The peaceful and democratic solution of the Kurdish issue, which started after Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan's "Call for Peace and Democratic Society", has turned to the experiences of solving national problems in different countries. 

 

Andy Carl, who has been a consultant to certain institutions in peace and dialogue processes, interpreted the PKK's decision to disarm and dissolve as a "bold step". Andy Carl, who has been advising on international peace and dialogue processes in Uganda, Ethiopia, the Philippines, the South Caucasus and the Basque and Catalan regions of Spain since the 80s, said that the PKK's decision could set an example for conflict resolution around the world. Founder in 1989 of International Alert and in 1994 of Conciliation Resources, Andy Carl said that he believes there is a time for talking as well as a time for fight. Carl, now a consultant at the Democratic Development Institute (DPI), which works on conflict resolution and democratic progress, said: "It's undoubtedly extremely hard to talk and fight at the same time. So in this way, I think the PKK's decision that it's time to pursue their goals through peaceful and democratic means was a really bold one. It was bold tactically, strategically, and in its own way ethically."

 

'THE PRECONDITION IS THE FULL PARTICIPATION OF THE LEADERSHIP'

 

Commenting on the current process to Mezopotamya Agency (MA), Carl said that Abdullah Öcalan is a persistent defender of the democratic option in İmralı and that Abdullah Öcalan's conditions are a big obstacle not only for him but also for everyone who will take part in the negotiations. "The call is such an important and courageous perspective, and must be very demanding for everyone," Carl said, adding, "I can imagine, and I know that in order for processes like this to move forward one of the prerequisites is you need your political leadership to be able to fully participate."

 

THE SPANISH-CATALAN CONFLICT

 

Emphasising that the active involvement of political leadership plays a key role in the success of peace processes, Carl cited the Spanish-Catalan process as an example: "I very recently had the opportunities to act as an advisor with, for not an armed conflict, but still a conflict over, a conflict over sovereignty. And that was a conflict between the government of, and the people of Catalonia and Spain. And one of the things that they first had to do was to, was in order to engage on this process was to try and secure the release of their leadership who were in prison. And they were successful in that process. And there's relevant lessons even for this Kurdish context from how they did that. They made a number of successes, but it started with getting their leadership released."

 

He said that in the course of the negotiations, the negotiation to amend the Spanish Penal Code was successfully concluded, after which the parties to the negotiations used their influence and capacities to prepare the ground for a new amnesty law, so that the process could move forward.

 

THE EXAMPLE OF SPAIN AND THE BASQUE COUNTRY

 

Stating that it would be useful to compare similar examples in the world in order to understand the process in Turkey, Carl pointed to the termination of the armed activities of ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna), which was founded in 1959 for the independence of the Basque country under the sovereignty of Spain. Reminding that ETA decided to disarm after the Ayete Conference held in Donostia/San Sebastian in 2011 and to dissolve itself after 6 years of preparation, contact and dialogue, Carl said, "After almost 60 years of violent confrontation they gave up arms. This has been followed by seven more years of quiet negotiations with the Spanish government, which have led to real significant change. There are many of these worth study for."

 

'A MOVEMENT IS NOT DEFEATED IF IT HAS NOT LOST ITS UNITY'

 

Armed groups need help for peaceful politics and few international organisations have the courage to provide such support, Carl said: "The greatest threat, this is a very broad statement to self-determination or liberation movements often are not the battlefield defeats, but the greatest threats come from within the risks of splintering and disillusion. If a movement can retain its unity and its commitment to its long-term goals, that it has not been defeated. I think the Basque nationalist movement began an internal process of reflection and change, just as the PKK has done with a commitment that wherever that led, whatever they decided, they would stay together. I think they seem to have been so far very successful on this. No doubt, there was a number of people who didn't agree with the decision for the disillusion and disarmament. They've not formed a splinter movement. As a result, I think that the legal Basque nationalist parties have now been able to make real political gains democratically. That's a really important lesson to learn."

 

'THE INITIATIVE IN THE PROCESS MUST COME FROM WITHIN'

 

He stated that the support of the then United Nations President Kofi Annan, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former US President Jimmy Carter, former heads of state of Ireland, Norway and other countries for the Ayete Conference organised by ETA was an important development to emphasise the benefits of peace and the cost of violence. Stating that external actors have experiences in peace processes and that these experiences can be effective at the right time, in the right form and with the right actors, Carl said that he wanted to take part in this process and said: "Both around the world and in Europe, people who know how to support, learning about negotiations, making strategy. But the directive has to come from within, the initiative has to come from within. And some organizations are willing to also take whatever chances it is, are required to help promote peaceful change. I think that what, again, we saw in the Basque context was. It was the Basque movements who took the initiative. The internationals responded, but it wasn't an internationally led, in any way, process."

 

MA / Hîvda Çelebi