Part

BİA Project Coordinator Ertuğrul Kürkçü is the nominated candidate for Member of Parliament for Mersin of the Labour, Democracy and Freedom Block. The Labour, Democracy and Freedom Block is supporting the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) for the general elections in June this year.

This is the second part of an interview with Kürkçü held by bianet reporter Nilay Vardar.

How do the policies of this block and of the BDP in general correspond to your political stance?

"We agree on the basic aims. But on whole, the Labour, Democracy and Freedom union is not a socialist or an anti-capitalist union. There is needed more for that.

For now, the block will embrace a political campaign around pressing problems. If we look at it from other perspectives, other dynamics have to be initiated. This is what I call a social alliance.

It can be shaped more as an anti-capitalist social alliance if trade unions, Alevi organizations and women organizations come side by side. But these dynamics have not been activated yet".

What is the situation of peace and labour rights in Mersin?

"Mersin is an ideal combination in this term. Mersin is a place with the most important industrial workers where furthermore industrial and trade sectors are being organized. Agriculture and tourism are prevalent in this region. Therefore, it is a place where work force is being used intensely and where workforce is being massively exploited. In this aspect, Mersin has a high profile for the labour struggle.

Second, there is a huge population of Kurds here. The ratio of Kurdish immigrants is very high. There is an important mixture of Turks, Kurds and Arabic Alevis here. The women's movement is very alert. The place has a considerable intellectual power due to the university. Taking all these aspects into account, Mersin - despite its small number of inhabitants - is a multi-cultural place with an intense struggle, a rich combination of people and many identities. (...)

This is a place where all discrepancies of Turkey come together".

Does it have a symbolic meaning that you support the BDP with a Turkish identity?

"I am not the first Turkish candidate who supports the BDP. Besides, the BDP tries as much as possible not to define itself via ethnic origins. They seek the cooperation with the Turkish socialists because they see the Kurdish movement more like the dynamics of freedom.

(...) The Kurdish identity in fact does not appear as oppressed and poor peasantry, but it appears as a social layer humiliated because of its language and culture. Hence, I do not think that there is a competition of national identity here".

How can the block be a pushing force for the Kurdish question?

"I hope that we can continue this block by enlarging it. I hope that unions and the Alevi movement will actively participate in this process. If they can give an impetus to this block, the struggle can be broadened and continued.

We are not talking about the struggle to broaden an alternative group in parliament; what we are talking about his the struggle to transform Turkey. This block has to be continued by broadening and deepening its composition".

How does it feel to advance from a students' leader to a candidate as Member of Parliament?

"I look at it as a job that needs to be done. From my point, it is not a big change. Since I cannot be a students' leader at this time anymore, this is among the things I can do now. If I can do that properly, then this time I serve the general objectives of my life on these grounds. The crucial point is to always continue to pass on the word of socialism"

What are you going to lay emphasis on when you go to the podium for the first time?

It is almost impossible to say that at this point. First of all, we do not know yet in which economic situation and for what reasons this right to speak will emerge and what needs to be voiced at that time. This is more like publishing a daily newspaper rather than writing an encyclopaedia. It is the same as in journalism that gives importance to reporting the most important news of the day in a revolutionary way.   (NV/BB/VK)

Click here to read the first part of the interview.