The "Collapse Plan" taken against the Kurds at the meeting on October 30, 2014, which was the longest National Security Council (MGK) meeting in Turkey's history, continues with the attacks on Avaşîn, Zap and Metina across the border on April 17. While Turkey's attacks are protested, the KDP is trying to nullify the centuries-old gains of the Kurds by joining the AKP-MHP alliance.

 

Commenting on the opposition structure in Turkey and the attacks of the state, especially the attitude of the KDP, Central European University Lecturer Historian Dr. Yektan Türkyılmaz told that Turkey's war with the Kurds is not over and that the armed conflicts have increased as a part of the Kurdish question's transformation into both a regional and a global problem.

 

'WAR CONTINUES TO GROW'

 

Türkyılmaz said that the war against the Kurds continues to grow, and that the attack continues both in the lands under the KDP administration, in Shengal and in Northern and Eastern Syria, adding that "Turkey's war with the Kurds is not over. Turkey is no longer a stranger to the lands under the control of the Kurdistan Regional Government. Turkey has 12 military bases and nearly 40 military positions. Turkey's 2,000 soldiers are constantly in those lands and that there are currently nearly ten thousand military personnel presenct in those lands. Those places have now become a de facto extension of Turkey's Kurdish regions. It is the same in terms of military mobility."

 

‘KDP TURNED INTO A COMPONENT OF THE SUNNI LINE’

 

Expressing that the current process is a very historical period for the Kurds, Türkyılmaz said, "I do not agree with those who liken the current process to the 1914 process. There was no political unity to make politics on behalf of the Kurds in 1914, but the Kurds have political will today. Among the Kurds, the KDP faced a position in which it pressed itself with some strategic, some tactical and some momentary choices. The Kurdistan Regional Government is a failed administration that brings nothing but oppression to its people. It is in a position to engage in political maneuvers that will cause a loss of influence for the Kurds. Among these choices, this is the most problematic choice. In other words, instead of being a strong Kurdistan, the KDP sought solutions elsewhere. Transforming into a weak ally of powerful states, it quickly became a component of the Sunni line in the Middle East, not a component of Kurdish solidarity in the Middle East. It turns into a version of the Sunni line that Erdogan is trying to lead.”

 

'KDP IS BACK TO THAT VILLAGE'

 

Türkyılmaz underlined that the KDP was a fundamental organisation among the Kurds in the 1960s, but that it had become an organisation that shrank as a result of its own politics, and said, “At that time, the KDP was everywhere. Even the PUK came out of the KDP. The KDP emerged from a tribal belief group. It came from a village. It has spread and unfortunately in 2022 it went back to that village again because it saw its first interest, the interest of its own family, then it saw the interest of its tribe, then it saw the interest of its own region. In other words, it quickly moved away from a large and broad Kurdish perspective. Likewise, the period when its effect diminishes. In other words, it sees the PKK as a great threat to itself, from Rojava to Iran. It seems that they support this military operation. This is a situation that increases the risk for the Kurds.” 

 

'KURDS ARE A STRATEGIC ISSUE FOR ERDOĞAN'

 

Saying that he does not agree with the assessments that Turkey's war against the Kurds is aimed at covering up hunger and poverty in the country, Türkyılmaz said,"The issue of Kurds is a strategic issue for Erdoğan, so Turkey will attack the Kurds, whether they are rich or poor because he sees the Kurds as an existential threat to himself. Erdogan developed a 200-year-old state policy against the Kurds. Erdogan does not want good Kurds anymore. Erdogan does not want even the statist Kurd to be defined around Kurdish identity anymore. But he is currently making an exception to this with the KDP. His relationship with the KDP is a return to the old Kurdish politics. Since the old Kurdish politics, namely the 'loyal Kurds' and 'Partizan Kurds' policy, ended with the Kurds within the borders of Turkey, it continues with the KDP."

 

'THE EMPOWERMENT OF THE KURDS IS A NIGHTMARE FOR ERDOĞAN'

 

Türkyılmaz underlined that Erdogan's defeat would be likely in a situation where Kurds get stronger and said, If the Kurds get stronger it will be the defeat of Erdoğan. This is certain. When we think that the Kurds have gained political representation in the Middle East today, there is the Assad administration on one side, Iraq on the other, and Iran on the other. So there is a very scary picture. When this picture is combined with the international crisis, there are times of great risk for stateless peoples like the Kurds because these colonialist states, the political formations and administrations that do not want the Kurds to have rights, both see these moments as an opportunity. Therefore, the strength of the Kurds is a nightmare for Erdogan, probably the end of his political career, but on the other hand, this same process poses great risks for the Kurds.” 

 

'HE NEEDS ARTIFICIAL EXTRAORDINARY'

 

Reminding that there are shocking attacks not only against Kurds but also against social opposition in Turkey, Türkyılmaz said, “When you look at it as a whole, Erdoğan applies Blitzkrieg against the opposition, with an expression that came from the Second World War. Blitzkrieg means shocking, alarming, all-out attack. Now Erdogans policy has dug a well on its own shore. This is the new election system he calls the 50+1. And he can't get out of the well. Therefore, Erdogan needs a strategic but generally artificial emergency regarding the Kurds because Erdogan does not have a constructive policy. He is trying to delay a crisis with a bigger crisis. The economic situation is already going down. Currently, he thinks that a great opportunity has been opened for him with the Ukraine war, but we will see that this war does not offer such opportunities in the future. We will see that Turkey will probably emerge among the big losers of this war. Therefore, Erdogan has to continue his policy of creating an artificial emergency. And I think that the basis of this policy is not only to gather support, but also not to have an election ever again if necessary."

 

WHY IS THE OPPOSITION STILL DOING THIS?

 

Regarding the opposition supporting Erdoğan's war, Türkyılmaz compared the opposition of Russia, which invaded Ukraine, with the opposition of Turkey, and continued as follows: The entire Russian opposition supports the sanctions against Russia, supports taking the most strict measures against the aggression of Russia and Putin. The Turkish opposition is still an opposition with much higher possibilities than the Russian opposition. When you look at the picture, how can the opposition in Turkey gain when there is an attack on the Kurds? Is Turkey attacking Kurds for the first time? No. Is Turkey trying to collapse the Kurdish question with a military operation for the first time? No. Did it get results? No. Now, in a situation where two times two make four, why is the opposition still doing this? It needs to be looked at.”

 

'TURKISH POLITICS WILL TURN INTO DESERT'

 

Türkyılmaz said that most of the Turkish opposition, excluding the HDP, applauded the Kurds' lack of status and saw this as their own gain. Türkyılmaz said: “But it is necessary to see that when you withdraw Kurdish politics and Kurdish will, Turkish politics turns into a desert. It turns into a narcissistic intoxication. Therefore, it is very certain that the entire re-energisation of the opposition is possible with Kurdish politics. Whatever gains the opposition had in the last local elections, came from the Kurds. Today, in that poisoning, the opposition may see it as a gain for themselves, but it is certain that the only gain of this will be the Erdogan sultanate. If the will of Kurds is crushed here, no one in Turkey will gain from it, including the IYI Party. They will think they have won, but the political space in Turkey will shrink incredibly.”

 

MA / Selman Guzelyuz