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Hurriyet, Turkey
Sept 11 2011
Relations with Israel and the Kurdish question
Sunday, September 11, 2011
The rising tension between Turkey and Israel is not the only a problem
of confrontational regional relations, but it may also have serious
implications on domestic politics. All countries in the region used to
manipulate anti-Israeli feelings as a useful tool to hide their
authoritarian politics. Anti-Israeli rhetoric is not only the official
discourse in Iran and Syria, but in all Arab countries, all sorts of
regimes use this rhetoric to fill the gap of oppositionist energies.
Moreover, it is also useful to suppress criticism by labeling it as an
`Israeli conspiracy.' Now, as tension with Israel rises, Turkey seems
to undergo a similar process. Many times, pro-government writers hint
that any opposition to the present government may be related to the
`Israeli lobby' since the new Turkish government policy dares to
challenge Israel bravely.
Recently, the conservative media started to portray the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, as an `Israeli pawn.' In the dark
days of the 1990s, the PKK was portrayed as collaborating with
Armenian ASALA and PKK members were often presented not as Kurds but
as Armenians. In fact, it is an old and major problem to avoid
recognizing the Kurdish problem in all its aspects. In the past, the
main problem was not to differentiate Kurds and the PKK and justify
suppression of Kurds as fighting with PKK. Now it is the opposite, now
the PKK has considerable social support, but this time the Turkish
state and government want to differentiate the PKK to justify
suppression and avoid any chance of negotiation for a peaceful
solution.
Those who portray the PKK as an Israeli pawn either must be seriously
deluded concerning the Kurdish problem or must be thinking about
killing two birds with one stone by despising Israel and the PKK at
the same time. Nevertheless, such rhetoric risks the democracy in
Turkey in two ways. Firstly, it further hinders chances of political
negotiations for a democratic solution and social peace, by
`evilizing' the Kurdish enemy. Secondly, the anti-Israeli feeling and
its anti-Semitic implications are being enforced with the rhetoric of
`war on terror' against the PKK.
Anti-Semitism is not as popular in Turkey as it is in many Muslim
countries, yet the danger exists. Unfortunately, most Turkish
intellectuals are not concerned, but there is a tradition of
anti-Semitism especially among conservative circles (and now among
secular nationalist circles) in Turkey. Many intellectuals define
anti-Semitism only as `hostility toward Jews' and underestimate the
fact that anti-Semitism is also a kind of `reaction toward modernity,'
so therefore an essential aspect of almost all authoritarian politics.
When anti-Kurdish feelings meet anti-Semitism, one must say farewell
to democracy. I hope we do not come to this point.
Sept 11 2011
Relations with Israel and the Kurdish question
Sunday, September 11, 2011
The rising tension between Turkey and Israel is not the only a problem
of confrontational regional relations, but it may also have serious
implications on domestic politics. All countries in the region used to
manipulate anti-Israeli feelings as a useful tool to hide their
authoritarian politics. Anti-Israeli rhetoric is not only the official
discourse in Iran and Syria, but in all Arab countries, all sorts of
regimes use this rhetoric to fill the gap of oppositionist energies.
Moreover, it is also useful to suppress criticism by labeling it as an
`Israeli conspiracy.' Now, as tension with Israel rises, Turkey seems
to undergo a similar process. Many times, pro-government writers hint
that any opposition to the present government may be related to the
`Israeli lobby' since the new Turkish government policy dares to
challenge Israel bravely.
Recently, the conservative media started to portray the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, as an `Israeli pawn.' In the dark
days of the 1990s, the PKK was portrayed as collaborating with
Armenian ASALA and PKK members were often presented not as Kurds but
as Armenians. In fact, it is an old and major problem to avoid
recognizing the Kurdish problem in all its aspects. In the past, the
main problem was not to differentiate Kurds and the PKK and justify
suppression of Kurds as fighting with PKK. Now it is the opposite, now
the PKK has considerable social support, but this time the Turkish
state and government want to differentiate the PKK to justify
suppression and avoid any chance of negotiation for a peaceful
solution.
Those who portray the PKK as an Israeli pawn either must be seriously
deluded concerning the Kurdish problem or must be thinking about
killing two birds with one stone by despising Israel and the PKK at
the same time. Nevertheless, such rhetoric risks the democracy in
Turkey in two ways. Firstly, it further hinders chances of political
negotiations for a democratic solution and social peace, by
`evilizing' the Kurdish enemy. Secondly, the anti-Israeli feeling and
its anti-Semitic implications are being enforced with the rhetoric of
`war on terror' against the PKK.
Anti-Semitism is not as popular in Turkey as it is in many Muslim
countries, yet the danger exists. Unfortunately, most Turkish
intellectuals are not concerned, but there is a tradition of
anti-Semitism especially among conservative circles (and now among
secular nationalist circles) in Turkey. Many intellectuals define
anti-Semitism only as `hostility toward Jews' and underestimate the
fact that anti-Semitism is also a kind of `reaction toward modernity,'
so therefore an essential aspect of almost all authoritarian politics.
When anti-Kurdish feelings meet anti-Semitism, one must say farewell
to democracy. I hope we do not come to this point.