Kurdish fighting in Cizre heralds future woes


The latest events in the southeastern city of Cizre displayed the complexities of the situation in southeastern Turkey and that even if Turks and Kurds sort out their differences through the reconciliation process, we will still need to see to it that Kurds in Turkey also sort out their own differences among themselves.The events in Cizre over the weekend were a warning call that while the PKK is a formidable element in the southeastern equation, there are other Kurdish groups that also call the cards in the region. Militants of the PKK known as the Patriotic Democratic Youth Movement attacked followers of the pro-Hizbullah Free-Cause Party (HÜDA PAR) in the Nur district of Cizre and three people died in the armed clashes. The PKK militants dug hedges around the Nur district preventing security forces from intervening in the fighting. It took a whole day for the security forces to overcome the barriers and put an end to the clashes.There has been friction and tension between the PKK and HÜDA PAR followers for quite some time, but it seems now that those who have seen that they cannot halt the reconciliation process by pitting Turks against Kurds has now opted for a new strategy of creating discord and divisions among Kurds and creating more turmoil in the region. The aim is to trigger infighting among Kurds with PKK sympathies and Kurds with religious sensitivities.The PKK and HÜDA PAR youths have clashed in Diyarbakır at Dicle University in the past, but this time the clashes were communal and have drawn blood, which also means the threat of an everlasting blood feud.The incidents are not only designed to stall the current process but also to sow the seeds of enmity that will be used to destabilize eastern and southeastern Turkey well after the reconciliation process is completed.It is no coincidence that such events surface as Turkey is entering the parliamentary elections season. We will unfortunately be subjected to all kinds of provocations as election campaigns start in early spring 2015.The government of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has to see the storm on the horizon and prepare for it. We cannot just concentrate on PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HDP) and PKK militants holed up in the mountains in Turkey and Northern Iraq as well as the PKK militants active in the cities of southeastern Turkey. We need to pay attention to groups like pro-Hizbullah HÜDA PAR and also the Kurdish village guards who have been fighting against the PKK on the side of our security forces for nearly two decades. The clashes and casualties in Cizre have shown this.