Prof. Phillipson: Turkey practices state terrorism against Kurds

One of the participants of the ongoing campaign against the PKK ban, Professor of Management, Society and Communication Department of Copenhagen Business School, Robert Phillipson, raised concern over the ambiguity of the definition of “terrorism” and the misuse of the concept by states.

Prof. Phillipson spoke to ANF and said, “If the terror concept remains ambiguous, governments will use it as they wish. While the use of destructive violence against a state is viewed as ‘terrorism’, state violence against citizens is not considered as ‘state terrorism’.”

Prof. Phillipson described the Turkish state’s years-long violence against the Kurds as “state terrorism”. The professor compared the criminalization of the Kurdish Freedom Movement which fights against Turkish state terrorism to the practices that the African National Congress in South Africa was subject to in its struggle against the apartheid regime.

“Mandela was accused of being a ‘terrorist’ by governments that supported racism for advocating military struggle. He was recognized within the South African system only when the powers of the rulers were shaken and they acknowledged the need for a negotiated solution. At this point, he was no longer considered a terrorist”, the professor said.

Prof. Phillipson stressed that the powers of the ruling elite must first be shaken in order for the Turkish state to sit at a negotiation table like the Apartheid regime in South Africa.

“As the executive powers of the AKP-MHP government increase, it is very unlikely for them to resume the peace talks. It depends on negotiations to convince any government or the EU that the PKK should not be classified as a ‘terrorist organization’. It is difficult to achieve this when there is a complex relationship between the EU and Turkey.”