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Today's Zaman, Turkey
Jan 2 2013
Settlement process is the new Turkey's visa
MARKAR ESAYAN
[email protected]
The peace talks with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that started
in 2009 meant the state abandoned its 35-year-long approach on how to
deal with the issue. While this was hard enough, in fact something
more than this was done.
Making a new deal with the Kurds based on equality meant the state
would destroy the backbone of the mindset created by the Committee of
Union and Progress (CUP) in 1913 and subsequently adopted by Mustafa
Kemal Atatürk in the 1924 constitution.
This, however, would lead to a problem: Would people want to be
regarded as equal to the Kurds and all the others? This was an
important problem, because the state would be formed on the answer to
this question.
In fact, it is as if we have returned to the critical period between
1919 and 1924. As is known, Atatürk promised autonomy and federation
for the Kurds in this period. The first parliament and the first
constitution in 1921 were based on quite democratic principles.
The achievement of unity required a legitimate basis for Atatürk's
leadership. The Kurds were also accomplices in the Armenian massacres
of 1915. The main argument raised by the CUP just before 1915 was that
if the Armenians were not annihilated, they would cooperate with the
Russians and drive the Turks and Kurds away from Anatolia. The Kurds
were fooled by this argument; as a result, they were used to eliminate
their historical neighbors.
So why was this promise made to the Kurds during the establishment of
the new state, and why was it forgotten? In the critical period up to
the consolidation of Atatürk's leadership, the Kurds were fooled by a
promise of equality. In 1925, the state started a policy of violence
and repression against the Kurds. And this never ceased; this policy
remained in effect up until 2009.
What the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was trying to do
with the settlement process was address this historical trauma and
base the relationship on mutual trust and equality. To do this, the
state apparatus established by the mindset of 1924 had to be abandoned
and replaced with a brand new approach.
Actually, the fact that 40,000 people died in the 35-year-long
conflict and the parties were unable to defeat each other shows that
Turks and Kurds are meant to be together. However, the Kurds do not
accept coexistence through assimilation or partial measures, including
development programs in the east. They demand institutionalized
equality through a transformation of the mindset and approach. The
formula here is the mutual needs of all social segments in Turkey that
tie them together, a new institution and establishment that will
introduce a social contract through a new constitution and bring the
state up to the present day. These are the main terms of the deal
between the state and PKK leader Abdullah Ã-calan. The remaining things
are technical issues.
Now this initiative is meeting with serious resistance from the
pro-status quo circles in Turkey and the world. There is still a
nationalist approach which suggests that the PKK should be finished
first and then forced to sit at the negotiation table. The PKK may be
a terrorist organization. But the reason for its emergence is the
policy of discrimination. Therefore, it enjoys wide popular support.
Former Chief of General Staff Ä°lker BaÅ?buÄ? said, `We finished the PKK
five times in 26 years.' This was true, but the PKK was never truly
finished.
A paradigm shift in the state to deal with the PKK and Kurdish issues
was inevitable, so what the government did was right. The steps taken
may be insufficient. But the path is right. Other cases in the world
prove this. However, the fact that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an
is being targeted now shows that the real issue is the settlement
process, because the final exit from the old Turkey and its power
balance depends on the achievement of a Turkish-Kurdish settlement.
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/markar-esayan_335573_settlement-process-is-the-new-turkeys-visa.html
Jan 2 2013
Settlement process is the new Turkey's visa
MARKAR ESAYAN
[email protected]
The peace talks with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that started
in 2009 meant the state abandoned its 35-year-long approach on how to
deal with the issue. While this was hard enough, in fact something
more than this was done.
Making a new deal with the Kurds based on equality meant the state
would destroy the backbone of the mindset created by the Committee of
Union and Progress (CUP) in 1913 and subsequently adopted by Mustafa
Kemal Atatürk in the 1924 constitution.
This, however, would lead to a problem: Would people want to be
regarded as equal to the Kurds and all the others? This was an
important problem, because the state would be formed on the answer to
this question.
In fact, it is as if we have returned to the critical period between
1919 and 1924. As is known, Atatürk promised autonomy and federation
for the Kurds in this period. The first parliament and the first
constitution in 1921 were based on quite democratic principles.
The achievement of unity required a legitimate basis for Atatürk's
leadership. The Kurds were also accomplices in the Armenian massacres
of 1915. The main argument raised by the CUP just before 1915 was that
if the Armenians were not annihilated, they would cooperate with the
Russians and drive the Turks and Kurds away from Anatolia. The Kurds
were fooled by this argument; as a result, they were used to eliminate
their historical neighbors.
So why was this promise made to the Kurds during the establishment of
the new state, and why was it forgotten? In the critical period up to
the consolidation of Atatürk's leadership, the Kurds were fooled by a
promise of equality. In 1925, the state started a policy of violence
and repression against the Kurds. And this never ceased; this policy
remained in effect up until 2009.
What the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was trying to do
with the settlement process was address this historical trauma and
base the relationship on mutual trust and equality. To do this, the
state apparatus established by the mindset of 1924 had to be abandoned
and replaced with a brand new approach.
Actually, the fact that 40,000 people died in the 35-year-long
conflict and the parties were unable to defeat each other shows that
Turks and Kurds are meant to be together. However, the Kurds do not
accept coexistence through assimilation or partial measures, including
development programs in the east. They demand institutionalized
equality through a transformation of the mindset and approach. The
formula here is the mutual needs of all social segments in Turkey that
tie them together, a new institution and establishment that will
introduce a social contract through a new constitution and bring the
state up to the present day. These are the main terms of the deal
between the state and PKK leader Abdullah Ã-calan. The remaining things
are technical issues.
Now this initiative is meeting with serious resistance from the
pro-status quo circles in Turkey and the world. There is still a
nationalist approach which suggests that the PKK should be finished
first and then forced to sit at the negotiation table. The PKK may be
a terrorist organization. But the reason for its emergence is the
policy of discrimination. Therefore, it enjoys wide popular support.
Former Chief of General Staff Ä°lker BaÅ?buÄ? said, `We finished the PKK
five times in 26 years.' This was true, but the PKK was never truly
finished.
A paradigm shift in the state to deal with the PKK and Kurdish issues
was inevitable, so what the government did was right. The steps taken
may be insufficient. But the path is right. Other cases in the world
prove this. However, the fact that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an
is being targeted now shows that the real issue is the settlement
process, because the final exit from the old Turkey and its power
balance depends on the achievement of a Turkish-Kurdish settlement.
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/markar-esayan_335573_settlement-process-is-the-new-turkeys-visa.html