Whence whither we have come. Only a few months ago on the eve of the June 7 elections, the Kurdish political movement adopted an outstanding policy of being integrated into Turkey for the first time, and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş was emphasizing that they needed to pass the 10 percent election threshold to pave a path leading to peace, adding that reconciliation lies behind the build-up of politics. For the first time, a pro-Kurdish party enjoyed support from mainstream media and Turkish segments of society. The HDP received 13 percent of the vote in the election, which is a historic rate for the movement. We firstly assumed that the base of the movement would be relieved and the HDP would eventually turn into an active agent since all the political channels were opened. Demirtaş himself had previously said the disaster scenarios would come true and it would be impossible to control the base if the party remained below the threshold.

However, while it was expected that the 13 percent the party received would introduce relief, it turned out to be the exact opposite. Just after the elections, the HDP suddenly retreated into silence. The outlawed PKK kicked off a war that is at least as intense and violent as the incidents before the reconciliation process. And lastly, the recent clashes in Dağlıca, which started Sunday night and continued through Monday, have shown that the violence has reached its peak.

Dozens were killed and injured in Dağlıca. The PKK is strangling peace and acting like it is playing its last cards against those willing to resolve the issue. This is nearly an eclipse of reason. Blood and death are pouring forth from the foothills of the Qandil Mountains, where the headquarters of the PKK is located.

PKK terror has reached such a degree that the whole of Turkey poured into the streets on Sunday night to condemn terror. Young soldiers are being killed, and this has no ground that cannot be resolved through negotiation. The PKK is not able to come up with an excuse to cover its violence now since the despotic atmosphere in the old Turkey has already been eradicated. During the 1990s, far from receiving 13 percent of the votes, Kurdish deputies in Parliament were sent to prison. But today, all sorts of political paths are open. Turkey has made great progress in the Kurdish question. A pro-Kurdish party is represented in Parliament for unresolved problems and above all, the ruling party came to the table with the PKK for reconciliation. What can be the excuse of the leaders of the PKK for all the violence?

What about what Demirtaş has said that ended up being vain? Didn't he say that everything would be fine after the HDP passed the election threshold? Isn't he the one asserting that the things we see today would be experienced if the HDP remained under the threshold? If the HDP represents the base of the PKK and if the political channel is opened to the HDP, the HDP should say no to this violence before everyone. It is not easy under the authority and domination of the PKK leadership in the Qandil Mountains, but becoming an active agent is not a simple task either. It requires taking risks and showing courage. Didn't President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's act of starting the reconciliation process set one of the greatest examples of risk and courage?

The way to say enough to the PKK passes through leaving the PKK alone. Now the political actors in Turkey must set aside political polarization and display a common attitude against violence. This violence cannot possibly represent any Kurdish citizen. So as not to aggrieve Kurds who have already suffered from unjust treatment for years, cowardice and trivial calculations must be ended.