Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Turkey's Idiotic War on the Kurds
________________________________________
Turkey's Idiotic War on the Kurds
By Vijay Prashad [1] / The Hindu [2]
January 8, 2016
A war of words has broken out between the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, and the leader of the left-wing People's Democratic Party (HDP),
Selahattin Demirtas. Mr. Demirtas, who is Kurdish, leads a party that unites
the Kurdish nationalist forces and Turkey's left-wing groups. Until
recently, he and the HDP have called for more rights for the Kurdish
population within Turkey rather than for the creation of a Kurdish state out
of Turkey. The Kurds in Turkey are spread out across the country, with
Istanbul having the largest concentration (one million Kurds). Nonetheless,
the majority of the Kurdish population lives in the country's south-east,
which has been the epicentre of demands for self-determination. In late
December, Mr. Demirtas backed a resolution passed by the Kurdish Democratic
Society Congress (DTK), which reiterated an old demand for the creation of
Kurdish "autonomous regions" and "self-governance bodies". Mr. Erdogan
called Mr. Demirtas' action "treason" [3].
Mr. Demirtas, who has a calm and careful political demeanour, has come to
this position from great desperation. Out of the gaze of the international
media, Turkey's government has been prosecuting a violent war against the
Kurdish people. From last summer, Turkey began a policy of military curfews
[4]and severe crackdowns on the Kurdish towns and cities of south-eastern
Turkey. Turkish tanks have been shelling Cizre, near the Syrian border, and
military operations in Diyarbakir and Silopi escalate each day. The region,
say local journalists, resembles a war zone. Mr. Erdogan has called this
violence a "fight against separatist terror organisations". Diyarbakir mayor
Gultan Kisanak said, "Tanks and heavy weaponry, which are only used in
conventional warfare, are being used by the Turkish armed forces, in areas
where hundreds of thousands of civilians live." Ms. Kisanak, a former
political prisoner and a very popular politician, bravely stood up as an MP
against the murder of 34 Kurdish civilians by the Turkish air force in the
2011 Roboski Massacre. She does not mince words, nor does she exaggerate.
Peace talks
Since 2013, the main military wing of the Kurdish resistance - the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) - has been in talks with the Turkish state for a full
peace agreement. The PKK's leader, Abdullah Ocalan, has been in Imrali
Prison [5]since 1999. The dialogue between the state and the PKK was called
the Imrali process, after the name of the island where Mr. Ocalan's prison
is based. Negotiations based on a 10-point Dolmabahce Agreement proceeded
until this summer, when Mr. Erdogan restarted his belligerent talk. He
rejected as implausible negotiations between the PKK - a "terrorist
organisation," he called it - and the government. He tied the HDP to the
PKK. The HDP responded that it has no "organic" ties to the PKK, although
many former guerrillas are now above ground inside the HDP. The President
rejected the HDP's claim at his Ramzan speech at a mosque in Istanbul's
suburban Atasehir district. He said that the HDP and the PKK have an
"inorganic tie". He wanted war against not only the PKK, an armed force, but
also against the HDP, a respected parliamentary party. Both had to be
dented.
Why has Mr. Erdogan been so eager to go to war against the HDP and the PKK?
There are two reasons: first, the HDP's political successes have prevented
his political ambitions, and second, the PKK's assistance to the Syrian
Kurds had raised the spectre once more of Kurdish statehood or autonomy.
The rise of the HDP inside Turkey dented Mr. Erdogan's personal ambitions to
shift the Turkish political process from parliamentary to presidential rule.
Mr. Erdogan bizarrely cited Hitler's Germany as an example of a successful
presidential system. Victories of the HDP in both parliamentary elections of
2015 prevented Mr. Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) from
earning an absolute majority in Parliament, which would have delivered power
to change the system. Mr. Erdogan's war against the HDP and the media
emerges from political frustration. His attempt to link the HDP to the PKK
was designed to frighten its support base. Assassinations and arrests of
pro-HDP politicians and journalists began in earnest. The killing of human
rights attorney Tahir Elci in late November last year had a chilling effect.
It also drew from Mr. Demirtas this sentiment: "What killed Tahir was not
the state, but statelessness." Loss of faith in Turkey's commitment to its
minority and to multi-party democracy led influential people like Mr.
Demirtas to reconsider autonomy and self-government of the Kurdish areas.
Creation of People's Protection Units
Much of the explanation for the assault on the Kurds is to be found in
Turkey's failed policy in Syria. Battle-hardened PKK fighters turned to help
the Syrian Kurdish fighters in 2011, after the Syrian government of Bashar
al-Assad withdrew from Syria's Kurdish regions in the north. The outcome of
this assistance was the creation of the People's Protection Units (YPG). The
YPG and the PKK have been fierce fighters against the Islamic State (IS),
since it entered the area in 2012. The battlefield advances of the Syrian
Kurds with the PKK have lifted their morale, gained them international
attention, and won them adherents amongst Turkey's non-Kurdish population.
