A time of reconciliation for Turks and Kurds

What we are experiencing these days in Palestine, in Gaza, and in our region in general is not independent of the partition and arrangement a hundred years ago that also encompassed Turkey, indeed began first of all with Turkey. Whatever was done was done so that a defeated empire would never rise to its feet again and never take on its former roles again. An empire spread over three continents was forced into an armistice within a short time of 40 days, after a struggle that had continued neck and neck for 4 years. The imperialists swarmed over the fallen Ottoman state like hungry wolves, and not only partitioned its lands, but took unparalleled measures especially so that this state would not regain its former character and would not reclaim its former mission.

So that the Islamic world could never come together again, they tried to sow enmity toward Arabs in the hearts of the Turks, and enmity toward Turks in the hearts of the Arabs. The ones we fought were the British, the French, the Italians, the Greeks, but at the end of the war those we became enemies with were the Arabs, a part of our own body, and then the Kurds, our other dear ones in the same body, whom we alienated from ourselves by denying and ignoring them.

Moreover, setting aside Islamic unity, so that Turks could not come together even with Turks and again put forth a stronger presence, the ideal of Turkic Unity (Turan) was also for a long time deemed a crime, and thus an insurmountable restriction was placed on this nation from the other side.

What is suppressed will surely come to light again, and what is excessively suppressed will emerge even more strongly. For the greater the pressures, the more they remind of what is suppressed. Suppression itself, paradoxically, performs a service that prevents what exists from vanishing.

Here, what is happening in the Middle East today comes to grab us by the collar, even if after a hundred years. The Zionist channel into which the imperialists entered in Palestine a hundred years ago, suppressing all peoples, reminds us of ourselves once more. Zionist barbarism recalls the cause of the distances and exiles sown among Turks, Kurds and Arabs, and teaches the necessity of restoring kinship ties (sıla-i rahim).

It explains that the source of the PKK terror that has plagued Turkey for years is Zionist imperialism, but it also exposes that the so-called nationalists, who fed it from within, who grew it by acting as if they were its enemy and fighting it, and who pumped into the PKK the power it needed through policies of denial and oppression against the Kurds, are likewise agents of the same Zionist project. Moiz Kohen, Alexander Helphand (Parvus Efendi), the Young Turks and the Unionists, whose work unraveled the Ottoman Empire stitch by stitch and alienated the Turk both from his own historical identity and from the other elements of his political body, were part of the same Zionist project. This was, in the new period, the most cunning, the most insidious way of bringing the Turk under control and of putting wild chains upon him.

But the end of this road has been reached. Even if not by ourselves, the insatiable aggression, the limitless assaults, the racist insults and the pressures of the Crusader-Zionist alliance remind us of ourselves.

Devlet Bahçeli's initiative shows that we have reached a now critical point of this historical cycle. His sidelining of the PKK, which works directly as a legionnaire organization of Crusader-Zionist imperialism, and his addressing the Kurds as religious, political and historical brothers, attempts to close a century-long parenthesis. The words of President Erdoğan, who described his move as "putting not just his hand but his whole body under the stone," reveal a framework of meaning that carries the matter beyond being a temporary and simple maneuver:

"We will not fall into this trap, we will not give passage to those who try to spoil our brotherhood. We will bind the wounds of the past together. We will continue to write history together again. For all these years we have struggled for the freedom of every segment, and most of all for the honor and dignity of my Kurdish brothers. We have come to a point that could not even be imagined. And now, as a country and a nation, with Mr. Bahçeli putting not just his hand but his whole body under the stone, we have gained a far greater opportunity. As 85 million, our food is one, our bread is one, our qibla is one, our homeland and soil are one, our flag and anthem are one, our state is one. Most importantly, our past is one, our future is one, our destiny is one. I am addressing from the nation's rostrum: my dear Kurdish brothers, we expect you to hold this hand tightly. We want you to remove those who serve as lackeys of imperialism, those who act as tools of the enemies of Turkey. We want you to take charge of the law of brotherhood; come, let us build the Turkish century together. This republic is yours as much as it is mine. Come, we say, let us remove those who clench their fists. Come, we say, let us drain the ground from under those who legitimize terror, who turn their backs to the mountain."

In Bahçeli's initiative, his inviting the DEM Party, as a party that takes a significant portion of the Kurds' votes, to contribute to the process is an important political gesture. But it is not possible to say that with this gesture he regards the DEM Party as the exclusive political representative of the Kurds. As we have said before, the only counterpart to be addressed in matters concerning the Kurds is the Kurdish people themselves, and the way to this passes through open political debate and competition. Today the AK Party is the strongest actor that knows the Kurds' problems, produces solutions for them and puts these solutions into practice. With this invitation, Bahçeli, as the leader of the MHP too, showed that he is not far from this competition.

On the contrary, for those who do politics in the name of the Kurdish question, the matter has been merely a matter of livelihood, and they have never been in favor of this livelihood coming to an end. The hand extended to DEM is of course very important and valuable in terms of encouraging and emboldening politicization. This hand is extended, and should be extended, to everyone who does politics in and for Turkey; despite all the differences, the integrity of the political body of the country and nation must be ensured.

At this point, can making a distinction between DEM and the PKK go beyond a wish and become reality? Is DEM sufficiently intent on being a political party? If it had such an intention, would the PKK give it this opportunity?

Unfortunately we have little reason to be optimistic on this. All these questions find their most pessimistic answers on the ground. While the successive statements made on behalf of DEM in response to Bahçeli's initiative and Erdoğan's words already give no hope, the voices from Kandil confirmed that it will in no way give up its tutelage over DEM. Nor can it be expected to give it up.

Nevertheless, this initiative and distinction are subject to the necessary assessments before the Kurdish people. They will appreciate the difference between those who make the Kurds a problem and live off their backs, and those who see their problems as their own and are eager to solve them.