1993 was the first such occasion, but hopes ended up in smoke when 33 unarmed soldiers who were traveling to join their units were killed in Bingöl. When Abdullah Öcalan was apprehended in 1999, this created a new wave of hope. Öcalan stated that he would have the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) lay down their arms and ensure the surrender of PKK militants to the Turkish state. For some unknown reason, this opportunity was not utilized. Finally, there was another occasion for hope in 2003 during the short-lived Abdullah Gül government. But Parliament was unable to pass the long-awaited amnesty law, also known as the "homecoming" law.Everything needed for peace was there
This time things are completely different. All signs are positive. It seems that Turkey is moving toward settlement of the Kurdish issue, a problem that has been a heavy burden for a long time. There is consensus at the state level. The government seems to be eager to put this consensus to good use. Kurdish citizens are hopeful. The PKK is at a loss, and seeking some way out. [Deniz] Baykal is taking positive steps that cannot be expected from his party. Even the seemingly harsh opposition from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) is based on clearly chosen wording. [Nurettin] Demirtaş of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) is cautioning people about provocations. As a matter of fact, there are possibilities for provocations that will undermine this process. But, Ergenekon members who have been making plans for taking the helm of the country in the environment of chaos and desperation, including the lack of settlement of the Kurdish issue, can now think only about their future as they are rendered ineffective.
Debates are being conducted using different terms and concepts. Contrasting approaches are pitted one against another. What one approach calls "settlement" is defined by another as "treason" or "submissiveness." Fears, worries, insecurity and paranoia are abundant. Nevertheless, there is a common ground that urges all groups to converge on the same point. This common denominator is the sum of all the experiences we had with respect to what we call "Kurdish issue." These experiences include the loss of 40,000 lives, the wasting of the country's precious wealth and the prices it has paid in the international arena. This is our Kurdish issue experience, which has become the dominant issue in Turkey for the last 25 years in particular, but which is also visible during the entire history of the republic. This experience belongs to the entire population in Turkey, including Kurds and Turks. This experience is the inevitable starting point for all players. Any utterance or judgment that ignores this experience does not deserve any attention. This is a hot issue that relates to every part of our lives with the blood and tears it has caused.
The soundest scientific method is the trial-and-error method, i.e., the experimental method. We have not acquired this experience in laboratories, but by sacrificing 40,000 people. No one can turn his back to this experience, and no one can deem it nonexistent.
Experiences and international conjuncture
Violence has exhausted itself within this experience. The violent methods employed by the PKK proved to be a total failure. In the medium term, it is impossible for the international conjuncture and regional balances to give a green light to these violent methods. There is no exit for the PKK while it is still armed. At the state level, the policies that rely on denial and assimilation of the Kurdish identity have failed as well. The state is obliged to rely on popular consent as the source of the sovereignty it wields. The fact that part of the people consist of Kurds may come as a new piece of information. They should become accustomed to this new reality.
This experience advices us to review our habits and create an atmosphere of mutual trust. We need to bury the hatchet and make a new start. The experiences we have learned tell us that we would rely not on concepts, theories or our reason, but on the vastness of our hearts. These experiences also tell us that a free and democratic environment is the method we can use for attaining the settlement.
In such an environment, everyone can speak his mind freely. "Independent Kurdistan," one may suggest. Others may oppose, demanding "federation." Yet others may discuss "cultural autonomy." They may be opposed by those who suggest a "unitary structure," advocating Turkish language as sine qua non of being a nation. They might regard a "single nation" as an indisputable quality. In the end, every party will realize the realities and will land on sound ground. After the tide will come the ebb, and everyone will see that what keeps 71 million people together are the lives, not the concepts. Not fancies or paranoia, but real lives.
Termination of violence, end of PKK
In his interview in The Times, the acting leader of the PKK, Murat Karayılan, demands a federative structure as in the case of the United Kingdom at the extreme. On the other hand, the MHP leader defines any talk of federation or secession as treason. The PKK is an organization that will vaporize upon the termination of violence. Given the distribution of the Kurdish population within Turkey, federation is not a rational demand. Secession is ruled out by Kurds even more than the MHP. Indeed, the first opposition to the "Scotland model" proposed by Karayılan came from the DTP. A geographically oriented federation will not cover the Kurds living in other parts of the country. Thus, it will not make any contribution to the settlement of the issue.
Tension between Ankara 11th High Criminal Court and five DTP deputies was postponed until September. The parliament speaker did not allow the detention of Democracy Party (DEP) deputies in 1993 to be relived once again. Thus, the act of civil disobedience the DTP is committing against the judiciary was successful. What did the MHP, which regards ethnicity-based politics as dangerous as ethnicity-based violence, get from this act? Many people had failed to understand that what Ahmet Türk did was an act of civil disobedience when he spoke in Kurdish during his speech in Parliament. The MHP, which depicts well-intentioned statements for settlement as "treason," should understand that the policies devised against the "terror issue" will be of no use against acts of civil disobedience.
It seems that the Republican People's Party (CHP) has realized the new circumstances and has renewed its policies. "When the weapons are handed over to the state and the people on the mountain come down, then we cannot tell them that we will still be fighting against them. When the era in which we all paid big prices is closed down, then we all can start a project for peace," Baykal said in Mardin, hinting of a CHP that is now close to settlement.
Also, DTP leader Türk issued a statement expressing his condolences for the six soldiers who were martyred by a mine explosion in Hakkari. Calls for ending deaths are being made. Strong words are used in rejection of violence.
The possibility of ending the violence that has taken 40,000 people and 25 years from Turkey is a source of joy for everyone. The argument that delaying actions toward settlement may complicate things is accepted by all groups.
Fear and hope are twin brothers. As hopes rise, so do fears. But this time, it seems, Turkey has also mobilized reason, which can manage fears.
