The Kurds of Turkey who want nothing more than to live in this country in peace and harmony were one of the key factors in the election victory of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in Sunday's polls.

They had supported the Kurdish nationalist Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in the June 7 elections and were deeply disappointed as the party turned its back on the 13 percent of the voters who gave it 80 seats in Parliament and preferred to deal with the PKK terrorists who started a campaign of violence thus shelving Turkey's peace and reconciliation process.

They realized that the PKK had only one thing on mind: To lead a secessionist movement that would create their own state and use force against all the other Kurds and force them to fall into line. The people detested being pushed around by the PKK and they were angry to see the HDP, which claimed to cherish humanitarian values, do nothing about their plight.

The PKK tried to imitate the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Kurds of Syria to create cantons and autonomous Kurdish zones and thus further their secessionist plans. They created violent scenes in Lice, Cizre, Nusaybin, Yüksekova and many other places.

But the Turkish state showed its muscle by sending its forces into these areas and despite heavy losses turned the situation in favor of the state. Thus we had perfectly secure and fair elections and the PKK could not intimidate the people or sabotage the polling stations.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with opinion leaders from the Kurdish communities in eastern and southeastern Turkey and gave them clear messages that the state would not hesitate to take steps to ensure that the Kurds of Turkey felt they were first class citizens of the Turkish Republic.

The Office of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (DİB) held meetings with the imams and religious leaders of eastern and southeastern Turkey thus convincing them that the Turkish state would spread peace and harmony in the region in line with Islamic beliefs and traditions.

Many Kurds with religious sensitivities went back to voting for the AK Party and thus contributed to the landslide victory.

Now the Turkish state, led by President Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, has a golden opportunity to make the best use of this support.

They should clearly make a distinction between the PKK and the Kurds of Turkey and win the hearts and souls of those who still have sympathies for the PKK. The peace and reconciliation process should resume but not with the PKK or the HDP as long as the HDP people go along with the terrorists.