DTP reaches temporary internal consensus

The congress was held under the shadow of a closure case pending against the party and concluded with the election of Ahmet Türk to the chairmanship. Türk was the sole candidate and is considered a moderate.

Emine Ayna, viewed as a hawk, will serve as the co-chairperson of the party even though the Turkish Political Parties Law does not recognize such a position. The congress also served to elect the party council, the candidates of which only included hawks. The results of the congress are seen by some as a compromise between the party's doves and hawks, though any such compromise is temporary because of the closure case. Once the Constitutional Court, which is hearing the closure case, issues its verdict, the power struggle within the DTP is expected to restart, and either a new party will be established or, if the DTP remains open, its leadership will be fought for.

The DTP congress has not escaped scrutiny by the Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office, which has launched an investigation into claims that speeches and slogans used by participants had praised crime and criminals.

Discussions at the congress focused on the establishment of an umbrella party aiming to increase cooperation between pro-Kurdish political parties and the socialist left but also covered the Ergenekon investigation, an investigation into a crime network that had planned to overthrow the government.

A group within the DTP, according to Türk, thinks the Ergenekon investigation is a historical opportunity for democratization, but another group, as can be seen in Ayna’s speech to the congress, considers it a clash of powers. Ayna’s supporters defend the idea of “wait and see” instead of taking an active role in the case.

Ayna claimed that the Ergenekon investigation is not a fight against the “deep state” but a power struggle. “Ergenekon’s power is drawn from a stalemate in the Kurdish problem, but the AK Party government is not disturbed by Ergenekon’s actions against Kurds. Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan is only unsure of one thing: He thinks Ergenekon is the only obstacle before him seizing the state’s power in its entirety.”

Outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan also advised Kurds to stay out of discussions on the Ergenekon investigation. “Kurds should not take part in this hegemonic clash. They should not take part either with neo-nationalists or the other side. Kurds should take the self-defense position. This is the only way to survive the chaos,” he allegedly said to his lawyers.

In another conversation with his lawyers, Öcalan said some officials within the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) with alleged links to Ergenekon had visited him after he was sent to İmralı prison. He did not provide details on the encounter.

Some newspapers suggested the Ergenekon gang, like many other terrorist organizations, used the PKK for its aims.

Those who share Ayna’s views accept that Kurds have suffered the most at the hands of the deep state and gangs, but that taking sides on the Ergenekon case will lead down two roads.

“Turkish public opinion is against Ergenekon. Although not strong yet, Turkish public opinion has begun to realize the gangs’ heinous crimes. But if Kurds take sides, this atmosphere can change because there is an understanding among the Turkish public that calls for doing the opposite of whatever the Kurds defend. Kurds should wait and see,” says a source from the DTP. The same source points out that taking a side with the Ergenekon case will serve the interest of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which is not disturbed by the deep state’s actions against Kurds and which is not engaged in a struggle for democratization but instead seeks to strengthen its power, according to some Kurds.

There are other views on the Ergenekon investigation. Although suspicious about the results of the investigation and where the AK Party stands, some still think it is an opportunity to confront the past, Türk said.

“Turkey has a tendency to enter the process of becoming more transparent, the case in contemporary democracies. Although late, it is still promising. Enlarging the investigation will improve our standard of democracy. In other words, including in the investigation probes into people who disappeared while in custody and the thousands that have been murdered by unknown assailants will only accelerate this process,” Türk said, adding that the struggle against gangs is a golden opportunity to solve the Kurdish problem by democratic means and that this is why he and his supporters assign importance to the Ergenekon investigation.