Opposition bloc against democratic initiative

Based on General Staff statements, CHP and MHP spokespersons said the “initiative has come to an end” and that it had “resulted in a fiasco.” Over the weekend, DTP Deputy Chairwoman Emine Ayna said: “The initiative is over. It is finished.”

The DTP leaders are actually quite confused. They want peace, on the one hand, but are worried that their reason for existence will be removed, on the other. Those executives of the party who are in favor of peace underline the danger of ethnic nationalism by explaining the mistake in Kurdish youth identifying solely with their ethnic identity. The leaders say: “You also have a sexual identity, a professional identity, you have a career and a social identity. You must also identify with these different identities. You cannot boast about your ethnic identity because it is not an identity that is earned by working for it. If it is going to be boasted about, then leave that to your mothers. You must show yourself with the identities you developed by putting in an effort for it.”

As for the hawks, who are against this notion, they argue that putting ethnic identity in second place would not contribute to solving the Kurdish problem. The hawks, who have been asked to remain quiet in the aftermath of the exaggerated welcoming home of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members who entered Turkey at Habur, are now coming forward with complaints about the conditions of Abdullah Öcalan imprisonment. They want to add the DTP to the CHP-MHP bloc against the initiative. There is a serious contradiction in the bloc. The CHP and MHP are calling the initiative an “İmralı-government, AK Party-PKK project,” while the DTP hawks are saying “the initiative ended because Öcalan was not addressed.”

AK Party not thinking about ending initiative

As AK Party officials made a situation assessment at the end of a week with high street activity, they emphasized that they would not make concessions to the initiative process, which they describe as a “national unity and brotherhood project.”

Asked about the DTP’s shift towards the CHP and MHP lines on grounds that the initiative was finished, party officials said: “We always said the nation would be addressed in this initiative. One party will support, another will oppose it. That is up to them. But no provocation will prevent the national unity and brotherhood project from moving forward.”

Noting that the issue of fighting human rights violations, which is the initiative’s first package, has received wide support from all segments of society, the executives said they believe the DTP has come into conflict with its own constituents with its most recent shift in attitude.

An AK Party deputy of Kurdish origin noted that the Kurdish people would not support fighting with police on the streets and said: “There is no sensible explanation for these rampages. It has become clear that Öcalan’s prison conditions were just an excuse. You cannot direct a society with lies. Kurdish people want the establishment of humane living conditions and the end of mistakes that have banned our language until now. While the processes to these ends are under way, if you come out saying the initiative has ended because of the debate over Öcalan’s involvement in the process, you will finish yourself off. You cannot convince anyone that way.”

The PKK, which began with the goal of an independent Kurdish state, later downsized its target and promoted the establishment of a federation. It later gave up on the federation idea as well and demanded constitutional citizenship. The PKK is afraid of being eradicated from the minds of the Kurds if the Kurdish problem is solved without their demands being met. Some DTP supporters sincerely express this concern.

While some AK Party deputies believe it would have been good to have the support of the opposition for the initiative, others say, “The DTP’s addition to the CHP-MHP bloc will be much better for the future of the initiative.”