If this statement sounds to be too exaggerated, let me remind you that this has been the seventh cease-fire declared by the PKK (but never officially reciprocated). There have been at least half a dozen cross-border operations into Iraq in hot pursuit with sizeable army and air force units. Multilateral agreements have been reached to fight against this outfit with various neighboring nations and the Turkish diplomatic core has been most occupied with the PKK-led insurgency in its overall workload. In the meantime, the Turkish establishment systematically missed understanding the nature of the insurgency and the PKK and failed to develop healthy solutions to deal with the problem that still remains undefined.
However, today something rational and hopeful emerged at the end of 26 years of the Kurdish ordeal. Both official Turkey and the PKK leadership understood that their power to pit Turkish and Kurdish youth against each other and squandering both material and human resources of the two peoples of the same country will never solve the ongoing conflict. This point would not have never been reached if warmongers and their design to hold onto power with the excuse that “these are extraordinary days and stringent security measures have to be imposed” have lost their power in the system due to recent democratic structural and legal changes.
What further flared up the conflict was mainly due to the how the sides of the conflict have labeled and positioned themselves. They were “warriors” and like all warriors they fought for their exalted cause. Their “cause” (liberation of an oppressed people or security of the state) was more important than all other values, including human lives. Their means of communication were arms and the language of engagement was violence.
Violence disrupted all human means of communication and coexistence and polarized the society to the brink of dissolution of the unitary state.
Conflicting sides made efforts of negotiation at different levels. But because they were warriors and had not allowed civilian partners into the negotiations process directly, people could not take a place in the “middle-ground.” It is after the relative marginalization of the “war-party” at the level of the establishment and civic pressure on the PKK both within and without to seek rights and liberties through other means that we have entered a new phase in the conflict.
The Kurdish imbroglio and Turkey’s inability to manage the problem (creating it in the first place) cost so much to the country and affected the lives of so many millions that its solution one way or other has become an imperative for the survival of the country. Given this stark reality, the opportunity of cease-fire declared by the PKK and for the first time seemingly met by the establishment either due to Ramadan or a leap of wisdom to employ an alternative approach to the gangrened problem, must not be missed.
This means “warriors” must not be left alone to rule the day and the future of the country. People at all levels and civic organizations of all sorts must get involved to lead the way and to have their say. If it is they who are suffering, displaced and wasted in a fratricide that could be resolved by other means (any political matter can be settled by means other than violence for it requires negotiation and consensus). What is needed is negotiation and consensus and their bearers are the very people who are the victims of the conflict. They must now be part of the solution after being part of the problem for so long.
If this phenomenon becomes a reality, both Turks and Kurds will be emancipated from the political and moral yoke of their armed forces and become engaged in decision-making processes that directly affect their existence and welfare. This means the end of an authoritarian and militaristic mentality whereby civilians can think civically and act in a civilized way where the power of the word and wisdom takes over the weapon and death brought upon when it speaks.
There is more hope today towards a solution because of the opportunities that are before us and the experience of so much loss. We hope and pray that those who brought this menace upon the country and stretched it through generations will leave their place to those who believe in human values more than territory, subjugation and absolute power.
