Thomas Merton once said "Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience,". This is a saying that I truly believe reflected the efforts of the reconciliation process between the PKK and the Republic of Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan being the primary architect. Terrorism by definition is "the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims." It is the use of acts to create fear with the primary goals being religious, political, economic or ideological deliberately targeting civilians and the national arms of one particular region or city. When we think of terrorism being an ideological goal, does this not bring the statements made about autonomy by the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) parties of Turkey to mind?The HDP is a left-wing political party established in 2012. The party operates with a co-presidential system in which a chairman and chairwoman are present. The party's current co-chairs are Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ. The party is also in alliance with the DBP, which has been in the media recently, using the language of hate and speaking of autonomy all over the media.The reconciliation process was an ongoing initiative to resolve the Turkish-Kurdish conflict that has been ongoing since 1984. The conflict being described could be said to be one-sided as the PKK terrorist organization has demanded autonomy within the southeast region of Turkey and greater political and cultural rights for the Kurdish population present in Turkey. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, NATO and Turkey.THE FORMATION OF THE PKKTo understand the ongoing conflict better, we must delve deeper into the bloody history of the PKK. The PKK was first founded in 1978 by a group led by Abdullah Öcalan, who is currently serving a life sentence in the prison on İmralı Island in the Marmara Sea. Öcalan was arrested by Turkish security forces in 1999 in Nairobi where he was first sentenced to death, and then later to life imprisonment with Turkey's bid to enter the European Union.As the leader of the PKK, Öcalan himself has admitted to the violent nature of the PKK. Recent testimonies present in the Turkish media show two former PKK militants who had surrendered to the Turkish Armed Forces testifying to how they were brainwashed regarding Turkey. The given testimonies include statements that if they surrendered they would be killed, and what was being told to them were all lies and the true paradise at the moment is one within Turkey.The PKK's ideology was a mix of socialism, Kurdish nationalism and seeking an independent, Marxist-Leninist autonomous state known as Kurdistan. Since Öcalan's capture, the party has shifted to democratic confederalism, which shows influences of communism.Even though the PKK is said to be strongly influenced by liberalism, it has almost always resorted to violence alongside the democratic reconciliation process designed by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party). If the PKK was influenced by liberal ideas, would it not have considered a more peaceful process instead of arms as a means to pursue justice?The first major attack by the PKK against the Turkish Republic was on Nov. 10, 1980. With the PKK inclining towards violence, it had joined forces with the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) terrorist group and bombed the Turkish Consulate in Strasbourg. This was known as the first of a series of "very fruitful collaborations" against the Turkish Republic. The PKK from here onward had totally shifted to becoming a paramilitary group aimed at terrorizing Turkey.From 1984, training camps were present in France and terrorist acts were committed against Turkish governmental buildings and institutions. The PKK can be considered as being in the same league as al-Qaida and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). From 1996 to 1999 14 suicide bombing attacks had taken place. On April 2, 2014, the PKK was included on the list of terrorist organizations by the European Union. In the same year, the U.S. Treasury froze the assets of various branches of the organization.The drug trade was also among the many illegal activities the group was affiliated with. On Oct. 14, 2009, senior members of the PKK, including Murat Karayılan, Ali Rıza Altun and Zübeyir Aydar, were accused of significant foreign narcotics trafficking. Two years later on April 20, 2011, founding members of the PKK Cemil Bayik and Duran Kalkan were designated as specially designated narcotics traffickers (SDNT) under the U.S. Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.ENDING THE CONFLICTOn Dec. 28, 2012, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as prime minister, said that Turkey was in talks with Öcalan. The talks were aimed at concluding all violence between the two groups and for problems to be solved using democratic means. In this period, Turkey had lifted the former ban on the Kurdish language and Kurdish was also allowed to be taught as a foreign language besides English and other European languages.As Öcalan's letter was read, the withdrawal of the PKK from Turkey had begun and was concluded on April 25, 2013. The reconciliation process was going to move to its second stage if the PKK had not ended the cease-fire. The second stage had included constitutional and legal changes for the recognition of human rights and legal changes of the Kurdish population. This had also included many universities being established besides the many universities that have already been set up in the southeast for a brighter future.The lie from the PKK that the reconciliation process had ended with the bombings in Turkey is simply just not true. The first spark of the reconciliation process ending was lit on July 11, 2015 with the PKK literally slicing the process in two for reasons of a "military dam" being built. On July 15, 2015 Bese Hozat from the PKK said the new period of the reconciliation process was "a new paradigm for its peoples' struggle." Thirdly, Bayık had called on the population to arm itself against the Republic of Turkey. The final straw had been broken after the assassination of two innocent Turkish police officers in Ceylanpınar. Since then the PKK has been attacking regions all over Turkey using various methods, including sleeper cells. A shift has been seen from repairing problems through negotiations and peaceful means to a rather more violent set of acts aiming at purposefully ending lives and setting families apart.THE HDP AND THE PKKThe HDP is known to be the political face of the PKK. The HDP has mostly shown itself as a political party with no other motives besides democracy. Their links with the PKK, however, are out in the open. Celebrations took place as the AK Party was not able to get the necessary number of deputies in Parliament to form a government on their own in the June 7 national elections. In the election the HDP had the slogan: "We will not make you the president," directly targeting Erdoğan for wanting to change from the parliamentary system to a presidential system.Instead of trying to calm the situation of conflict, the HDP has been using language to heighten anger and rage, trying to get two groups to break each other apart. HDP Hakkari Deputy Abdullah Zeydan said that the PKK "will drown everyone in its spit if Turkey tries testing its patience." Yüksekdağ had mentioned they had "given their backs and relied on the YPG [People's Protection Units], YPJ [Women's Protection Units] and the PYD [Democratic Union Party]," clearly threatening Turkey with armed retaliation.There are a couple of questions that should be directed at the HDP. Is the HDP going to cut all ties with the terrorist PKK? Why is the HDP against Turkey shifting to a presidential system of government? Will the HDP also severe ties with foreign intelligence services? Is the HDP going to take a more liberal and democratic approach to their politics instead of supporting the PKK and YPG as one of their representatives had said?The upcoming elections on Nov. 1 will be a turning point for Turkey. The AK Party will clearly need to pull out again as the first party with the necessary number of representatives to form a government on their own, as the previous elections had clearly dropped the mask of both the PKK and the HDP showing their true intentions. As Stephen Dunn said: "Although I know it's unfair, I reveal myself one mask at a time." As Erdoğan also articulates, the HDP must decide between terrorism and democracy. Surely the upcoming elections will show its decision.