Talking conflict resolution in southeast Turkey

Yet, to date there is no concrete, formally outlined project. So the discussion, which goes on, can to a certain extent be likened to the story of people trying to pull a large but unidentified animal from a deep, dark cistern. Some grasp the animal by the tail, some by the leg, the belly, the ear or the tusk. The helpers all advance strategies to save both the cistern and the creature from destruction, but it remains where it is.

Needless to say, all efforts are valuable, and they should be encouraged and supported, rather than letting the rescue be stalled by ideological interest groups. Any potential plan needs to have both short and long-term strategies and goals and will certainly have short and long-term implications. This is not a matter for one party or a single government. Successive governments should also be able continue the project. The Ergenekon trial in Turkey gives rise to some specific concerns about the security aspects of the plan.

The project, wrongly termed “the Kurdish initiative,” is a matter of civic, cultural and political rights and wrongs in the Southeast. If the people concerned turn to the courts with details of crimes perpetrated in the Southeast in the name of the state, are we prepared to watch cases dealt with by the judges of the Judges and Prosecutors Association (YARSAV) or Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), organizations which attempt to replace any judges or prosecutors who try to resolve cases of torture, kidnapping and extrajudicial killing by deep-state elements? When the people subjected to forced displacement into large cities during martial law return to their former villages and homes, how will the system provide services, security and funds for them so that they will not be exploited by terrorists or other forces again?

How can the people in the region, village guards and terrorists be disarmed? What will happen to the arms that are collected? The Ergenekon case has already revealed that the same weapons frequently changed hands between terrorists and military units. So, how can it be made sure that weapons will not be sold to terrorists who do not accept the project?

The attitudes of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) are not helpful. Likewise, the insistence of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) on Abdullah Öcalan as a main source of the solution to the conflict promises little. Many people doubt the thoughts and ideas supposedly coming from Öcalan because he can only speak through his lawyers from a military prison. There are deep misgivings about how much his words are tailored by his lawyers, party members or the deep state. There will need to be other Kurdish or pro-Kurdish leaders talking and negotiating freely for the sake of both Turkish and Kurdish people. They must come forward freely to stop the bloodshed and injustice. They must also be assured about their security and that their perspectives will be evaluated fully and properly and not silenced or eliminated by the deep state. Fallacious claims that ethnic and religious minorities will make more demands and claim more rights which will lead to the division of the state should also be handled with care. The opposition and counterarguments to the project should also be given proper responses from respected community leaders and academics without turning events into a short-sighted investment in their careers.

Turkey already has top scholars who have spent years on this issue, proved to be sincere, rational and unbiased and are already acknowledged both inside and outside Turkey. Experts such as Dr. Doğu Ergil, and others of similar caliber, need to be consulted regularly. The demands of other communities for independence, self-rule or partial autonomy in local, financial and administrative affairs and reconciliation efforts that have been made in Europe -- the Irish and Scottish cases for example -- and in Africa and other parts of the world should be thoroughly studied, and the outcomes should be shared with the public and authorities in an unbiased way.

Groups that do not wish to be part of the project and any solution cannot be allowed to derail the project with their confrontational efforts. They can freely have their say in public -- the project is, after all, about extending democratic rights and freedoms to ever-greater numbers -- but attempts to agitate families of fallen soldiers and particular ethnic or religious groups in the community with ultranationalist discourse and provocations should be ignored and treated with the contempt they deserve. Citizens of Turkey of Kurdish origin need to beware of manipulation by organizations already acknowledged to be terrorist and clandestine by the US, the European Union and other international communities and maintain their resolve to end the clashes and suffering in the region. The solutions and discussions are intricate, sensitive and require short and long-term strategies, sincerity, patience, mutual respect, empathy and commitment. In the end, the beast wants to get out of the cistern, and the people want the beast out of the cistern, so while there may be some squeezing and struggling, in the end cooperation will be the only way.