It is the ferocity of their fighting and their progressive social policy
that gave buoyancy to the HDP in the recent elections. Declaration of Syrian
Kurdish autonomy [6]alongside Iraqi Kurdish autonomy (since 1991) put
pressure on Turkey's Kurds to follow suit. This was precisely what Mr.
Erdogan and the Turkish ultra-nationalists despise.
Since October, the Turkish armed forces have hit not only the Kurdish cities
in south-eastern Turkey but also PKK and YPG combatants inside Syria. PKK
leader Cemil Bayik accused the Turkish state of attacking the PKK to "stop
the Kurdish advance against ISIS". This is an accusation that has become
commonplace in the region - that the AKP is implicated in the establishment
of IS. Turkey's border with Syria is porous for entry of IS jihadis and for
IS oil. The latter draws in Mr. Erdogan's son Bilal, who is a director in
the BMZ group that has played a role in the trans-shipment of IS oil to
Malta, and then to Israel. Mr. Bayik's point is strongly made but what
evidence exists supports his assertion. Turkey's ambivalence towards IS also
bedevils the U.S., which uses the Turkish base at Incirlik to bomb IS, and
watches Turkish craft attack the Kurdish forces who are the main ground
troops against the IS.
Turkey is in danger of a civil war, as Mr. Demirtas warned in September. Mr.
Erdogan believes that he can ride the tiger of the anti-Kurdish war. It is
more likely that he will lose control of the situation and plunge Turkey
into irreparable damage. The Turkish government believes it can score a
military victory against the PKK [7], which is why it has been striking PKK
camps inside Turkey, Iraq and Syria. Before the PKK can be destroyed, the
Turkish forces will have to raze the cities and towns of south-eastern
Turkey. They are on the road to doing this - with little international
condemnation of their actions.
Share on Facebook Share
Share on Twitter Tweet
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [8]
[9]
________________________________________
Source URL: http://www.alternet.org/world/turkeys-idiotic-war-kurds
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/vijay-prashad
[2] http://www.thehindu.com
[3]
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/erdogan-accuses-kurdis
h-leader-of-treason/article8043157.ece
[4]
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/turkeys-dangerous-war-on-kurdish-
militants/article8055112.ece
[5]
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/time-now-for-politics-
not-guns-ocalan/article4540298.ece
[6]
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/nato-backs-turkeys-war-on-terror/
article7474938.ece
[7]
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/boost-for-erdogan-as-akp-wins-cri
tical-turkey-vote/article7830186.ece
[8] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Turkey's Idiotic
War on the Kurds
[9] http://www.alternet.org/
[10] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Turkey's Idiotic War on the Kurds
Turkey's Idiotic War on the Kurds
By Vijay Prashad [1] / The Hindu [2]
January 8, 2016
A war of words has broken out between the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, and the leader of the left-wing People's Democratic Party (HDP),
Selahattin Demirtas. Mr. Demirtas, who is Kurdish, leads a party that unites
the Kurdish nationalist forces and Turkey's left-wing groups. Until
recently, he and the HDP have called for more rights for the Kurdish
population within Turkey rather than for the creation of a Kurdish state out
of Turkey. The Kurds in Turkey are spread out across the country, with
Istanbul having the largest concentration (one million Kurds). Nonetheless,
the majority of the Kurdish population lives in the country's south-east,
which has been the epicentre of demands for self-determination. In late
December, Mr. Demirtas backed a resolution passed by the Kurdish Democratic
Society Congress (DTK), which reiterated an old demand for the creation of
Kurdish "autonomous regions" and "self-governance bodies". Mr. Erdogan
called Mr. Demirtas' action "treason" [3].
Mr. Demirtas, who has a calm and careful political demeanour, has come to
this position from great desperation. Out of the gaze of the international
media, Turkey's government has been prosecuting a violent war against the
Kurdish people. From last summer, Turkey began a policy of military curfews
[4]and severe crackdowns on the Kurdish towns and cities of south-eastern
Turkey. Turkish tanks have been shelling Cizre, near the Syrian border, and
military operations in Diyarbakir and Silopi escalate each day. The region,
say local journalists, resembles a war zone. Mr. Erdogan has called this
violence a "fight against separatist terror organisations". Diyarbakir mayor
Gultan Kisanak said, "Tanks and heavy weaponry, which are only used in
conventional warfare, are being used by the Turkish armed forces, in areas
where hundreds of thousands of civilians live." Ms. Kisanak, a former
political prisoner and a very popular politician, bravely stood up as an MP
against the murder of 34 Kurdish civilians by the Turkish air force in the
2011 Roboski Massacre. She does not mince words, nor does she exaggerate.
Peace talks
Since 2013, the main military wing of the Kurdish resistance - the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) - has been in talks with the Turkish state for a full
peace agreement. The PKK's leader, Abdullah Ocalan, has been in Imrali
Prison [5]since 1999. The dialogue between the state and the PKK was called
the Imrali process, after the name of the island where Mr. Ocalan's prison
is based. Negotiations based on a 10-point Dolmabahce Agreement proceeded
until this summer, when Mr. Erdogan restarted his belligerent talk. He
rejected as implausible negotiations between the PKK - a "terrorist
organisation," he called it - and the government. He tied the HDP to the
PKK. The HDP responded that it has no "organic" ties to the PKK, although
many former guerrillas are now above ground inside the HDP. The President
rejected the HDP's claim at his Ramzan speech at a mosque in Istanbul's
suburban Atasehir district. He said that the HDP and the PKK have an
"inorganic tie". He wanted war against not only the PKK, an armed force, but
also against the HDP, a respected parliamentary party. Both had to be
dented.
