Of course, it is not only well-intentioned people who do not admit the existence of the question, but there are actually some circles that try to conceal the question, even though they know it exists. Indeed, if recent information and documents are taken into consideration, those who claim that there is no such question as the "Kurdish question" and those who deem people who acknowledge the question traitors appear to play a role in the problem reaching the extent that it has.
But it would be wrong if we focus only on this question, admitting that it exists. Such an approach would be like seeing a tree but missing the forest. In order not to be blinded by one point, one thing must be taken into account: The world is in crisis and a conflict is gradually erupting as a result of this crisis.
It is necessary to mention that the Kurdish question is not unique but that it is a part of the global crisis. In other words, the question has implications beyond Kurds and Turkey. The world is currently witnessing many conflicts, which can be categorized as such:
1. Active conflict zones: Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.
2. Potential conflict zones: Rwanda, South Africa, Balkans and Caucasus, etc.
3. Cold conflict zones: Countries in which racism and xenophobia are common, such as Germany, Holland, Belgium, France and the US, etc.
4. New forms of conflict that occur in ghettoes and urban centers: Violence, crimes peculiar to some circles, hatred, deep social fluctuations and aspirations of revolutions.
The Kurdish question can become, in an interesting and simultaneous fashion, a reason for all four conflicts. Since 1984 there has been a physical conflict taking place on the mountains and in the countryside. The toll of this conflict so far has been the lives of approximately 40,000 people, $300 billion and the displacement of some 3 million people. All of these are indicative of active conflict.
Potential conflict can be detected in the contemporary relations between Kurds in their historic homelands of northern Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. Current affairs may trigger or hasten this potential. For example the ethnic identity of Kirkuk, the new formation (the autonomous region of northern Iraq), may be triggered at once by a shattering operation executed by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), by strengthening it or by a change of course.
Another factor is a phenomenon taking place in large cities, one which is beyond the scope of an identity and is a version of the clash taking place between "slums" and "urban"; this phenomenon also includes Kurds. In this conflict, it's not only the Kurds that pose a problem. It's those who don't receive an adequate portion in the distribution of income; those who are culturally ostracized; those who define their identity not clearly as Kurds but through regional songs, similar to the tribes in the Black Sea region; marginal groups who oppose the mainstream; groups that protest; and other groups that defy the formal notion of a monolithic identity. All of these groups can be a reason or reasoning for this conflict.
When all these are combined, we see that the Kurdish question -- which has become intertwined with the PKK and thus abuse and terror -- is a challenging topic while the "request for a Kurdish identity," as brought forth in the context of democratic rights and negotiation-oriented politics, is an easy one. The issue that brings the topic to a dead-end is the lack of a macro outlook in the context of global modernity and the undetermined borders between "terror" and "negotiation-oriented politics."
