AK Party downplays expectations for PM's Diyarbakır visit

Erdoğan is not expected to unveil any new proposals during the upcoming Diyarbakır campaign speech, nor will he deliver on a promise for general amnesty that has been debated recently.

In its campaign rallies, politicians from the BDP frequently insisted that the government should further move to resolve the Kurdish problem -- and feel Erdoğan’s Diyarbakır meeting will be crucial in this respect.

The BDP is urging its followers to boycott the Sept. 12 referendum that looks to establish a mandate for constitutional amendments. But the BDP and also the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, are attempting to use the referendum as bargaining tool by sending the message that if their demands are accepted, they might tell their supporters to vote in favor of the constitutional amendments. The BDP demands that the Turkish government halts military operations in Kurdish areas, releases pro-Kurdish politicians arrested during security forces operations, and accepts Öcalan as an interlocutor, while lowering the election threshold to below 10 percent.

During a meeting in Diyarbakır last week, BDP leader Selahattin Demirtaş said he was aware that pro-Kurdish demands could not be met in a short time.

“If the government wants a ‘yes’ vote from the Kurds, it has to show that it is taking the demands of the BDP seriously. The prime minister has to give concrete assurances for a new democratic and civilian constitution. It is not that difficult. But so far we have not witnessed anything that leads us to believe this will happen,” said Demirtaş.

The ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) deputy chairman, Hüseyin Çelik, in an interview with the Sabah daily on Sunday said that the BDP stirred-up anticipation for Erdoğan’s Diyarbakır visit, but after the visit the BDP will say that Erdoğan failed to meet expectations. Çelik added that Erdoğan’s message in Diyarbakır will be similar to his messages in other cities.

Diyarbakır Chamber of Trade and Industry (DTSO) Chairman Galip Ensarioğlu said there were always high expectations in the Southeast that the government would achieve a solution to the Kurdish question. He added that the BDP might be tactically exploiting these expectations.

In a declaration read by Ensarioğlu at a press conference, the DTSO and some pro-business civil society organizations recently announced the intention to vote “yes” to the constitutional amendments.

Speaking to Today’s Zaman, Ensarioğlu recalled that the Kurdish question was a very important subject in the referendum and it is used by the opposition. Recently, PKK sources claimed that the militant group’s decision to de-escalate and halt its attacks until Sept. 20 had been made after contact between Öcalan and state officials. Opposition parties argued that the government was cooperating with the PKK to ensure a positive result for the AK Party at the referendum. Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin confirmed that there has been contact between Öcalan and state officials since his capture.

“This issue of meeting with Öcalan turned into a political polemic and the opposition is using this issue. Whatever the prime minister will say in Diyarbakır, it will be used by the opposition also. If he sends a strong message calling for a solution to the Kurdish question, his support in the west will decline, if he doesn’t, then he will have some difficulties gaining Kurdish support in the referendum,” said Ensarioğlu.

Prominent Kurdish intellectual İbrahim Güçlü also pointed out that the BDP, in order to drag the government to negotiation table, had increased people’s expectations for the visit, but also said the BDP is aware that the government cannot make far reaching promises.

“The push for a boycott is not accepted by the people that enthusiastically. They are hoping that the prime minister will not send a strong message so they will have the tool to legitimize their boycott decision,” Güçlü told Today’s Zaman.

Güçlü guessed that Erdoğan in his appearance in Diyarbakır will underline the positive steps that the government has taken for the solution of the Kurdish question, such as establishing a Kurdish television channel, changing laws that limited freedom of expression and allowing Kurdish to be used in election campaigns.

“His message will strengthen the defenders of the ‘yes’ votes amongst Kurds. For the ones who are undecided, his sincerity will be important. If he is able convince people to vote for a new constitution, one which addresses Kurdish demands, then he may increase the ‘yes’ vote in the region,” he said.

Similarly, Mazhar Bağlı, a sociologist from Dicle University and an AK Party member, said that if Erdoğan’s message expressed sympathy for the Kurdish people, he could increase support for constitutional changes.

“I think he will talk about Diyarbakır Prison during the 1980 coup -- and all the pain that Kurds suffered due to the coup,” he told Today’s Zaman.