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Politicians, public voices rise as Ankara steps up war with PKK
Tuesday, 25 August, 2015
WASHINGTON DC –Turkey stepped up security measures on Monday by declaring over 100 security zones in the Kurdish-dominated areas of the country – a replica of the same failed policies of other Turkish governments to suppress Kurdish rebels over the last three decades, as public discontent grows against the government’s war with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News reported that 127 “temporary military secure zones” have been declared in the eastern part of the country, where civilians are banned from entering. The bans will remain in force from 15 days to six months, based on decisions in Ankara and the situation on the ground.
Against the backdrop of disproportionate use of force by Ankara in the urban and mountain areas in its war with PKK, some Kurdish mayors linked to both the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) made declarations of autonomy, angering Ankara.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) responded by arresting the mayor and co-mayors who had made self – governance claims in Turkey’s Kurdish southeast. On Sunday, a court in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir issued arrest warrants against the co-mayors of the city’s central Sur district, Seyid Narin and Fatma Sik Barut.
In a similar incident, a court in the city of Hakkari authorized police to arrest the co-mayors of Hakkari city, Dilek Hatipoglu and Nurullah Ciftci.
According to the Anatolia news agency, they have been charged with attempting “to break up the unity of the state and integrity of the country.”
On Monday, police arrested HDP co-chairman of the Nusaybin district branch, Sabiha Gundu, and the head of the DBP Nusaybin branch, Erhan Dinc, on similar charges.
The renewed attack on the PKK is history repeating itself.
After a short-lived ceasefire broke down in 1993, Turkey launched years-long military operations in the Kurdish dominated southeast and the areas placed under military rule. In the meantime, Kurdish MPs, including the renowned Leyla Zana, were jailed along with thousands of other Kurds, as extra-judicial killings, mass arrests and serious human rights violations were on the rise.
Initiated by AKP, the last Kurdish peace process had been in the making since 2012. But it technically ended last month as the PKK and Ankara resumed violence, which has cost dozens of lives on both sides, including those of civilians.
Hundreds of Kurdish activists and PKK sympathizers have been arrested by Turkish authorities in the last four weeks. Some senior AKP officials call for shutting down the HDP and jailing its charismatic leader.
Understanding its popular base, which includes educated Turks, liberals and the leftists, HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas wisely called on PKK to cease violence unconditionally over the weekend – a clear indication that HDP plans to retain the non- Kurdish votes in the next election.
But PKK’s leader Cemil Bayak has ruled out a unilateral ceasefire. But he admitted that both PKK and Ankara believe that violence will not resolve the problems. The Kurdish insurgent group has made eight unilateral ceasefires since early 2000.
Critics say that rising violence has got to do with the upcoming snap election slated for November, in which the ruling AKP hopes to instigate nationalist votes, after failing to win majority seats in more than a decade, Meanwhile, the HDP was able to gain more than 13 percent of the votes, winning 80 seats, the a historical first for a pro-Kurdish party.
HDP’s entry as a party prevented President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions of changing the constitution towards a more presidential system, with greater powers.
However, polls show that there might be little change in the results of a snap election. According to Ankara-based pollster ORC, the next elections will give AKP a 44.1 percent win, only slightly more than the 41 percent in June.
Despite Erdogan’s longing for a single party government, some believe that the next election could backfire amid the political and security unrest.
All the other winning parties have expressed discontent in the way the country is heading, and even the leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) accused Erdogan of a “civilian coup”.
“Democracy is currently suspended and the constitution is is not working.” “We are faced with a civilian coup,” said CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu on Sunday.
The Turkish public has also added its voice to that of opposition politicians worrying about the country’s course under AKP.
At the funeral of slain Army Captain Ali Alkan, who was killed last week in clashes with the PKK in Sırnak province, his elder brother Mehmet, a lieutenant colonel, raised his voice to question the reignited war against PKK.
“Why do those who have been saying ‘solution’ since yesterday now say war?” he asked at the funeral. “This son of our homeland was just 32 years old. He couldn’t get enough of his country, his beloved ones yet. Who is his murderer?”
