What Turkey experienced in the last 3 days

Last week, Turkey returned from the threshold of hell as the indignation that followed the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham's (ISIS) invasion of Kobani, also known as Ayn al-Arab, in Syria, triggered a great and weird unrest among Turkey's Kurds. Turkey witnessed a series of blood and thunder incidents that claimed the lives of a total of 33 people as the PKK set the streets on fire and burned people.

Well, how did we get to this point? How did things turn into a blaze in a split second and how did they calm down so suddenly? Would we have not experienced this had the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair, Selahattin Demirtaş, not incited people to pour out onto the streets in support of Kobani? How did things settle down after the same Demirtaş conveyed Abdullah Öcalan's call for sobriety?

Last week I went to Diyarbakır to observe everything on site and to talk with the parties individually. I interviewed three parties to get firsthand accounts. I met Hatip Dicle and Selma Irmak, co-chairs of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), to understand the motives that pushed the PKK onto the streets. I had a conversation with Sıdkı Zilan, a lawyer of Turkish Hezbollah's main case, to understand the Free Cause Party (Hüda-Par). I also held talks with Diyarbakır's governor and the chief of police to understand the government reflexes and to see the measures that were taken.

Hatip Dicle and Selma Irmak talked about the PKK's grassroots and the climbing tension in the past days. Although they were rather anxious about the violence, they said the sensitivity regarding Kobani should be acknowledged. They touched upon the existence of an uncontrollable youth mass that they called a "storm youth," underscoring this group might be manipulated by foreign powers that want to destabilize Turkey or the new actors of the deep state.

Sıdkı Zilan, who is known for his affinity with the Hüda-Par, denied the allegations that Hüda-Par nourishes intimacy toward ISIS. He reminded me that the PKK previously sympathized with al-Nusra Front and asserted that the Hüda-Par did not take a tough line against the organization in order to avoid facing both the PKK and ISIS in the region.

I once again saw that the state's position grew very positively when I met Diyarbakır Governor Hüseyin Aksoy, and Chief of Police Halis Böğürcü. Aksoy is a well-qualified bureaucrat who studied human rights for a long time. He was appointed to Diyarbakır just three weeks ago, however, he is very experienced as he previously served in cities that witnessed similar clashes. He emphasized the importance of dialogue and control while describing the incidents. He told me that the tanks would withdraw from the streets a few hours after our conversation. I met him on Friday evening and the tanks pulled out Saturday morning. Halis Böğürcü touched upon the old state's perspective that considered the local community as the enemy and said that every dead person is valuable for them regardless of their nationality. He said that he held talks both with the PKK and Hüda-Par and they respected the right to protest, however, they had to intervene if the security of life and property was threatened.

Then we went to the crisis management center that was established at Diyarbakır's police headquarters. When the incidents broke out there, the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), Gendarmerie General Command and General Staff came together and monitored the incidents closely through a surveillance system that watches the whole city and deployed intervention teams to the points that were in danger. But most of the city surveillance cameras were damaged amid the violence.

In brief, the three-day incidents in Turkey gave the impression of a civil war, however, thanks to the reconciliation process, Öcalan's call for sobriety and the state's quick reaction, the crisis was under control in three days despite substantial damages. The remarkable progress that Turkey has made, as well as the fact that civilian politics and politicians have grown stronger, played an important role in this successful crisis management. If the old Turkey persisted, the tanks would not have withdrawn from Diyarbakır, politics would have been crippled and, worse still a coup could have been staged. Some may have desired to see this, or perhaps they failed in their attempts to bring back the old Turkey.