Turkey’s long-running battle with Kurdish separatists is intensifying, again

The Turkish and Kurdish societies are so integrated that a split is perhaps not possible without leaving the smaller Turkey with the same, albeit smaller problem.

In many peoples' minds the realization is growing that the ideal solution is the evolution of the Turkish Republic into a bizonal, bicommual federation, similar to what Turkey is advocating in Cyprus. It is a solution that the Turkish and Kurdish societies are familiar with and will accept, as it is the brainchild of their own leaders.

dog007 says it all in "" pkk with Kurdish political and civil society willl continue their struggle until turkey fully recognise Kurdish identity and grant them their full political and democratic rights in Turkey. """

Kurds must have a block political voice and they deserve a VETO right on all matters that affect their identity and culture. Just like Turkey advocates for the 10% Turkish Cypriot minority in Cyprus.

Whatever the majority Greek Cypriots accept for their own ethnic minority of Turkish Cypriots, the Turkish majority in Turkey will have no choice but to accept to grant the Kurdish ethnic community in Turkey. After all, let us remember that it is the Turkish majority in Turkey that has come "to the rescue" of the small Turkish Cypriot minority suggesting the basic premise of a solution. One might even suggest that for a minority, like the Kurdish one, which has suffered immensely more at the hands of the Turkish majority, and for decades on end, significantly more rights should be awarded.

Last, TheHorizon should remember that the Turkish constitution is not even worth the paper it is written on, from a democrat's viewpoint that is. As the talk instensifies for its mofification, the only serious discussion is the extent of the changes. The above proposed changes are a minimum to safeguard the unity of the country.

Turkey's ultimate goal is to do to Kurds what it did to Assyrians, Armenians, and Greeks, the indigenous people of the territories known today as "Turkey." In other words: Genocide.

Recall that Turkey committed horrendous massacres against Kurds in the Dersim massacres of 1937. First the Armenians and Assyrians, then the Greeks, then the Kurds. The strategy and tactics of Turkey are clear. Yet many writers seem to forget this history.

And Turkey is constantly crying, and writers go along with this, that the European Union is a "Christian club." Yet Turkey just sits there unrepentant that it committted genocide against 99% of its indigenous Christians. If the EU has qualms about letting in a country that has committted terrible crimes against its religious kin, that is not prejudice. That is due caution.
Turkey is a member of several "clubs" that exclude Europeans - associations of Turkic nations such as Kazakhstan and also Islamic associations. Therefore, it should have no complaints.
Turkey's hypocrisy is amazing.

@MCDunkan

When one is full of it he feels in harmony with the stick in question.

Fahrettin Tahir, you may be old and deserve respect for this additional reason, but old age gives you the right neither to distort the truth nor incorrectly quote fellow bloggers.

1st, I said that Cypriots did not intermarry often because of religion, not ethnicity. That is the case all around the world where religion has a more "primitive" presence, such as in our part of the world. For Muslims and Christian alike. Prior to Turkey's active involvement, Cypriots lived peacefully for centuries.

2nd, your idea that "Greeks want to crush Turks" is so wrong that under normal circumastances it should not even be addressed. Taking into account however that I am dealing with a very special kind of individual let me simply suggest to you that the preservation of an enemy (who in reality does not exist) helps justify in your mind your stale positions. Preserving the myth is also very convenient for the fascist machine of Turkey, whereby they can justify the unjustifiable vis-a-vis the Kurds of the Greek Cypriots or the Armenians based on CONVENIENT lies, which the Turkish psyche will easily accept without the need for proof.

Corduene, I am with you 100%, and I pray that your people will find justice soon.

@bilgich who wrote ""Turks do not hate the Kurds. They simply do not want the country to be split, that's all. Give them that guarantee, and all the Kurds' cultural, social rights would be absolutely no problem.""

Spoken just like a majority rep. You will find many Greek Cypriots saying the EXACT same thing.

I have said it before: the two majorities in Cyprus and Turkey have a lot more in common, in terms of interests, than they do with their respective minority communities.

The two problems are similar. But unlike numerous other like problems in the world, in the case of the Cyprus and Kurdish issues the LINK is Turkey. The more she decides to give to the Kurds in Turkey, the less she will have to settle in Cyprus, and vice-versa!

Turkey may not realize it, but she has already shown the basic parameters to the Kurdish problem's solution, as per her "recommendations" in Cyprus. Failure to come to terms with this BASIC FACT & the unavoidable compromise with the Kurds, may lead to bilgich's [and many others'] worst fears of a split materializing.

