Failed attempts to spark a civil war


Turkey again experienced a manipulated crisis that did not break out with a natural course of events, suffered the loss of more than 30 Kurdish citizens and vandalism in various provinces including Diyarbakır, Van, Bitlis, Siirt and Mardin. In southeastern and southern provinces, citizens of Kurdish origin were murdered by assailants who are also of Kurdish origin. Of course these incidents mostly alarmed Kurds since a peaceful atmosphere has been prevailing in the region for the last two years. Within these two years there have been no heart-wrenching funerals of military officers or of PKK members and no mothers have shed any tears.People were tortured and killed just because they were religious or had a beard. For months, the PKK was creating tension in the region, but unfortunately it was not noticed in time and precautionary measures were not taken against it. Western and anti-government national media outlets that report parallel to Western media outlets focused on misleading reports claiming that Turkey was providing aid to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). As Turkey insisted on its own strategy regarding the crisis in Syria and rejected intervening as a military force, the intensity of the misleading media reports increased.Those knowing the details of the war would expect an ISIS attack in Kobani, one of the three Kurdish cantons in Syria. And some claims alleging that Turkey wants to clear Kurds out of this region through ISIS began to be whispered. The government helped the Syrian branch of the PKK, an organization that is still in a fight with Turkey, by taking the risk of the nationalists' assaults. However, this aid was conducted with only humanitarian concerns. Some 651 trucks of aid were sent to the region from Turkey, and Turkey specially requested help from the U.S. on the matter of the latest airstrikes. Nearly all of the civil population in Kobani was transferred to camps by Turkey.The contradictions were overwhelming. The PKK and the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) both asked for Turkey's help but also remarked that they would recognize it as a declaration of war if Turkey crossed the border. The HDP voted against the motion to deploy troops and announced that they would accept the motion as an invasion. The PKK and HDP, which caused a complete mess in Turkey on the grounds that Turkey did not provide aid, actually reacted against every possible kind of help. Even if there is a cease-fire, it is obvious that equipping an unreliable organization that constantly threatens Turkey with heavy weapons is impossible.Evidently, it is wanted that Turkey be trapped by the Kobani issue. It was implied that if the country did not accept to provide ground forces, it would have to face a civil war. The PKK and HDP became a tool for that. A political party called people to demonstrate on the streets and dozens of people were killed as a result. The PKK's imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan, interfered with the course of events again and strictly warned the party. After all damage was done, the HDP announced that they could solve this problem with a negotiation since the government's attitude is positive. Then why didn't they try this option before calling everyone to protest on the streets? What has changed?I am not very fond of conspiracy theories but the world is not a bed of roses. They have attempted to suppress Turkey by using the crisis in Kobani as an excuse. The PKK was already inclined to end the reconciliation process that is going on by the will of Öcalan since the very beginning. They wanted to try and see their potential by breaking out a civil war. But there is bad news for them - this plan did not succeed. Public authority was not shattered and the government did not fall into the trap and give up on the reconciliation process. Of course those engaging in vandalism will be harshly punished within the limits of the law. It has not been noticed so far that Turkey cannot be manipulated to cause trouble for Kurds with provocations.The public seems to have overcome the provocation as well. The Turkish public consists of experienced and wise citizens. They saw many similar incidents in the past and now recognize attempts at provocation and do not forget common sense. Turkey wants to be democratized and make peace with its citizens of Kurdish, Armenian and other origins. And it is against the present treatment of the Middle East issue. It is as simple as that. If our allies would understand and respect it, it would be much easier to collaborate.