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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the man practically running the government in Turkey, brought to an end peace talks dubbed the “settlement process” between the government and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned since 1999. Soon after the parliamentary election held on Nov. 1, which returned single-handed power to the Justice and Development Party (AKP), he declared that the fight against the PKK by security forces will continue until the group lays down its weapons and its militants are entirely eliminated.
Since the end of a two-and-a-half-year truce last July, close to 600 people, including over 100 civilians, have died in clashes between security forces and PKK militants, particularly those belonging to the Patriotic Democratic Youth Movement (YDGH), who dug trenches and declared “autonomy” in some of the towns and cities of the Kurdish-majority region. The number of those killed and wounded continues to rise. According to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of the main opposition People's Republican Party, (CHP) nearly 200,000 people have fled from the region. The fear that people of the region are not being treated as equal citizens in Turkey is growing.
The situation in the region has begun to worry Turkey's Western allies too. On Dec. 22, a US State Department spokesperson said, “…we hope to see a renewed commitment to the political process by the Turkish government and the PKK to bring about a just and sustainable peace for all Turkish citizens.” Regarding the ongoing violence in the Southeast, he said, “While we understand Turkey needs to take security measures, it should also take all feasible precautions to protect civilians and to act consistently with its legal obligations.”
A spokesperson for the European Commission, in a statement released on the same day, said, “To avoid further escalation of violence, all political leaders need to call for an immediate ceasefire and return urgently to the Kurdish peace process,” adding that “The peace process remains the only way to solve a conflict that continues to claim far too many lives.” He also stated that “The Turkish authorities are faced with difficult challenges due to the threat posed by the PKK and by other terrorist groups at its borders. But it is crucial to keep the response contained and avoid effects on the local population,” and he reiterated the EU's “willingness to extend its support in order to reach a positive resolution to the ongoing crisis.”
The deadly clashes in the region have alarmed international human rights and conflict resolution groups. Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a report released on Dec. 22, which pointed to the rising number of civilian casualties, called on the Turkish government to stop the disproportionate use of force by the security forces. The International Crisis Group (ICG), in a report titled “A Sisyphean Task? Resuming Turkey-PKK Peace Talks” dated Dec. 17, underlined what all judicious people are fully aware of: “Direct negotiations with the PKK, in parallel with a genuine reform agenda” that addresses “key Kurdish rights demands, such as enshrining mother-tongue education and decentralisation in a new constitution, remains the only viable way to end the three-decade insurgency. Postponement drives up the death toll on both sides and plays into the hands of the common IS [Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant] enemy.”
Reviving the peace talks may be a difficult task, but it is essential. Turkey can neither achieve stability nor preserve its territorial integrity without making real peace with its Kurds, a peace that meets their demands, is compatible with the requirements of a democratic regime and gains the respect and support of Kurds living beyond its borders. Peace with Kurds at home and amicable relations with those abroad is a strategic imperative for Turkey. If nothing else, do Russia's efforts to gain the mentorship of the Kurds in the Middle East, and the requirements of the struggle against the threats posed by ISIL not indicate this imperative? Either a government will take charge that sets aside ideological fixations and realizes this fact, or Turkey as we know it will eventually come to an end. As to the resumption of the peace process, surely none are better placed than Turkey's Western allies to help revive it.