PKK plays on ethnic rift as antithesis of democratization

The government, at the end of the summer, launched the democratization initiative to solve Turkey’s decades-old Kurdish question. The government chose “more freedom for everyone” as the slogan of the initiative, and it frequently underlined that it will never consider discussing the issue with the PKK, saying the only party with a voice in this process is the nation itself.

The government declared that it would take steps in the short, medium and long term, including reversing the names of settlements to their original Kurdish and establishing bodies to monitor human rights violations and claims of discrimination. It also suggested that it will remove the obstacles before wider usage of the Kurdish language, including broadcasting, but not for education in state schools. None of these steps have yet been taken.

Meanwhile, the PKK in fear of losing its power, has organized violent demonstrations across the country on the pretext of protesting the new prison conditions of its leader, Abdullah Öcalan, who is serving a life term on island of İmralı in the Sea of Marmara.

Recently it claimed responsibility for the attack in the Reşadiye district of Tokat in which seven soldiers were killed, an attack that resulted in public outrage.

After each violent demonstration across the country, there were incidents in which the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) was attacked, anti-Kurdish slogans were chanted and the government was protested against for its democratization initiative.

“Unfortunately, there was already a rift between ethnic Kurds and Turks and during this process; it has become more obvious. There is a new generation in both ethnicities, and unlike the former generations, they aren’t able to understand each other,” said Sezgin Tanrıkulu, a former chairman of the Diyarbakır Bar Association.

PKK will do anything to resist elimination

According to Mesut Yeğen from the sociology department of Middle East Technical University (METU/ODTÜ), the democratization initiative accelerated a process that had actually started before in which ethnic identities were more underlined.

“Even the Kurds who didn’t define themselves as Kurds started to define themselves as Kurds. There were attempts to lynch Kurds in the west. This rift started to become very obvious, especially in coastal areas,” Yeğen told Sunday’s Zaman.

According to Yeğen, in order to be taken as a counterpart in the initiative, the PKK is trying to agitate and provoke this rift since it wants a share in the establishment of power.

“They think that the DTP is a product of them, and they want to be in Parliament instead. The government is also talking about the elimination of the PKK. In order to cut off the links between the DTP and the PKK, the government has ordered operations against the PKK-affiliated elements within the DTP.” Yeğen was referring to the operations against the urban extensions of the PKK in April and May in which more than 100 DTP members were arrested.

According to Yeğen, it was a message to the PKK that during the democratization initiative the PKK will be eliminated.

In a prior exclusive interview with Sunday’s Zaman, Selahattin Demirtaş, the parliamentary group leader of the DTP, explained the reasons for his party’s refusal to participate in the democratization initiative and said that it would be easier for the DTP to take responsibility during the democratization process if the government’s message had been that “it is taking steps for the sake of the people and the elimination of violence, not only for the elimination of the PKK.”

However, Yeğen underlined that neither the government nor the PKK can withstand the perils of civil clashes, so both parties, which have locked the process, will find a way to solve it. “They have to,” he said.

Both Yeğen and Tanrıkulu think that secret direct or indirect channels between the PKK and the government can resolve the deadlock.

PKK and the Kurdish question are different

Another prominent Kurdish intellectual, Tarık Ziya Ekinci, agreed with them about establishing channels, but added that it is possible to differentiate between the PKK problem and the Kurdish problem.

“To make the PKK come down from the mountains, you have to consider them as a party to address the issue. There are examples of it in the world. The state knows how to do it, and meanwhile, the government can take steps to solve the Kurdish problem through more democratization, so you can block the road to the mountains, but you cannot do it without preparing the ground,” Ekinci told Sunday’s Zaman.

When he was talking about preparing the ground, he said that he meant the preparation of the legal framework for democratization and a change in general public opinion.

“For years people have heard that the Kurdish question is a question created by external forces. Public opinion in the past has shown that people are against education in Kurdish. People have to be predisposed to the idea and prepared for it,” he said.

Yeğen and Tanrıkulu also think that the public is not prepared for it and this is giving the PKK suitable ground to exploit and provoke ethnic rifts.

In addition, Yeğen underlined that some of the reactions of ethnic Turks toward the initiative are actually reactions against the government and ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

“When some people react negatively to the Kurds, they are also acting with the idea of revenge against the AK Party. There are still people who are angry with the party since it was able to increase its votes and elect one of its members as president,” Yeğen said.

Tanrıkulu added that the government is not able to present the democratization initiative as a project of the state despite frequently making this very point.

“If it was able to present is as a state project, if it was able to use the means of the state to convince the opponents of the initiative like the CHP [Republican People’s Party] to implement the initiative, it would be easier and the provocations would not be able to find grounds,” Tanrıkulu told Sunday’s Zaman.

Human rights activist Yılmaz Ensaroğlu from the Foundation for Social Economic and Political Research (SETA) emphasized that provocations are not new for Turkey.

“The government was unable to be decisive in the democratization initiative, and those who are against the initiative benefited from this through provocative action. The provocateurs think the government cannot risk its power by closing its eyes to the public’s reaction and that it will stop the initiative. Now is the time for the government to show its leadership and continue with the initiative,” Ensaroğlu told Sunday’s Zaman. He added that time is running out and steps should be taken before the rift in society deepens.

However, these provocations can backfire, too, according to Şah İsmail Bedirhanoğlu, the chairman of the Southeastern Anatolia Businessmen’s Association (GÜNSİAD).

“I think Kurds will oppose these provocations. The PKK is bringing about its own demise because most of the Kurds are aware of the game,” he told Sunday’s Zaman.