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Expert dismisses US role in Kurdish initiative
Henri Barkey, a senior scholar on Turkey from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, also dismissed criticism raised by nationalist circles in Turkey that the democratic initiative is a US-based project.
“Although opposition is legitimate, it should not be the way the CHP and MHP are doing it. Branding everyone who is in favor [of the initiative] as an enemy of Turkey, Turks or a stooge of foreigners is not a legitimate way of opposing,” Barkey told Today's Zaman.
The government is working on a reform plan, known as the Kurdish initiative, to address the grievances of Turkey's Kurdish population and put an end to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) violent separatist campaign, which has cost nearly 40,000 lives in the past three decades. Interior Minister Beşir Atalay has been touring political parties and NGOs to discuss the reform plans. The two main opposition parties, the CHP and the MHP, have rejected Atalay's request to meet for talks, with the CHP urging the government to explicitly state what the initiative is aimed at and the MHP categorically rejecting it, saying it will lead to the country's division.
Commenting on the method that the government has pursued in the democratic initiative, Barkey said it is the correct way to do it. “The government is gathering public opinion on a very sensitive matter,” he added.
Assessing the effects of regional developments on Turkey's democratic initiative, Barkey highlighted the democratic steps in northern Iraq and the parliamentary and presidential elections held on July 25 and said, “Events in northern Iraq have already had a positive impact on Turkish Kurds; the better off Iraqi Kurds are, the more secure Turkish Kurds feel and therefore more open to political compromise and to move away from the PKK.” He is also of the opinion that the Kurdish initiative would accelerate the consolidation of relations between Turkish and Iraqi Kurds.
“As for Iraqi Kurds they are very interested in a solution; the sooner Turkey makes peace with its own Kurds, the sooner northern Iraq-Turkish relations will stabilize and prosper. Iraqi Kurds see Turkey as a strategic choice for them. They genuinely want good relations with Ankara. Turkey is their window to the West.”
Barkey urged Kurds living in Turkey to take a positive approach and support the government in its democratic initiative “They will not get everything they want -- even most of their moderate demands -- but this is a process. Goodwill begets goodwill. Both sides have to work with the assumption the other means well and wants a solution.”
The expert also warned that the newfound opportunity to resolve the Kurdish issue should not be wasted since such occasions do not appear frequently. “The important thing is to understand that this opening has to be serious. There is a chance now and if both sides miss it, who knows when Turkey will get another opportunity. One has to remember that when President Özal started the initiative in 1993, everyone was very hopeful and anticipation was very high. The opportunity was lost after Özal's untimely demise and the subsequent murder of Turkish soldiers. Sixteen years have gone by, many people have died and not much has changed. If only chances were fully appreciated we would not be where we are in Turkey. The right moments appear occasionally,” he said.
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