Veteran Kurdish politician Ahmet Türk says not CHP but Erdoğan can convince ‘deep state’ for solution of Kurdish issue

Duvar English

Veteran Kurdish politician Ahmet Türk on March 17 stated that not the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) but President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan can convince “the deep state” for the solution of the Kurdish issue.

Türk told Rudaw in an interview that they want “dialogue and peace in this country. We have already said that armed conflict will not resolve the problem. Dialogue is necessary for a democratic solution to the Kurdish question. We want to do this with everyone. Our cause, our demand is peace. Our desire is the brotherhood of peoples.”

Türk added that the main opposition CHP cannot resolve the Kurdish issue because it “cannot convince the deep state.”

“If Erdoğan wants, and today he has all the powers, institutions and organizations in his hands, he can convince (the deep state). Even if the CHP wants to (resolve it), it cannot convince the whole state, the deep state. That's why I made this assessment (previously). I didn't say only Erdoğan can or will resolve the problem, I said he has the power. But Erdoğan is the one who persecutes Kurds the most today,” Türk added.

He also said they “don't conduct official meetings (with the AKP), but we are meeting with names from the Parliament,” who are expressing “their discontent with the policy their parties (AKP) are pursuing today.”

Türk refused to disclose the names that they meet.

He added that it is not possible for them to come together with Erdoğan today “as long as they are allied with the MHP. However, if they part ways with the MHP, they will have to follow a new path. (Alliance with the MHP) has become a heavy burden for (the AKP) too. Turkish people are also uncomfortable with this path.”

Ahmet Türk will run as the Mardin co-mayoral candidate of the opposition Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party in the local elections to be held on March 31.

Ahmet Türk’s remarks regarding Erdoğan came one day after imprisoned Kurdish politicians Selahattin Demirtaş and Selçuk Mızraklı said in a letter that Erdoğan and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan are the primary interlocutors in the solution of the Kurdish issue.

The 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. Recep Tayyip 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.