I love the saying at the end of the article.

Fahrettin Tahir wrote
""We must learn to tell the difference between the different stupidities we face.""

Just to remind you sultan sir to devise a category for my kind as well.

Corduene,
Born in Diyarbekir? How dare you call yourself a Kurd? You are a Turk! Stop the nonsense :)

Kurds MUST demand, yes DEMAND, to attain through the constitutional change at least the same level of communal rights that Turkey advocates for the Turkish-Cypriot minority in Cyprus! If they do, they will control the entire country, which I find not a bad alternative to independence.

A Turkish formula applied to a Turkish problem: simply beautiful!

Many Kurds don't want independence. %20 of Turkey is Kurdish but Kurdish nationalist parties only get %6-7 in elections. They just want cultural rights, they want to embrace their language, history. Turkish state for years denied Kurdish identity That was a big mistake, a mistake of Ataturk. That's why I always insist that we shouldn't call him a national hero. Ataturk is also responsible for the denial of Armenian Genocide. He founded the Turkish Historical Association, which decides what should be taught in schools. Many in the West praise Ataturk for his modernization of Turkey, they are right but he wasn't an innocent man in ethnic issues. He was a very nationalist leader.

Fahrettin Tahir

Sire,
rights spelled out in the London Zurich agreements for the Turkish Cypriot ethnic minority of Cyprus are exactly what Turkey MUST give the Kurds.

And if Turkey does not want, then it MUST BE FORCED TO!

And the London Zurich agreements are what Turkey must also respect in Cyprus. It will by butting out of Cyprus. IT WILL!

Get it Efendimiz? :)

Fahrettin Tahir wrote
""Your people started a conflict and lost it.""

Sultan sir, we did not start the conflict. Turkey's fascists did. They did when they demanded for an 18% ethnic minority the following, and threatened extinction of the majority population if these were not met:

1. veto right for the 18% ethnic minority (even for budget approval)
2. representation in government offices double the minority's size
3. intervention rights

Do we have any doubt about the Turkish majority's reaction when the Kurds, via the constitutional change, achieve all of the above with NATO being granted intervention rights to guarantee their security?

Fahrettin Tahir, the way I see it, a Cyprified Turkey is well on the way.

Corduene, do not expect anything from David Cameron. He will prove to be the greatest political whore the world has ever seen. He will pay lip service to the Kurdish issue. On his mind, there is absolutely nothing other than raw British financial and political interests. I hope you can see that British and Kurdish interests are in absolute non-alignment.

Corduene, Kurds have many options. One is by far the BEST: point to Cyprus, and demand that Kurds, as a 16+million ethnic minority, 22+% of total population, and growing faster than the rest of the population, BE AWARDED THE SAME KIND OF COMMUNITY RIGHTS THAT TURKEY HAS ADVOCATED FOR THE TURKISH-CYPRIOT ETHNIC MINORITY OF CYPRUS. It is the fastest way to justice and a line of argumentation that Turkey will have a huge problem ignoring.

Ask Turkish society, with Cyprus always in the back of your mind, "Are Kurds children of a lesser God?"

Fahrettin Tahir

Sire,

The Washington-Brussels agreement will define a Turko-Kurdish Parliament with Turks and Kurds. I look forward, as Kurds are, to the new Turko-Kurdish constitution.

The Turkish Cypriot parliamentarians will return as soon as the Turkish army removes its sorry butt from the island.

You speak of properties? Sire! It seems old age is getting to you.

I do not have to force anyhting. Things are moving rather nicely in the right direction.

Remember: Turkey will give its Kurdish minority 50% community rights. Turkey will no longer be Turkish! It will become what it should have been as per Mustafa's false promises in the 1920s: a partnership between Kurds and Turks.

Corduene

If even 5% of all Kurds think like you do then the future of Kurdistan or the new Turko-Kurdish federation will be bright indeed! I just wish the fascistic elements of the ruling elite in Turkey were open to embrace you and discuss as equals with you. In following these blogs for some time now I am convinced, despite uncle FT's and similar views' omnipresence, that a healthy portion of Turko-Turkish society is ready to accept a "revolutionary" approach in approaching the Kurdish community of the country, similar to Turkey's own proposals for Cyprus' large ethnic minority. Your way is a wise method to enable the healthy forces within Turkey to reach out to you. It is just a matter of time. And may conventional wisdom be proven wrong in this case, so that things don't have to get any worse before they get better. Just know that I am reading what you have to say with unbilievable thirst for knowledge. I am sure many other bloggers too. And some are really well positioned to effect policy change at various fora.

dog007

It is always other people responsible for wars you start, even Hitler claimed that he loved peace and others forced started the war.

