The reconciliation process, ISIS and a new Middle East

Turkey's 1,250-kilometer long southern border has become the frontline of a raging fire even though it has welcomed 2 million refugees without many complaints and almost no outside help. More importantly, these refugees have been placed in camps that offer decent standards of living that can even be appreciated by Western leaders, and unlike many Western countries, they are not compelled to stay in the camps no matter how good the conditions are. Those who have relatives in Turkey and do not want to stay in camps are allowed to stay where they wish, even though this situation poses some risks such as stimulating sore points of society and sparking provocations. While the government is tussling with inconsiderate manipulations from opposition parties, particularly the Republican People's Party (CHP), it is striving to prevent any obstacle from hindering the delicate and important issues of the country's reconstruction process.

The reconciliation process is first and foremost of these vulnerable matters. This project, which calls for the PKK to leave the national borders and return home without arms, is a revolutionary project for Turkey. The government does not regard this matter as something that is limited to Kurds alone, it rather considers it as an extensive reform that can be more easily carried out with the support of all people, as it will make all citizens of the country more free and will remove the country from bureaucratic dictatorship. Therefore, ever since the reconciliation process was publicly announced on Jan. 3, 2013, it has been attacked by an alliance that encapsulates those who want to get back to the old status quo, and the CHP has worked to this end. With continuous disinformation and provocations, this group is trying to interrupt public support, which has reached reasonable levels in terms of contributing to the process.

This alliance perceives the reconciliation process as a power struggle and thinks that re-attaining sovereignty is possible by foiling the process. For example, there is an oddity going on in the Turkish judiciary and I admit that it is hard for Westerners to understand. This is a case that Turkey experiences – an organized structure that infiltrated the top echelons of the judiciary has waged a war against the political will.

This section is attacking the process by manipulating various arguments such as judicial intervention and freedom of thought. For example, when the northern Syrian town of Kobani, which was under the control of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) – the Syrian affiliate of the PKK – was invaded by Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) militants, they attained a very convenient opportunity for manipulation. However, these attempts fizzled out at every return.

We have witnessed some fabricated news as if Turkey set ISIS on Kobani. The PKK, PYD and Turkey's Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) remained indifferent to this even though Turkey opened its doors to some 200,000 Kurds escaping from Kobani, relieving the people of the region that is threatened from both the east and west. Turkey did this while the PKK was threatening it with war. However, PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan eased down the tension with his statement in which he warned that if Rojava fell it would lead to undesirable results for the reconciliation process as is also acknowledged by the government.

The strong public will is a new phenomenon in Turkey that everyone has to understand. Attributing Turkey's 12-year reform process to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) alone is not a true analysis of Turkey. Turkey has an extremely conscious citizenry who have already understood which steps should be taken for the construction of a new Turkey. Since Erdoğan and the government understand this public demand very well, Erdoğan received 51.8 percent of the vote in the presidential election, gaining legitimacy as the dominant party for 75 percent of Turkey's people. What Turkey is experiencing now is a "silent" and gradual popular revolution. Therefore, as long as the opposition parties persist in representing the old Turkey, they also continue to be dead men walking in the new Turkey.

The unfortunate goings on in Syria and Iraq are not surprising at all. Now, Ankara has advised the U.S. and other coalition forces not to make the same mistake as they made in 1991 and 2003, and suggests establishing a comprehensive peace in both countries. It is apparent that this cannot be attained only by wiping out ISIS. Therefore, overthrowing Bashar Assad in Syria and providing Iraq with democratic stability is essential. Turkey's stance is very clear and it supports the idea of a new Middle East.