PKK Demands Oil to Help Autonomy Efforts
The PKK has supported demands of the BDP that regions in the southeast have a share of the natural reserves under the soil in order to give financial support efforts for autonomy.
BDP MP and mayor of Diyarbakır Gültan Kışanak has caused controversy by declaring in a statement, “We will take a share of oil.” This grounds her argument in the EU Charter of Local Self-Government, while the PKK senior, Cemil Bayık, has given his support to the mayor of Diyarbakır, by asserting, “The region is all but being left deprived of energy.”
The statement of Kışanak has come in the midst of a large number of declarations of PKK and BDP directors on autonomy for areas in the southeast of Turkey following the local elections, with the PKK/BDP now producing propaganda on ‘financial autonomy’ in order to prevail upon ‘democratic autonomy’ after lack of advantage from the pre-election ‘democratic autonomy’ program. Kışanak had announced, “We will take a share of oil which comes from Diyarbakır.” This led to reactions across Turkey to which she responds, “Turkey signed the European Charter of Local Self-Government. The state is accepting the law on autonomy by signing up to these conditions.”
Kışanak, who again emphasised that they would take a share from underground fossil fuel reserves, stated further that the contents of such reserves comes under the control of the municipality according the the Greater City Law. Kışanak declared “If local administrators represent the will of the people, it is necessary for all of the underground and overground resources to be transferred to municipality which represents the will of the people.” PKK media have in reaction to Kışanak’s statement declared that “We will improve financial autonomy.”
Support has come from the head of the PKK’s senior organ the KCK Executive Council, Cemil Bayık, to the Mayor of Diyarbakır Kışanak. Bayık writes in a statement, “If the rich resources of Kurds leave for Kurdistan, all economic issues will be solved.” In the statement made to the Kurdish-language Turkey-based Azadiya Welat newspaper, Bayık declared, “The things said by Kışanak is the known authenticity of Kurdistan. A large portion of Turkey’s energy need is produced in Kurdistan. Kurdistan has an energy problem, the region is being left all but deprived. The energy produced in Kurdistan is as much as 100 times greater than the energy requirement of Kurdistan.”
A statement of autonomy was also made by the mayor of Mardin, Ahmet Türk, who declared that the property belonging to the Provincial Special Administration to be transferred to the municipality. Türk further asserted that the “Democratic autonomy is the demand of the Kurdish people. This is also in the program of our party. We do joint work on the issue of creating the groundwork for this.”
What is the European Charter of Local Self-Government?
The European Charter of Local Self-Government is a major legislation signed by Turkey in 1988 and approved by the government in 1993 that opens the path for autonomy in local administrations, the taking of a share of underground and overground natural resources by local municipalities and the collecting of tax from the people. Click here to read the full text.