Fact is Iraqi Kurdestan was founded with help from Turkey. Her economy only works thanks to trade with Turkey. And what do they do?

Do they say "thank you" and live in peace?

No, they send terrorists to kill Turks.

Will an autonomous or independent (Turkish) Kurdestan want to live in peace?

Of course not, they will immediately find new reasons to keep fighting wars.

We are not talking about a country in Scandinavia. We are talking about the Islamic Middle East. From Kurdestan, over Somali, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan this region is full of people who find reasons to fight brainless wars and kill their fellow human beings.

An independant Kurdestan would be one more country looking for wars to fight.

anadolulu wrote ""Turkey is in the middle of an irreversible move towards full democracy and the rule of law, and the reign of the pseudo-elite is coming to an end.""

The fear of guys like FT and sgok are legitimate. If I were them I would feel equally terrified. Not just because my classprivileges would be under imminent threat, but most importantly, because of my understanding that a change so fundamental such as the one you predict would mean a major shift in the internal balance of power. So unless you are ready, truly ready, to practise in Turkey what you preach in Cyprus, you may be in for a huge surprise when the Kurds are finally given the true freedom to choose how they would really like to run themselves within the confines of a unified state. Are you advocating equality as in one vote for each and every person in Turkey [such as the one that ostensibly exists today?], or are you willing to give the Kurds what should have been theirs since 1923, when they shed their blood for your freedom, a 50-50% partnership on all the affairs of the state. After all, the fascistic Turkish elite on the way out was the one that devised the 50-50% partnership in Cyprus for an even smaller minority. I guess the only question that is unanswered is which ethnic minority has suffered the most: the Kurds under the Turkish majority or the Turkish Cypriot one under the Greek Cypriot majority? Some room for a comparative politics book here maybe for the Turkish society's sake? For in any objective observer's mind, it is almost ludicrous to compare the immense long-lasting suffering over many decades of the Kurdish nation under the TSK and related power structures to the brief lapse of lack of democracy in Cyprus, caused and provoked by none other than the same Turkish fascistic elements. Your thoughts please.

One last comment/question that reveals prevalent majority thinking in Turkey, one of my personal favorites, and for which I would like to ask you to give us your thoughts: in Cyprus, for an 18% Turkish speaking ethnic minority back in the late 1950s the TSK related fascistic elements that ruled your country at the time insisted that Turkish should be an official language of the Cyprus Republic of 82% Greek speakers. Why, almost 90 years after independence, is Kurdish not an official language of your state? Do you think it should be? If not, do you think your Kurdish compatriots would agree with you?

CakMamat

The PKK could not operate in Iraq as long as Saddam ruled. Now the USA rules, if they choose to leave the mountains to the PKK that is their political decision. It is like Turkey leaving a part of her mountains to Al Qqida. Turkey won't do that, the USA does.

The USA will not let the Turkish army engage in effective operations, just for show purposes. The PKK is instrument of politics the West is not giving up.

There is no evidence that Israel is involved in any way.

Exactly what 'protection' are you referring to? The PKK is not under US protection. The PKK has its base in the Qandil mountains, which stretch along the border with Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. Turkey has made many incursions into northern Iraq, sometimes sending more than 20,000 soldiers, and they have never once encountered American opposition. As I already mentioned, the KDP and PUK (Iraqi Kurdish parties) attempted to dislodge the PKK in 1991 and were roundly defeated. PKK fighters have carved out their territory in northern Iraq with support from no one, and they enjoy protection from no one. In fact the US provides realtime intelligence with the Turkish military on PKK movements, and it is a well-known fact that the CIA/Mossad provided the intelligence for Ocalan's capture.

Blatantly false statements like 'the US protects the PKK' and 'Israel is training PKK fighters' may pass in Turkish newspaper editorials, but here in the real world, where assertions must be backed up with facts, statements like this can be exposed as nonsense.