Why has Mr. Erdogan been so eager to go to war against the HDP and the PKK?
There are two reasons: first, the HDP's political successes have prevented
his political ambitions, and second, the PKK's assistance to the Syrian
Kurds had raised the spectre once more of Kurdish statehood or autonomy.
The rise of the HDP inside Turkey dented Mr. Erdogan's personal ambitions to
shift the Turkish political process from parliamentary to presidential rule.
Mr. Erdogan bizarrely cited Hitler's Germany as an example of a successful
presidential system. Victories of the HDP in both parliamentary elections of
2015 prevented Mr. Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) from
earning an absolute majority in Parliament, which would have delivered power
to change the system. Mr. Erdogan's war against the HDP and the media
emerges from political frustration. His attempt to link the HDP to the PKK
was designed to frighten its support base. Assassinations and arrests of
pro-HDP politicians and journalists began in earnest. The killing of human
rights attorney Tahir Elci in late November last year had a chilling effect.
It also drew from Mr. Demirtas this sentiment: "What killed Tahir was not
the state, but statelessness." Loss of faith in Turkey's commitment to its
minority and to multi-party democracy led influential people like Mr.
Demirtas to reconsider autonomy and self-government of the Kurdish areas.
Creation of People's Protection Units
Much of the explanation for the assault on the Kurds is to be found in
Turkey's failed policy in Syria. Battle-hardened PKK fighters turned to help
the Syrian Kurdish fighters in 2011, after the Syrian government of Bashar
al-Assad withdrew from Syria's Kurdish regions in the north. The outcome of
this assistance was the creation of the People's Protection Units (YPG). The
YPG and the PKK have been fierce fighters against the Islamic State (IS),
since it entered the area in 2012. The battlefield advances of the Syrian
Kurds with the PKK have lifted their morale, gained them international
attention, and won them adherents amongst Turkey's non-Kurdish population.
It is the ferocity of their fighting and their progressive social policy
that gave buoyancy to the HDP in the recent elections. Declaration of Syrian
Kurdish autonomy [6]alongside Iraqi Kurdish autonomy (since 1991) put
pressure on Turkey's Kurds to follow suit. This was precisely what Mr.
Erdogan and the Turkish ultra-nationalists despise.
Since October, the Turkish armed forces have hit not only the Kurdish cities
in south-eastern Turkey but also PKK and YPG combatants inside Syria. PKK
leader Cemil Bayik accused the Turkish state of attacking the PKK to "stop
the Kurdish advance against ISIS". This is an accusation that has become
commonplace in the region - that the AKP is implicated in the establishment
of IS. Turkey's border with Syria is porous for entry of IS jihadis and for
IS oil. The latter draws in Mr. Erdogan's son Bilal, who is a director in
the BMZ group that has played a role in the trans-shipment of IS oil to
Malta, and then to Israel. Mr. Bayik's point is strongly made but what
evidence exists supports his assertion. Turkey's ambivalence towards IS also
bedevils the U.S., which uses the Turkish base at Incirlik to bomb IS, and
watches Turkish craft attack the Kurdish forces who are the main ground
troops against the IS.
Turkey is in danger of a civil war, as Mr. Demirtas warned in September. Mr.
Erdogan believes that he can ride the tiger of the anti-Kurdish war. It is
more likely that he will lose control of the situation and plunge Turkey
into irreparable damage. The Turkish government believes it can score a
military victory against the PKK [7], which is why it has been striking PKK
camps inside Turkey, Iraq and Syria. Before the PKK can be destroyed, the
Turkish forces will have to raze the cities and towns of south-eastern
Turkey. They are on the road to doing this - with little international
condemnation of their actions.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [8]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[9]
Source URL: http://www.alternet.org/world/turkeys-idiotic-war-kurds ;
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/vijay-prashad
[2] http://www.thehindu.com
[3]
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/erdogan-accuses-kurdis
h-leader-of-treason/article8043157.ece
[4]
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/turkeys-dangerous-war-on-kurdish-
militants/article8055112.ece
[5]
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/time-now-for-politics-
not-guns-ocalan/article4540298.ece
[6]
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/nato-backs-turkeys-war-on-terror/
article7474938.ece
[7]
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/boost-for-erdogan-as-akp-wins-cri
tical-turkey-vote/article7830186.ece
[8] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Turkey's Idiotic
War on the Kurds
[9] http://www.alternet.org/
[10] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
