‘Turkey ought to revisit traditional values in solving Kurdish problem’

“We have been living side-by-side since the battle of Malazgirt in 1070, which resulted in the defeat of the Byzantine Empire by Seljuk forces in a place near the province of Muş,” said Professor Ahmet Yıldız, who has published several articles on Kurds. He emphasized that Kurds have no desire to secede from Turkey with the exception of a small hard-core nationalist group which has no support from the local population. In an interview with Today’s Zaman, Yıldız explained that many factors, such as religion, a common history and culture, mixed marriages and trade, work in the favor of such reconciliation, provided that the newly emerged strong democratic leadership in Turkey is able to broaden its democratic platform by easing sanctions and removing the barriers in front of free, honest and sincere debate in national politics.

“Mechanisms for a permanent solution can only be established within a fully fledged democratic system, and the public should be able to trust and have strong faith in democracy,” he underlined, adding that nationalism in the ethnic sense should be left out of the process. He also pointed out that the laying down of arms by of Kurdish factions would be achieved only after broad democratic rights were implemented, such as use of the Kurdish language, and the securing of cultural rights. “If people feel they can express themselves and voice their demands within a democratic platform and become fully integrated to the political process, those who take up arms would have no choice but to lay these arms down,” he said. “Removing obstacles to learning and teaching in Kurdish would set a significant precedent in that regard,” Yıldız added.

Yıldız flatly rejected that cultural diversity would lead to separation in southeastern Turkey and said, “We should see diversity as a richness which would further strengthen our social fabric.” He also warned that if the government’s new democratic initiative to solve the decades-long Kurdish problem falls short of expectations, it would have grave consequences for the country because the expectations are very high.

Traditional values bond Kurds and Turks

Stressing that traditional values are significant bonding factors between Turks and Kurds, Yıldız singled out the Muslim religion as the most important factor bringing the two sides together. “Among other things, Islam was, has been and still is the prevailing common denominator out there,” he underlined, lamenting, however, over the fact that the Turkish state was not able to benefit from this for a long time because of rigid secular policies.

“Islam by its nature rejects racism, and as such no Muslim has the luxury of seeing people of the same faith from other ethnic groups as outsiders,” he explained, warning that nationalism devoid of religious tenets in the Kurdish case would more likely present secessionist tendencies and display radically hostile attitudes.

“I mean a secular Kurdish nationalist is possibly more comfortable in seeing a Turk as an ‘enemy’ simply because Islam’s unifying aspect is absent there. That is why we see comments from some secular nationalist Kurds saying that Islam has been imposed on Kurds and that the true religion of Kurds is Zoroastrianism, an ancient religion founded in ancient Iran centuries ago,” he said, drawing a comparison with secular Turkish nationalists who reject Islam and advocate the ancient belief system of shamanism.

Yıldız believes the Islamic faith as a system of morals and beliefs in the Kurdish case can play an important role in finding a common ground with Turks, provided that religion is not turned into a blind and shallow ideology devoid of any substance. “They can sit around the table, talk to each other and utter criticism without categorizing the other side as the enemy,” he noted.

Violence feeds nationalism

He also pointed out that the enduring violence helped the radical Kurdish national identity be more assertive and eventually transform itself into a political identity. “The fact that the state maintains a monopoly on religious affairs prevented faith-based civic community groups from flourishing in the region, and as such we have not seen the moderating influence of these civic groups on the radicalization of the population,” he said. The violence and war-like situation has adversely affected faith-based initiatives and has led to ideology-based religious groups like the Kurdish Hezbollah, which is a much more repressive group than the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

He is worried that years of tension and violence coupled with the absence of ethical and moral values have resulted in a new generation which is more reactionary and rejectionist. Widespread drug use and abuse and soaring crime rates in the region predominantly populated by Kurdish people are also indicative of the risk that the family structure is on the brink of collapse and community values are being eroded. “This shows us that the traditionally strong religious values and morals that it nurtured were greatly damaged,” he said, adding a new generation grew up under the influence of hard-to-control nationalist ideology.

Yıldız does not want to see the state promoting religious values as a too for assimilation for the Kurdish population, which would be counterproductive as well. The state should steer clear of any involvement in promoting religion, but rather let the society develop its own mechanisms in its own natural way by removing obstacles in the formation and functioning of civic groups and by making sure democratic rights and freedoms are secured.

Need for supra identity

Yıldız argued that Turkey needs a supra identity that fits all ethnic groups, including Kurds. Stressing that one should feel allegiance to the country based on shared political, legal and cultural values, he said further common platforms should be developed to sustain the social fabric in the country. “When we talk about ‘being an American,’ that does not indicate ethnicity, but rather shared values such as family, the sense of belonging to a larger community where ethnic and other groups do not feel their other identities are threatened,” he said. According to him, Turkey is going through the process of trying to find this supra identity and helping to build a new social contract among different ethnic groups.

“Legal regulations may be enough to manage relations of different groups with the state, but they fail to meet the need of having overarching shared elements with broader segments of the society. Old common denominators no longer seem to be sufficient,” he underlined.

The argument claiming that the terms “citizen of the Turkish Republic” and “Turkish people” do not signify ethnicity but rather a supra identity which all ethnic groups can be content with is not a valid argument, Yidiz believes. “If a Kurdish person does not see it from the same perspective, then you have a problem on your hands,” he said, stressing one should take the case as presented and perceived by Kurds. “It is a fact now that many Kurds are not comfortable with the term ‘Turkish,’ and you have to operate on that basis if you really want to build a strong sense of belonging cemented under a supra identity,” he noted. Otherwise, having been fed by the ongoing violence, the decentralizing force of nationalism would maintain its momentum, he warned.

Limited state powers

Yıldız is a strong believer in small government and advocates a state where the citizen has a highly elevated place. While limiting the government’s role to only regulatory functions, he argues that the state should make sure the democratic public platform based on personal preferences is safeguarded. “Then we could minimize many of our problems,” he said, asking that politics in Turkey be freed from the shackles of ethnic politics. “The only way to do so is through ensuring full freedom and democratic rights in the cultural field. If ethnic identity can freely express itself, then we will see the impact of ethnicity weakening in the political field,” he said.

As for the official language of Turkey being Turkish, Yıldız said it is not possible to offer any alternative to that as Turkish has firmly set itself as the medium of communication, not only culturally but also identity-wise for all ethnic groups in Turkey. Therefore, opening the debate about having another language as an official one is a moot point, according to him. Most Kurdish groups in fact do not support changing the official language of the country.

He disagrees, however, with the idea that no Kurdish languages should be taught at schools or universities. Accepting Turkish as an official language does not mean you have the right to prevent people from keeping Kurdish as a living language through cultural activities. “Even now we try to salvage dead ancient languages, cherishing them because we believe they are part of humanity’s heritage,” he said, “Why we should not be doing the same for Kurdish, which is spoken by millions of Kurds?” Yıldız believes removing all restrictions on the use of Kurdish will actually help stem the decentralizing forces in Turkey.

Yıldız questions the “red lines” approach in solving the Kurdish problem in Turkey, saying democratic societies evolve over time and operate on the basis of a dynamic contract. Societies may change their preferences because the social contract is not a static one, he said, adding that new changes can be introduced after securing compromises and reaching a consensus. Drawing red lines regarding the Kurdish initiative limits the scope of debate and hence prevents the emergence of fresh ideas in line with world trends, he said.

“Societies which insist on firm red lines can only find solutions through crisis as opposed to open democracies where everything can be discussed freely and through dialogue,” Yıldız noted.