“I am now even more determined to vote ‘yes’ because if the amendments are adopted, social pressure on the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) to negotiate with the pro–Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) to solve the Kurdish problem and bring to an end the armed insurgency led by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) will increase, thus opening the way for an increasingly democratic and prosperous Turkey that sets a shining example for its entire region.”The meeting between representatives of the AKP government and the BDP on Sept. 23, less than two weeks after the referendum and despite the terrible Sept. 16 provocation which saw nine innocents killed in a land mine attack, seems to confirm my expectations -- and raises hopes that Turkey may be closer than ever to achieving peace at home (See “BDP to persuade PKK not to stage any terror attacks,” Sept. 25, Todays’s Zaman.)
My hopes for domestic peace were raised also during a trip to the Kurdish-majority provinces of Van, Bitlis, Muş and Hakkari -- which is one of the least developed areas in the country. I was, together with a small group of columnists, invited by the East Anatolia Development Agency (DAKA) to visit the region. DAKA is one of 26 agencies (that cover the entire country) created four years ago by the AKP government to provide financial and other assistance to investments by small and medium-sized enterprises. The agency is led by Dr. Emin Yaşar Demirci, a prominent sociologist on leave from Yüzyıl University in Van.
What I saw, heard and experienced in the provinces of Van, Bitlis, Muş and Hakkari confirmed my long-established convictions that reality not only has many different faces, but also changes constantly. This is surely also true for the Kurdish-majority region of Turkey. There seemed to be a sharp contrast between what we observed in Van, Bitlis and Muş on the one hand and Hakkari on the other. In the former, law and order has been fully established, and the economy seems to be set for take-off, whereas in the latter neither is the case.
The provinces we visited are surely among Turkey’s least developed. But there are pronounced differences between urban and rural areas. The city of Van has already assumed the character of an important urban center. The region is quickly gaining the infrastructure necessary for economic development. Both Van and Muş have airports. No less than 1 million people have flown to Van this year. Lake Van is surrounded by double highways, and construction of nearly half of the double highway to Hakkari has been completed. The entire area has Internet access and mobile phones. While Van has placed its hopes on opening the border with Armenia, Hakkari seems to have set its hopes on opening the border crossings to Iran and Iraq.
What raises hope for the future of the region is not only its improved infrastructure but also the enhanced state of security. Except for Hakkari, law and order has been fully established. Civil society representatives we talked to complain of İstanbul media’s coverage presenting the region as a hotbed of terrorism. Muş is currently the safest province in the entire country, while Bitlis is placed ninth on the list of provinces with the least number of crimes committed.
Some critics claim that the AKP government’s Kurdish initiative has not so far achieved much. I would highly recommend such critics visit the region. Through the initiative, not only have the policies of denial of Kurdish identity come to an end, but the appointment of governors and state officials to the region -- who not only respect the ethnic and cultural identities of the people, but also earnestly try to serve their needs – seems to have created an entirely different environment than what used to be the case in the previous decade. There remains a lot to be done, but the Kurdish initiative seems to be moving ahead.
Our visit through Sept. 18-22 gave us also the opportunity to be on the island of Akdamar/ Aghtamar on Lake Van on the occasion of the reopening of the restored Armenian Surp Haç Church after nearly a hundred years. The occasion was celebrated on Sept. 19, with a religious service organized by the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey. The restoration of the historic church by the Ministry of Culture, and its opening to religious services (only once a year for the time being) is surely a step towards healing the wounds opened in consciences by the tragedy that befell Ottoman Armenians due to forced migration they were subjected to nearly a hundred years ago and towards re-establishing friendship between the two peoples. On that day Akdamar / Aghtamar Island looked like the setting of a festival bringing together Turkey’s citizens of all religious and ethnic identities. All people we talked to in Van, including the governor, expressed their strong support for the opening of the border with Armenia – which would greatly contribute to economic development efforts and consequently help bring an end to political violence in the region.
