Recognize Kurdish rights, isolate PKK

The state elites, taking their lead from the military, stuck to the first position, and tried even to suppress the questioning of that hard-line position. On the other hand, all prime ministers who have served since 1984 (with the exception of Bülent Ecevit, who maintained that the PKK was a product of "feudalism") initially spoke of the need to recognize Kurdish identity. Turgut Özal lifted the ban on the Kurdish language in 1991 and expressed his intention to solve the Kurdish problem. He died, however, before he could move his initiatives further on. The rest of the other civilian leaders soon renounced their words and let the military take the initiative in dealing with the PKK. The consequence has been the deaths of more than 30,000 people.

The leader of the PKK, Abdullah Öcalan, was captured in 1999 and was tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. He called on the PKK to declare a unilateral cease-fire. The Justice and Development Party (AKP), which came to power in 2002, in the context of EU reforms adopted measures that allowed for courses and broadcasting in Kurdish. The PKK militants who were based in US-occupied Iraq called off the cease-fire in 2004 and resumed armed attacks. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared in the summer of 2005 that Kurdish citizens had faced injustice and that it was his responsibility to solve the Kurdish problem, but soon forgot these words.

During the last week or so, in some of the Kurdish-majority provinces in the Southeast and East of the country, mass demonstrations were staged by the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), resulting in clashes between the security forces and demonstrators. Erdoğan was met with protests in his visits to the region. Allegations of mistreatment of Öcalan by guards at İmralı Island, where he is imprisoned, are the apparent reason for the protests.

Various theories are being advanced to explain Öcalan's function since his imprisonment. According to one theory, he is continuing to lead the PKK through directions conveyed to the organization by the lawyers who visit him on the island. According to another theory, the Turkish "deep state" (or the "Ergenekon" gang) has been from the outset using Öcalan to de-legitimize and suppress Kurdish demands by identifying them with terrorism. Nearly all liberal and democratic-minded Kurds in Turkey believe this conspiracy theory. The most credible theory, however, is that the PKK is using Öcalan in the rivalry over voting support in the region in the coming local elections. By provoking security forces to take tough measures, assuring the closure of the DTP by the Constitutional Court, it is seeking to alienate the people from the AKP, which managed to garner a majority of the vote in the region in the parliamentary elections held last year. The PKK also appears to be upset by the growing possibility that Ankara and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq may strike an alliance against it.

In the meanwhile, there are unusual things taking place in Ankara. The chief of General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) for the first time briefed the government on the military's measures against the PKK. According to reports leaked to the press, the chief, Gen. İlker Başbuğ, said at the briefing that PKK recruitment cannot be stopped merely by military measures, that Kurdish individual cultural rights had to be extended, that the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) should start broadcasts in Kurdish as soon as possible, that the best terrorist is not a dead one but one that surrenders to the security forces and that in order to stop the spilling of blood one should even talk to Massoud Barzani, the leader of the KRG. The reports were denied by the Prime Ministry, but not by the chief of General Staff.

President Abdullah Gül, during his visit to the Frankfurt Book Fair, told the press that the Kurds had been treated unjustly in the past. He then said it was necessary to talk to Barzani in order to take a united stand against the PKK. He went on to call on Kurdish members of Parliament from both the AKP and the DTP to come together to discuss and find ways to defuse tensions building up in Kurdish-majority regions.