Turkish government reconsiders Kurdish initiative
by
Wladimir van Wilgenburg*

Kurds in Turkey comprise approximately one-fifth of the country’s population, but their identity was denied during the establishment of the Turkish Republic and their culture suppressed. This resulted in a Kurdish insurgency by the militant PKK in 1982 that changed its goals from separatism to more cultural rights within Turkey. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and America.

The charismatic Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has taken the initiative to end this insurgency that has cost the lives of about 40,000 people and resulted in more than 17,000 unsolved murders. Despite that the situation of Kurds in Turkey has improved considerably, significant obstacles remain for achieving peace, such as renewed skirmishes between the army and the PKK and a nationalist backlash of the Turkish population that refuses any negotiations with the PKK. On Wednesday, five PKK members were killed in a clash with the Turkish army.

Apparently, the state negotiated indirectly with the PKK through Öcalan’s lawyers to receive a PKK group at the border from Iraq. All 34 members of the PKK group were released. Previously, the government communicated with the PKK in Iraq indirectly through Turkish journalists like Milliyet’s Hasan Cemal, who shared his observations with Turkish officials. When I was in Kandil myself for an interview, there were also Turkish journalists there, while in the past they would have been immediately jailed for making “terrorist propaganda.” There were also talks between the director of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT), Emre Taner, and Öcalan in prison to find a way of accommodating PKK members returning from the mountains.

Kurds celebrated the arrival of the eight PKK insurgents from Kandil and 26 Kurdish refugees from the UN Makhmur camp with a heroes’ welcome and even fireworks and music on Oct. 19. The festivities were partly organized by the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP). This resulted in a backlash among the Turkish population with protests against the PKK, the DTP and the AK Party government in Afyonkarahisar, Muş, Konya, Yalova, Edirne, Çanakkale, İstanbul and Ankara. Many Turks had the same feelings as the victims of the Lockerbie bomber, who was received with a similar welcome in Libya.

There is a possibility that the demonstrations were planned or supported by the AK Party’s ultranationalist rivals, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and the socialist Kemalist party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) that form the opposition. The nationalist statements of CHP leader Deniz Baykal and MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli threw more oil on the fire by accusing the AK Party of treason. Baykal said on Tuesday that the AK Party “is collaborating with Öcalan.”

An array of reactions

In addition, the influential Turkish military harshly condemned the celebrations as irresponsible. The leader of the pro-Kurdish DTP, Ahmet Türk, accused the MHP and the CHP of inciting racist attacks against Kurds, reported the pro-Kurdish news agency ANF.

On Tuesday, the PKK’s European “peace group” released a press statement in Brussels. “It is clear to see the efforts by the CHP administration, MHP and Ergenekon gang in sabotaging the peace and solution process. Rather than being under the influence of this backward mentality which gets its strength from the war, the AKP must be even more accountable, assertive and strong-willed in its approach.” The group urged the government to listen to the ideas of the imprisoned PKK leader.

The outgoing Iraqi-Kurdish prime minister, Nechirvan Barzani, clearly warned the DTP and PKK against holding more of this kind of welcome celebration in an interview with the Kurdish newspaper Rudaw on Sunday. “The PKK should use these groups to strengthen the Turkish initiative, so that Kurds and Turks live side by side, instead of provoking Turkish public opinion against this process, which strengthens the people who are against the process.”

The Kurdish prime minister is right that it could result in a total failure of the initiative if tensions continue. It’s clear that the AK Party has backed down out of fear of a nationalist backlash. The AK Party is walking a tightrope between the Turkish opposition and Turkish nationalists waiting to crush the party, and the PKK which wants to be recognized as a legitimate negotiation partner.

The PKK is putting pressure on the AK Party government and even the pro-Kurdish DTP party to legitimize the role of the PKK and the role of Öcalan. While during the peace process in Ireland, Sinn Fein pressured the IRA to disarm, the PKK is following the opposite direction as a result of its leader’s imprisonment. The main goal of PKK supporters is the recognition of its leader -- other goals are secondary, which limits the options of the PKK to solve the Kurdish issue.

It’s no surprise that the AK Party now needs time to think. This can also seen by Erdoğan’s frank choice of words: “Let’s take a break, and we will assess the process later.” The AK Party government is now reconsidering a way to manage the Kurdish issue, but it promised to go ahead with reforms. Analyst Emrullah Uslu wrote for Today’s Zaman that the government should wait for people to internalize and normalize the process first before taking further steps considering the return of PKK insurgents. If the AK Party government were to carry out this process too quickly, it could easily backfire and result in early elections and a loss of votes. Solving the Kurdish issue is “all or nothing” for the AK Party.