Amnesty considerations ‘premature’ and ‘risky’ for now

An amnesty is certainly needed to bring PKK members back from the mountains, said Mehmet Metiner, a Kurd and a columnist for the Star daily; however, he said this move should be considered in the long run, because bringing this issue to the country’s agenda now may put the progress of the solution process of the Kurdish problem at risk. Metiner said an amnesty should be seen as a part of the democratization process to resolve the PKK problem.

He explained that Turkey’s Kurdish problem could be settled through a democratization package, which could also prevent more youths from joining the ranks of the PKK, but that the terrorism problem cannot be fully resolved without bringing those in the mountains back.

Last summer, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government launched a project dubbed the “Kurdish initiative” that aims to resolve Turkey’s Kurdish problem through an expansion of the rights enjoyed by the country’s Kurds, whose identity has long been denied by the state. The government has not yet detailed its plan, but expectations are that the democratic initiative will grant the country’s Kurds increased cultural and linguistic rights.

Nevertheless, Metiner stated that talking about a general amnesty today that would include senior PKK leaders as well as jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is now serving a life sentence on İmralı Island in the Marmara Sea, would block the solution process to the Kurdish problem.

The prospects of an amnesty for the PKK led to an uproar among the nationalist segments of society. The government has already announced that it is not considering pushing for a general amnesty for PKK members on the grounds that such an amnesty, if it also included an amnesty for PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, would block the initiative process. So, senior PKK members will not benefit from the initiative process. The government also pointed to the “amnesty” issue as one of its immutable positions in the initiative process.

Describing amnesty as an important part of a social peace, Metiner proposed that an amnesty be granted to members of the PKK, no matter whether they were involved in violence or not, to entice them to lay down their weapons and return to their homes. As for the senior PKK leaders, he suggested that they could be exiled abroad. “All in all, talking about a general amnesty now [that would include Öcalan and senior PKK leaders] may bring more harm than benefit,” added Metiner.

Under current Turkish law, those PKK members who show remorse for joining the PKK are able to benefit from Article 221 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), popularly known as the Active Repentance Law. The article stipulates that terrorists who surrender to security forces will be released without punishment as long as they have not been involved in any armed clashes with security forces or any terrorist attacks against Turkey. It does not guarantee the release of those PKK members involved in violence.

Öztürk Türkdoğan, the chairman of the Human Rights Association (İHD), termed the debate over a general amnesty a “premature” one, saying that it was very meaningless to talk about the amnesty issue without the settlement of the Kurdish problem through a constitutional solution.

Characterizing the Kurdish issue as a political and human rights problem, he said that without fulfilling the demands of the Kurds in regards to their identity and culture through amendments to the Constitution, granting an amnesty to PKK members would not make any contribution to the solution of the Kurdish problem.

“If the Constitution is changed to a more pluralistic and democratic one that will protect various identities, if Turkey confronts its past, if the realities of the past are revealed and wrongdoings against some citizens of this country are disclosed, an amnesty will automatically follow. A new page will have been opened,” Türkdoğan remarked.

Türkdoğan also warned that bringing the amnesty issue to the agenda now could hinder the process of solution to the Kurdish problem.

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputy from Diyarbakır Akın Birdal, who also described amnesty as an indispensable part of social peace, agreed. He also said the amnesty issue should not be made the subject of a political polemic while criticizing the CHP for bringing the issue to the agenda so sloppily.

“While the CHP closes its doors to any steps that will improve democratization, human rights and civilianization, it was wrong for it to comment on this issue,” he told Sunday’s Zaman.