DATE=2/17/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=KURDS OFFER TO TURKEY
NUMBER=5-45477
BYLINE=ED WARNER
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The fighting has ended in southeastern Turkey,
and the rebel Kurds say they want peace with
democracy. The Turkish Government has not formally
responded other than demanding that the Kurds disarm.
But there are signs the Turkish majority may finally
be willing to accept Kurdish participation in the
political and cultural life of the country. That would
bring to a close a 15-year armed conflict that has
taken 30-thousand lives, kept Turkey in turmoil, and
hurt its reputation abroad. V-O-A's Ed Warner in
Washington reports some views of a new hopeful period.
TEXT: Convening in a cave somewhere across the
Turkish border in Iraq, the armed Kurdish rebels, or
P-K-K, made a momentous decision in January: They
would stop fighting the Turkish Government.
That is contingent, they emphasized, on sparing the
life of their leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who was
captured in Kenya a year ago. Although he has been
condemned to death, the government awaits a review of
his sentence by the European Court of Human Rights.
Since Turkey is anxious to join the European Union,
the sentence is not expected to be carried out.
This is a dramatic development, says Dogu Ergil [`doh-
goo `her-gill], professor of political science at the
University of Ankara:
/// FIRST ERGIL ACT ///
It seems that the P-K-K proper has relinquished
armed struggle, giving up its claim to land and
independent social formation, and is now taking
on the task of engaging in conventional politics
for the promotion of Kurdish rights.
/// END ACT ///
Professor Ergil says the P-K-K prevented the emergence
of more peaceful Kurdish groups that would have
preferred a political solution. P-K-K violence was
matched by the Turkish Government, which was
determined to suppress any overt display of Kurdish
identity:
/// SECOND ERGIL ACT ///
There was a convergence of opinion on both
sides. Neither the Turkish Government nor the P-
K-K evinced (showed) the determination to take
on other methods of dealing with the problem,
which I have always defended (considered) a
social conflict because anything that involves
so many people is a wider conflict, which has to
be tackled with other methods than mere
violence.
/// END ACT ///
Officially, the Turkish Government has not responded
to the P-K-K offer. It still calls the rebels
terrorists and insists on unconditional surrender. But
there are signs here and there of compromise on the
Kurdish issue. For instance, Foreign Minister Ismail
Cem recently said the ban on Kurdish language
television broadcasts should be lifted.
Turkish obduracy is not what it seems, says Michael
Gunter, professor of political science at Tennessee
Technological University:
/// FIRST GUNTER ACT ///
This is the opening gambit of the Turkish
Government, but we have seen an implicit process
of bargaining going on ever since Ocalan's
capture. We will continue to see this bargaining
going on between the two, and I look forward to
it because it means the democratic process has
actually begun.
/// END ACT //
Times change, says Professor Gunter, and what he calls
notorious terrorists like Nelson Mandela and Yasser
Arafat end up winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Can
Ocalan undergo a similar conversion? he asks. Given
peace and democracy, he says, anything is possible:
/// SECOND GUNTER ACT ///
The Ocalan capture last year signaled a whole
new beginning not only in the Kurdish struggle
for democracy, but for the Turkish struggle for
democracy. This is something that involves all
of Turkey. What the P-K-K is asking for is a
democratic republic, and this is something that
I think everybody in Turkey can agree to and it
will be a win-win situation for everyone in
Turkey.
/// END ACT ///
Professor Gunter says the P-K-K, having lost the
military battle, will aim to win the political one.
But it will have to compete with other Kurdish groups.
Bringing Kurds into the political process, says
Professor Ergil, will strengthen Turkey within and
improve its relations abroad. (signed)
NEB/ew/gm
17-Feb-2000 17:36 PM EDT (17-Feb-2000 2236 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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