Looking at Turkey's most interesting election
Although several media outlets present the HDP as a peaceful party and the new blood Turkey needs, Turkish people will not forget the party's call prior to Oct. 6-8 events, which resulted in 52 deaths
An interesting political composition has been formed only two months before the upcoming general elections. The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) has started a war with the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which had managed to establish a peaceful atmosphere for the first time in 150 years. Interestingly, those praising the heavy attacks from the HDP and the PKK headquarters in northern Iraq's Qandil Mountains against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, are the groups in charge of the PKK insurgency in the country, which has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people.While Kurdish identity was rejected, the Kurdish language was banned and thousands of unidentified murders were committed in southeastern Turkey during the AK Party period, the nationalist, elitist and secularist strata of society, which legitimized those inhumane activities, targeted Kurds and committed hate crimes with their racist discourse, but have recently leaned toward HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş. The Gülen Movement's media outlets and nongovernmental organizations, and the prosecutors and judges affiliated with movement who have jailed 800 Kurds for concocted reasons since 2009 and paralyzed the political wing of the PKK, are also supporting the HDP in its aim to exceed the 10 percent election threshold in the June 7 elections.
It can be said that politics is a slippery slope. Any kind of alliance can be cynically formed. But still, the alliance between the HDP and the segments that reject Kurds and hate each other does not seem natural. As the HDP has been involved in the process of normalization thanks to the AK Party, and has started to address the general public to attract votes, it is not contributing to the reconciliation process and is now allying with the groups against the process.
Elite media outlets and members of the Gülen Movement try to present the HDP and Demirtaş as a peace party, but this is not the case. The HDP, which made a call for demonstrations that resulted in 52 casualties only six months ago and has not given up its discourse of war, is not in sync with the political and sociological realities. An alliance that caused the Kurdish issue, caused their deaths and denied their existence for years has suddenly become pro-Kurdish against the will to end the denial of Kurdish existence.
There are some signals that this alliance is trying to influence politics by organizing another violent event similar to the Oct. 6-8 case after the elections. While the PKK leadership in the Qandil Mountains is not keeping the promises it has made, and has not taken any progressive step since May 8, 2013, it lays all the burden of the process on the government and leaves the AK Party alone with all the costs of the process without gathering the congress before the elections, and maybe it will never be gathered at all. It is trying to shift votes to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and to form a coalition between the MHP, Felicity Party and Great Union Party (BBP). Meanwhile, the "parallel state" and elite media groups have devoted themselves to increasing the HDP's votes and silencing the Republican People's Party (CHP) in order to shift some votes to the HDP.
What is the source of this sudden concern for Kurds from those whose hands are covered in Kurdish blood that have not yet been cleaned? According to them, organizing an event similar to the Oct. 6-8 demonstrations after the elections would be enough to end the AK Party. They are considering completing the process of overthrowing the AK Party following an attempt at causing a civil war, for which they would lay the burden on the government. It is an evil strategy that should not be underrated.
Unfortunately, the PKK leadership and HDP are now playing the leading roles in the "coup mechanics" mentioned by the imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. Davutoğlu's remarks on the Oct. 6-8 demonstrations, that: "They tried to sink us up to our heads," is still valid. On Oct. 6-8, a civil war was attempted in dozens of Turkish provinces upon the call of the HDP and Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) while the government was preparing to take considerable steps regarding the reconciliation process. Some 52 citizens were killed in the incidents. The process would certainly be suspended in any other country, or more probably, a harsh period of conflict might break out in the face of such violent incidents. However, the AK Party government and Erdoğan persevered and did not put a stop to the process.
There is no guarantee that the HDP or the PKK would not invoke a similar provocation again. And today, all coup proponents in Turkey, the outlets of the deep state and "parallel structure" support the HDP. In the face of all these developments, one cannot help asking whether they have made a secret agreement that we do not know about.
It can be said that politics is a slippery slope. Any kind of alliance can be cynically formed. But still, the alliance between the HDP and the segments that reject Kurds and hate each other does not seem natural. As the HDP has been involved in the process of normalization thanks to the AK Party, and has started to address the general public to attract votes, it is not contributing to the reconciliation process and is now allying with the groups against the process.
Elite media outlets and members of the Gülen Movement try to present the HDP and Demirtaş as a peace party, but this is not the case. The HDP, which made a call for demonstrations that resulted in 52 casualties only six months ago and has not given up its discourse of war, is not in sync with the political and sociological realities. An alliance that caused the Kurdish issue, caused their deaths and denied their existence for years has suddenly become pro-Kurdish against the will to end the denial of Kurdish existence.
There are some signals that this alliance is trying to influence politics by organizing another violent event similar to the Oct. 6-8 case after the elections. While the PKK leadership in the Qandil Mountains is not keeping the promises it has made, and has not taken any progressive step since May 8, 2013, it lays all the burden of the process on the government and leaves the AK Party alone with all the costs of the process without gathering the congress before the elections, and maybe it will never be gathered at all. It is trying to shift votes to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and to form a coalition between the MHP, Felicity Party and Great Union Party (BBP). Meanwhile, the "parallel state" and elite media groups have devoted themselves to increasing the HDP's votes and silencing the Republican People's Party (CHP) in order to shift some votes to the HDP.
What is the source of this sudden concern for Kurds from those whose hands are covered in Kurdish blood that have not yet been cleaned? According to them, organizing an event similar to the Oct. 6-8 demonstrations after the elections would be enough to end the AK Party. They are considering completing the process of overthrowing the AK Party following an attempt at causing a civil war, for which they would lay the burden on the government. It is an evil strategy that should not be underrated.
Unfortunately, the PKK leadership and HDP are now playing the leading roles in the "coup mechanics" mentioned by the imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. Davutoğlu's remarks on the Oct. 6-8 demonstrations, that: "They tried to sink us up to our heads," is still valid. On Oct. 6-8, a civil war was attempted in dozens of Turkish provinces upon the call of the HDP and Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) while the government was preparing to take considerable steps regarding the reconciliation process. Some 52 citizens were killed in the incidents. The process would certainly be suspended in any other country, or more probably, a harsh period of conflict might break out in the face of such violent incidents. However, the AK Party government and Erdoğan persevered and did not put a stop to the process.
There is no guarantee that the HDP or the PKK would not invoke a similar provocation again. And today, all coup proponents in Turkey, the outlets of the deep state and "parallel structure" support the HDP. In the face of all these developments, one cannot help asking whether they have made a secret agreement that we do not know about.
Last Update: March 27, 2015 01:28