A DTP deputy recently said that if government plans to resolve the Kurdish issue fail, Kurds may start debating seceding from Turkey, leading to claims that the DTP was trying to block the process to a solution initiated by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government last month to settle Turkey's long-standing Kurdish problem. There were appeals for peace during the rally, but in the background the relationship between the DTP and the PKK was very apparent. DTP leaders pointed to PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan as a “counterpart” to the government's solution to the Kurdish problem. Analysts say the DTP touching sensitive nerves will not contribute to the solution process and could even derail the efforts.Looking at the atmosphere of the rally in Diyarbakır, Sabah's Nazlı Ilıcak comes to the conclusion that the DTP has no interest in showing sensitivity during the democratic initiative project. “DTP leader Ahmet Türk talking about the PKK as a freedom movement and saying during the rally in Diyarbakır that PKK members had sacrificed their lives for freedom as well as DTP deputy Sebahat Tuncel calling on the state to speak to Öcalan for a solution of the problem in a rally in İstanbul leads us to this conclusion,” says Ilıcak. According to her, the state may engage in dialogue with Öcalan as both politicians and military officers have had dialogue with him at one time or another; however, spreading PKK and Öcalan propaganda during demonstrations will only backfire as it is not possible for the Turkish nation to see Öcalan and the PKK, which took the lives of thousands of people, as “apostles of peace.”
Another Sabah columnist, Emre Aköz, comments on the remarks of DTP deputy Aysel Tuğluk, who threatened that Kurds may start negotiating to break away from Turkey if the government's Kurdish initiative fails. Discussing whether there are any prospects that Kurds really want to leave Turkey in such a case, Aköz says whenever Kurds are sure that they are not being listened to or watched by the Turkish Republic, they discuss the establishment of an independent Kurdistan on land that would be taken from Turkish territory. He says one of the former strategies of the PKK was to create a “saved region” on which an independent Kurdish state would be established. “The PKK abandoned this goal after some time because the strength of the PKK and its supporters was insufficient to achieve this. Furthermore, the Kurdish bourgeoisie opposed the idea.” And why did the Kurdish bourgeoisie oppose seceding from Turkey? Aköz says this was mainly because they enjoy a European lifestyle in İstanbul, earn money, engage in commerce and think that the process of leaving Turkey would deal a blow to their prosperity.
Habertürk's Fatih Altaylı says Tuğluk's remarks have no importance or value for Turkey and that the DTP's attitude is impeding progress in finding a solution. “Tuğluk and those like her should know that the PKK is a defeated organization and that it was completely defeated in 1999 [when Öcalan was captured]. The fact that it still commits acts of terror does not change this fact. The Turkish Republic is trying to win back its sons who joined the ranks of this organization. If the democratic initiative process proceeds in an independent way and is supported by economic steps, it will end in success. It is up to Tuğluk and those thinking like her to decide about their future after this point,” Altaylı suggests.
