Erdoğan's remarks on a national unity project, also known as the democratization initiative, with the ultimate aim of reaching a comprehensive resolution to the decades-old Kurdish question by granting more rights to the country's Kurdish citizens, came on Saturday in New York as he gathered with Turkish-Americans.
It has been one-and-a-half months since the government disclosed its national unity project, Erdoğan told the gathering, adding, however, that some circles have been using this project as a tool for scoring in domestic policy. “We know how much risk this [democratization initiative] field has, we have been aware of it politically,” Erdoğan said. “We always want to be successful and win every election. However, while setting off on this road, we wanted one particular thing: We do not want another martyr, even if we know that we will eventually lose 550 deputies.”
There are 550 seats in total in the Turkish Parliament, 338 of which currently belong to deputies from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). Erdoğan apparently wanted to underline his government's determination for resolving the Kurdish issue, hinting that he would risk losing all of those Parliament seats even if his party was the only party represented in Parliament.
His remarks on “martyrdom,” meanwhile, apparently reflected his ultimate desire for putting an end to the terrorist activities of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Last Tuesday, in a speech delivered at the Levin Institute at the State University of New York, Erdoğan said prejudices, humiliation and discrimination lay the groundwork for radical movements, while terrorist groups exploit the differences among people for their own purposes. Then the prime minister cited separatist activities in Turkey which have been carried out by the PKK. He noted that around 30,000 people have lost their lives since the PKK launched its armed campaign against the state in 1984 as part of a quest to establish an ethnic Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey.
Everyone should respect each other's ethnic identity, and there are numerous inter-ethnic marriages in Turkey, Erdoğan said. “We say that all ethnic elements bring richness. But the supra-identity is citizenship of the Turkish Republic; this is where we will unite and become one together,” Erdoğan said. “Ethnic identity is not gained later; it is given at birth. Thus we have to respect this. Then, all together, if you're Turkish, you will respect Kurds; and if you're Kurdish, you'll respect Turks,” he said.
Instead of “democratization initiative,” the phrase “Kurdish initiative” is sometimes employed. However, the Kurdish issue is only one of the issues addressed by the democratization initiative; the issue of terrorism is the most important, Erdoğan said.