I agree with Alp182 and Corduene in that an independent Kurdistan would be the ideal solution. Can it be realistically considered however without an all out war between Turks and Kurds? Perhaps a model such as the one promoted over decades in Cyprus by the TSK is more realistic at present in Turkey as well: a kind of bizonal federation that will ensure unity of the country, whereas safeguarding community and human rights of the Kurds.

Such a scenario would allow the poorer Western provinces or the new Kurdish 'state' to develop without a hard-to-accept breakup or resulting in forced migrations of tens of millions of people. Such a step will allow time for the two integral pieces of the new country to develop new found respect for each other, to identify all those forgtten aspects that unite them, and in time they may choose to make their union even stronger or decide on a velvet revolution (which can be agreed cannot happen before, say 50 years have passed).

In the end, all parties involved must accept and agree to basic principles. What is agreed in Turkey must apply in Cyprus as well. And vice-versa. In both cases, we are faced with a large ethnic minority trying to secure its survival and prosperity in a country whose majority population is of an entirely different ethnicity and speaks a different language.

I am convinced of one thing: true denmocracy in Turkey will come at a significant 'cost', unbearable and unacceptable perhaps, as seen through the eyes of the traditional Turkish elite (military and religious). That 'cost' however is fundamental, a necessary prerequisite, in that it translates into rights and freedoms that the Kurds, and other minorities, should have been enjoying for decades now.

It takes but one blogger to reaffirm the sneaky suspicion almost all of us have that the Turkish elite (and self-appointed reps) think in terms of raw power. History has taught us repeatedly a thing or two about those among us who choose to live by the sword.

BenLondon, I agree with your last post on Cyprus. It was not however the entire period of 1963-1974 one of intercommuncal fighting. Essentially 1963 and 1964 were the climax. The rest of the period Turkey used as a buffer leading to the pre-planned invasion. Read below a portion of what a Cypriot scholar has to say, and I urge Turkish voices to disprove it:

On July 13, 1974 the two constitutional experts, M. Dekleris and O. Alticacti from Greece and Turkey respectively, finalized a draft for a comprehensive settlement on the Cyprus problem which was to be ratified on July 16, 1974 [one day after the coup, 4 days before the invasion] by the two negotiators, G. Clerides and R. Denktash. This agreement was on the basis of a unitary state with elements of local and communal self-administration on issues of low level politics. But the media at the time was not focusing on the prospect of an imminent solution of the Cyprus problem, but on the clash between President Makarios and the Greek Junta.

On July 15, 1974 the Greek Junta overthrew Makarios. The putschist regime in Nicosia announced “that the change was an internal affair of the Greeks of Cyprus only.” Furthermore, it was announced that the intercommunal negotiations would be continued in order to find a solution on the already agreed and existing basis. The Turkish-Cypriot leader R. Denktash also stated (initially) that what happened was “an internal affair of the Greek Cypriots." For Ankara though, it was a window of opportunity to be exploited as both the Greek Junta in Athens and the putschist Sampson regime in Nicosia were isolated and under strong international criticism.

If interested, please see beloe Dr. Theofanous entire article:
http://www.rcenter.intercol.edu/Newsletter/In%20Depth/volume%206%20issue...

Corduene

The EU will always, at least for the foreseable future, allow America to lead on issues such as the Kurdish plight for freedom and democracy. Win over American strategists through your initiatives or Turkey's mistakes, and Europe will follow. It always does unfortunately.

In my mind PKK or its political wing must decide upon a clear message to communicate to all. A crystal clear message directed to the Turkish leaders, the USA, the EU, Iraq's Kurdistan, the Muslim world, the United Nations. This clear message must be realistic in that it cannot threaten the unity of the Turkish Republic. It must also be easily conveyed and understood by all parties. It must be succinct and powerful.

Such as:

We, the Kurds of Turkey, through peaceful means wish to alter the constitution of the country to allow us more freedoms and rights at the community level. As to the extend of the changes, we cannot accept less in terms of regional autonomy and community rights than the Turkish Republic advocates for the Turkish Cypriot minority community of the Cyprus Republic.

We, the Kurds of Turkey, will cease all armed struggles until a new constitution has been agreed for Turkey similar to the constitution of the Cyprus Republic of 1960, a constitution that takes into account all minorities of the state, especially the largest one circa 20% of total population.

We will accept any of the EU, UN, US or NATO to oversee the smooth transition and implementation of the new agreement.

Clear! Succinct! Powerful! Fair! Long overdue!
Kurds' unity in purpose is a prerequisite for success.