Turkey Govt accused of employing ‘Sri Lanka model’ with rebels

With its harsh security policies and curfews, the Turkish government is applying the “Sri Lanka model” in its fight against the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the southeastern provinces of Turkey, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Sezgin Tanrıkulu said at a press conference in Parliament on Monday.

Speaking to reporters at the conference, Tanrıkulu noted that there have been more than 300 days of curfews in 17 districts of different provinces in the Southeast, where people are prevented from leaving their homes even to fulfil their basic needs. “It is the same policy as Sri Lanka's in 2006,” he said.

The Sri Lankan military defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers) in May 2009, following four bloody wars with the LTTE, who had fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in north and east Sri Lanka. More than 4,000 people, including security forces, LTTE members and civilians, were killed during conflicts in 2006.
Underlining that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) asked Turkey to submit a defense statement for the ongoing curfews in southeastern towns on Jan. 1, Tanrıkulu said that Turkey will face huge fines from the ECtHR if it fails to explain and lift the curfews.

“As has happened in Turkey, the Sri Lankan government rejected negotiations [with the LTTE] in 2006. The newly elected president [Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka] wiped out all the gains made during the peace process [with the LTTE] and took his country into civil war. All Tamilans were declared enemies like the Kurds in today's Turkey. The government enforces criminal law, which is supposed to be imposed on our enemies, on [Kurdish] people in Sur, Silopi and Cizre,” Tanrıkulu added. (Todays Zaman.com)