Traveling across eastern Turkey this summer, we witnessed both the immediate blessings of the peace process as well as its fragilities... The lack of open hostilities between the military and the PKK meant that people, locals and visitors alike, could go about their daily lives and journeys in relative freedom and safety - a fundamental change that had uplifted moods visibly in a war-weary land... Yet without being grounded in a proper legal framework, it was clearly tentative on the whims of a few individuals on both sides and exposed to the destructive centrifugal dynamics at work across Turkeys southern border. Today thanks to those dynamics that my countrys delusional leaders have helped spawn - and soon lost control of - the peace process is tethering on collapse. The IS assault on Kobane is an existential struggle for the Kurds, and when they look behind that murderous gang they see the AKP. Whatever one thinks of the AKP or the PKK, let us be clear about one thing: the return to hostilities would mean the spread of the war in Syria/Iraq within Turkey. With borders practically non-existent, it could be worse than the 1990s. It could tear Turkey apart in the most violent way. For Turkeys government and people, I see no moral or rational choice, other than supporting the Kurds in their legitimate struggle against the IS and salvage whatevers left of the peace process. Every other road appears doomed.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 00:15:53 +0000