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Tuesday, 25 August, 2015
WASHINGTON DC –Turkey stepped up security measures on Monday by declaring over 100 security zones in the Kurdish-dominated areas of the country – a replica of the same failed policies of other Turkish governments to suppress Kurdish rebels over the last three decades, as public discontent grows against the government’s war with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News reported that 127 “temporary military secure zones” have been declared in the eastern part of the country, where civilians are banned from entering. The bans will remain in force from 15 days to six months, based on decisions in Ankara and the situation on the ground.
Against the backdrop of disproportionate use of force by Ankara in the urban and mountain areas in its war with PKK, some Kurdish mayors linked to both the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) made declarations of autonomy, angering Ankara.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) responded by arresting the mayor and co-mayors who had made self – governance claims in Turkey’s Kurdish southeast. On Sunday, a court in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir issued arrest warrants against the co-mayors of the city’s central Sur district, Seyid Narin and Fatma Sik Barut.
In a similar incident, a court in the city of Hakkari authorized police to arrest the co-mayors of Hakkari city, Dilek Hatipoglu and Nurullah Ciftci.
According to the Anatolia news agency, they have been charged with attempting “to break up the unity of the state and integrity of the country.”
On Monday, police arrested HDP co-chairman of the Nusaybin district branch, Sabiha Gundu, and the head of the DBP Nusaybin branch, Erhan Dinc, on similar charges.
The renewed attack on the PKK is history repeating itself.
After a short-lived ceasefire broke down in 1993, Turkey launched years-long military operations in the Kurdish dominated southeast and the areas placed under military rule. In the meantime, Kurdish MPs, including the renowned Leyla Zana, were jailed along with thousands of other Kurds, as extra-judicial killings, mass arrests and serious human rights violations were on the rise.
Initiated by AKP, the last Kurdish peace process had been in the making since 2012. But it technically ended last month as the PKK and Ankara resumed violence, which has cost dozens of lives on both sides, including those of civilians.
Hundreds of Kurdish activists and PKK sympathizers have been arrested by Turkish authorities in the last four weeks. Some senior AKP officials call for shutting down the HDP and jailing its charismatic leader.
Understanding its popular base, which includes educated Turks, liberals and the leftists, HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas wisely called on PKK to cease violence unconditionally over the weekend – a clear indication that HDP plans to retain the non- Kurdish votes in the next election.
But PKK’s leader Cemil Bayak has ruled out a unilateral ceasefire. But he admitted that both PKK and Ankara believe that violence will not resolve the problems. The Kurdish insurgent group has made eight unilateral ceasefires since early 2000.
Critics say that rising violence has got to do with the upcoming snap election slated for November, in which the ruling AKP hopes to instigate nationalist votes, after failing to win majority seats in more than a decade, Meanwhile, the HDP was able to gain more than 13 percent of the votes, winning 80 seats, the a historical first for a pro-Kurdish party.
HDP’s entry as a party prevented President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions of changing the constitution towards a more presidential system, with greater powers.
However, polls show that there might be little change in the results of a snap election. According to Ankara-based pollster ORC, the next elections will give AKP a 44.1 percent win, only slightly more than the 41 percent in June.
Despite Erdogan’s longing for a single party government, some believe that the next election could backfire amid the political and security unrest.
All the other winning parties have expressed discontent in the way the country is heading, and even the leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) accused Erdogan of a “civilian coup”.
“Democracy is currently suspended and the constitution is is not working.” “We are faced with a civilian coup,” said CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu on Sunday.
The Turkish public has also added its voice to that of opposition politicians worrying about the country’s course under AKP.
At the funeral of slain Army Captain Ali Alkan, who was killed last week in clashes with the PKK in Sırnak province, his elder brother Mehmet, a lieutenant colonel, raised his voice to question the reignited war against PKK.
“Why do those who have been saying ‘solution’ since yesterday now say war?” he asked at the funeral. “This son of our homeland was just 32 years old. He couldn’t get enough of his country, his beloved ones yet. Who is his murderer?”
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