ISTANBUL
Turkish intellectuals, including authors and poets, condemned Friday the rising terrorist attacks and incidents of violence in the country, calling on all people to behave responsibly.
“The biggest responsibility lies with the media, politicians and intellectuals,” said a statement read by Mahmut Biyikli, head of the Istanbul branch of the Writers Union of Turkey (TYB) in a press conference in the city.
Turkey has seen a surge in terrorist attacks since the PKK resumed its armed campaign at the end of July. More than 100 Turkish security personnel have been martyred in attacks located principally in Turkey’s southeastern provinces.
"Media should behave responsibly. The politicians should apply policies that will pave Turkey’s path and our intellectuals should use a unifying language, not a divisive one," the statement added.
Across Turkey, two days of protests in response to Sunday's PKK attack in southeastern Turkey, which saw 16 soldiers martyred, degenerated resulting in incidents of violence and destruction against businesses owned by Kurds.
Moreover, on Sunday night and Tuesday evening, the Hurriyet newspaper’s Istanbul office was pelted with stones after it was accused of distorting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comments.
The Peoples’ Democratic Party, or HDP, has reported a number of attacks against its offices across the country, the most recent on Tuesday night when its Ankara office was set on fire.
"We believe wholeheartedly that our people, Kurds, Alevis or Sunnis, will never lose their common sense," the statement added, noting that the [ethnic] differences in Turkey constitute the country’s richness.
Author and poet of Kurdish origin Selami Yalcin also called for the conflicts unfolding in the country to end as soon as possible.
"I would like to be able to tour around the mountains of Tunceli, Elazig and Bingol [eastern Turkish provinces] just like I did in my childhood, freely," Yalcin said.
"We should reunite our conscience and mercy power, no matter what opinion we have, because this country belongs to all of us. We all together should preserve it," author and poet Huseyin Akin said at the press conference.
Poet Siddik Ertas highlighted the impact of articles published in the media.
"I think articles that are based on brotherhood will contribute to the peace [solution] process," Ertas said.
He expressed hope that the peace process would revive: "I believe sooner or later this process will restart."
The "solution process" was launched to end the decades-old PKK terrorism that has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people over more than 30 years in Turkey. The new wave of PKK attacks are feared to pose a lasting blow to the process.
