Erdoğan aides deny new peace process

Duvar English

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s advisor Mehmet Uçum on Oct. 18 denied a new peace process regarding the Kurdish issue, saying it did not yield results 10 years ago.

In a social media statement, Uçum commented on the recent developments on a new possible peace process.

“There cannot be a peace process in Turkey either similar to the previous one or with a new version. Those processes are a thing of the past, a thing of history. The claim that it is being initiated due to Zionism's aggression is utterly absurd and shows a lack of awareness of Turkey's power,” Uçum said.

“The state doesn’t try again methods that it has tried and failed to achieve results, (but) finds other effective methods,” he said, referring to “strong and effective political and military strategies.”

Uçum claimed that the government and MHP’s new reconciliation efforts towards the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party were for three reasons.

“The first is to provide an opportunity for those within the DEM who express the demand ‘save us from the politics of terror and violence’. The second is to offer DEM an option to free it from the tutelage of terrorism. The third is to eliminate the terrorist tutelage in the Parliament, which is made effective through the DEM,” he noted.

He also threatened that if the DEM Party “does not make use of the opportunity to get rid of the terrorist tutelage offered to it socially and politically, or if it abuses this opportunity, then the terrorist tutelage carried out through the DEM in the Parliament will be eliminated through the law. This is also an unavoidable reality.”

Uçum also said these attempts “has nothing to do with paving the way for President Erdoğan's candidacy through a new constitution.”

Similarly, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Chair Efkan Ala on Oct. 17 stated that they have no agenda to meet or negotiate with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.

“The problem is different and the solution to the problem is different (than 10 years ago). We don't have to do the same thing every time. There is a (state-run) Kurdish channel. These (problems) have been overcome. At a certain point in those processes, the Middle East was devastated. If Turkey had not made those reforms, it would have been defeated by the projects that wanted to turn it into Iraq and Syria,” he said.

What happened?

In a surprising move on Oct. 1, government-ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli shook hands with DEM Party deputies at the opening session of the Parliament.

He later “invited” the DEM Party to “become a party of Turkey.” Previously, he called for the closure of the DEM Party on several occasions, accusing them of collaborating with the outlawed PKK.

Later on, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan backed Bahçeli and pointed to a new constitution to resolve the Kurdish issue.

Some critics said that Erdoğan might want to reconcile with the DEM Party so that he can run for the presidency once again as the current constitution limits the presidency to two terms of five years.

The outlawed PKK launched its first attack in 1984 and the 1990s saw intense conflict between the PKK and Turkish Military especially in the country's southeastern region. Erdoğan's government started to take steps regarding the Kurdish question in 2009 and initiated a "peace process" between 2013–2015 with the armed organization.

Nonetheless, the peace process failed in 2015 and an intense armed conflict erupted in southeastern Turkey until 2016. Dozens of civilians died and many cities were demolished during the period.