INDEPENDENT LENS: GOOD KURDS, BAD KURDS: NO FRIENDS BUT THE MOUNTAINS (TV)
Summary
One in this PBS series that showcases new documentaries and dramas created by independent filmmakers that tell stories of ordinary people who are heroes nonetheless. This program, narrated by filmmaker Kevin McKiernan, explores the contrasting situations faced by Kurds living in Iraq and Turkey. It includes interviews with U.S. State department, Turkish, and Amnesty International officials; guerrillas of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) and their leader Abdullah Öcalan; and the Gündüz family, a Kurdish family living in the United States. The program opens with news coverage from CNN and ABC about the arrest of Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah "Apo" Öcalan in 1999 by Turkish authorities. John Shattuck, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, and Morton Abramowitz, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey (1989-1991), emphasize Turkey's strategic position as a U.S. ally; Bill Hartung, an analyst at the World Policy Institute, claims that the Turks are waging "a war against the Kurdish people." McKiernan traces his own involvement in this story to the end of the first Gulf War when he went to Northern Iraq to cover the abortive Kurdish uprising against Saddam Hussein and uncovered the Kurdish uprising against Turkey; later, McKiernan meet the Gündüz family in Santa Barbara, including Kani Gündüz who founded the non-profit American Kurdish Information Network in 1993.
Next, McKiernan summarizes the history of the Kurds, including the history of Turkish oppression which began with Mustafa Kemal "Ataturk" and the founding of the Turkish republic in 1923 ("March of Time" newsreel footage included) and continues to this day with the destruction of Kurdish villages and the outlawing of Kurdish language and culture in Turkey. John Kornblum, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State; Mark Grossman, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs; and Abramowitz discuss the strategic and military importance of Turkey, particularly the use of Turkish bases to "contain" Saddam Hussein and protect the Kurds in Northern Iraq. Using archival footage, McKiernan traces U.S. policy towards the Kurds from Henry Kissinger and the Nixon and Ford administrations to the Clinton administration. Stephen Rickard, director for the Washington, D.C. office of Amnesty International, comments on the Turkish "policy [of] depopulating whole villages," while Umit Özdag of Gazi University in Ankara denies any discrimination.
Through interviews with Joel Johnson, an aerospace industry lobbyist, Hartung, and Rep. John Porter (R.-Ill.), the program traces the use of U.S. weapons including F-16's and helicopters by the Turkish armed forces against Kurdish civilians. Shattuck condemns human rights violations against civilians in the south of Turkey, while Kornblum admits that there is "no difference whatsoever" between what Saddam did to the Kurds and what Turkey did. Next, Curt Goering, Chief Operating Officer of Amnesty International USA; Hugo Paeman, European Union Ambassador to the U.S.; and Grossman discuss the European Union's reservations about admitting Turkey because of human rights abuses (footage of Turkish Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit included). McKiernan then discusses Kani and David Gündüz, who were arrested in 1997 for using false names on U.S. passports and who face deportation. Turkey's harsh treatment of Kurdish dissidents like parliamentarian Leyla Zana is reviewed (footage included). Next, clips from McKiernan's interviews with Öcalan are shown, where the rebel leader claims to seek "political and cultural freedom for Kurds"; Onur Öymen of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, describes the PKK as "a pure bloody terrorist organization." Using footage from a 1996 Amnesty International film and the bombing of a minibus at Gülükonak, Turkey, McKieran reviews accusations that the PKK has carried out massacres of civilians and kidnappings and questions Öcalan directly about the accusations.
The program returns to the discussion of Kani and David's cases and the threats to activists in Turkey: Colman McCarthy of the Washington Post, Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.), Özdag, Öymen, Goering, and Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.) weigh in on the potential threat to dissidents in Turkey and Kani's case. Next, the program returns with details about the 1999 arrest of Öcalan; extensive footage from the "Newshour," including statements from Madeleine Albright denying U.S. participation, are used. Goering, Rep. Porter, Rickard, and Shattuck provide final words about Turkey's plans to execute Öcalan, the fairness of his trial, and the future of U.S. policy towards Turkey; the program shows Kani and David's mother being granted U.S. citizenship, a factor that may influence both their cases; a final note reveals that on January 11, 2000, Turkey postponed the hanging of Öcalan, pending his appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 2003.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: October 14, 2001 11:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:19:51
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:75273
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Human rights; Kurds; U S - Foreign relations - Turkey; U S - Foreign relations - Iraq
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1999-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Kevin McKiernan … Producer, Director, Writer
- Catherine Boyer … Associate Producer
- Thomas G. Miller … Production (Misc.), Editor
- Haskell Wexler … Production (Misc.), Photography by
- Lisa Leeman … Production (Misc.), Editorial Consultant
- Richard Yau … Production (Misc.), Assistant Editor
- Bronwen Jones … Music by
- Morton Abramowitz
- Madeleine Albright
- Bulent Ecevit
- Curt Goering
- Mark Grossman
- David Gündüz
- Kani Gunduz
- Saddam Hussein
- Kemal, Mustafa (Ataturk)
- Henry Kissinger
- John Kornblum
- Bill Hartung
- Joel Johnson
- Colman McCarthy
- James McGovern
- Cynthia McKinney
- Abdullah Ocalan
- Umit Ozdag
- Onur Öymen
- Hugo Paeman
- John Porter
- Stephen Rickard
- John Shattuck
- Leyla Zana