Negotiation is the only solution for Turkey
A Note By Dr Assadolah Athari
To examine any phenomenon, one should investigate its causes and roots and its beginning and end as well. The violent incidents happening in Sri Lanka, Kashmir and north of Iraq do not seem complicated at the first sight. But the truth is that one should go deep in to the problem, and find solutions according to the conditions causing it.
It seems that the recent conflicts between Turkish Army and P.K.K fighters have been caused by P.K.K attacking a Turkish military outpost. Consequently, Turkey declared its strong will to destroy all bases where terrorist P.K.K fighters are stationed. But the main question in this regard is: What does P.K.K really want? What do the Kurds want? What is their main argument?
If democracy reins in Turkey, the level of violence decreases and dialogue will replace violence. In the same way, when the demands of Turkish Kurds are considered and their rights are respected, violence will not be the driving force in the region.
The truth is that P.K.K fighters take advantage of Kurds’ bad conditions in Turkey. The regions where Kurds live are of the poorest regions in Turkey and not till long ago, the Turkish governments named the Kurds as Turks of the Mountains. A series of these events paved the way for P.K.K’s taking advantage and exploiting of Kurds’ conditions.
Recently, Recep Tayyip Erdogan ,the Turkish prime minister, has taken good measures to solve the problems with Kurds. Such moves have been started by Turgut Özal and Bülent Ecevit had pursued it with a series of reforms. But Erdogan took a new approach towards these reforms and now we are witnessing the Kurds Democratic Society entering the parliament independently. These are all the fruits of political developments advocated by Justice and Development party under Erdogan leadership.
The extremists in Turkish army have taken measures to impress the democratic process. But the truth is that Turkey needs time for non-violent changes and reforms. In the same way, the political, economic and social developments in Kurdish areas, impeding the forceful immigration of Kurds, the development of industry and agriculture in Kurdish areas and paying attention to their demands will all lead to a decrease in violence.
In South Africa, the blacks and whites succeeded in decreasing violence through dialogue and negotiation. Now Turkey can pursue the same model to replace violence with understanding. In this way, there will be a chance to stop violence in Kurdish region in North of Iraq.
Turkey and the Kurds need to bury the hatchet but it seems that the present approach taken by Turkish Army will do no good to solve the problem. When Kurds’ rights are respected, the problems will fade away. We have seen the same situations in multi-ethnic countries, so it will not be hard for Turkey to solve its problems with really simple solutions.