Turkey After the Elections: A Deadlock in the Kurdish Opening?

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) ended up with less than 330 MPs out of 550 in the Parliament, short of the "super-majority" which would enable the AKP to amend the Constitution without resistance.

Meanwhile, the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, declared that passive resistance, rather than armed conflict, would continue if two conditions were met: a halt to Turkish military operations and engagement with his leadership, reaching out to the militants and urging them to accept a democratic solution. 

Both these headline developments are now accompanied by other manoeuvres.

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Turkey Analysis: The Elections Bring An Embrace of Neo-Liberal "Stability"

At the end of the day, the people of Turkey voted for a hegemonic "stability" --- the continuation of a relatively settled neo-liberal period --- rather than a coalition government.

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Turkey Election Special: The "Kurdish Problem" and the Problem of Protests

In less than a week, Turkey will have a new government.

Anticipating the Parliamentary elections on Sunday, EA takes a look at the differences between the parties on key issues. Today: Protest and the Future of the Kurds.

Prime Minister Erdogan Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said, “There is no Kurdish problem but there are problems of Kurdish people”. After the killing of 12 members of the outlawed PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) on 14 May, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc offered a more confusing formula, “There is a Kurdish problem but it is not productive to say that there is a problem as it is in the solution process."

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Turkey Special: A Hard Look at Ankara's Policy of "Romantic Realism"

Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu wrote for The Guardian of London about his approach to foreign policy.

The context, Davutoglu explained, was a “natural” history, “flowing” from “abnormalities”  --- such as the division of peoples of the region by colonialism and Cold War --- to democracies spreading in the Middle East. In the course of time, he says, an ordinary Turk or Arab can change the history but you are bound to lose if you resist the “momentum of the history” which is giving the “dignity” of this region back.

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Latest from Turkey: The Insurgent PKK, Relations with Russia, the New Middle East, and Israel

Latest developments in Turkey....

What Next with the PKK?

The Kurdish separatist group, PKK, ended its unilateral truce on 28 February. Last week, its life-long-imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan said: “I will make the evaluation in the coming days in March. If something positive happens, the current state of inaction will continue until elections. If not, I am out, I will fade from the scene. My health situation is already not good enough to carry on this work.”

On the following day, three PKK guerillas/terrorists were killed by Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in Sirnak. On Friday, TSK clashed with PKK members in Bingol --- four PKK members and two village guards were killed. Was this a reaction to Ocalan by PKK ’s senior officials or an organized response by PKK with Ocalan’s permission before the Turkish New Year (Newroz)?

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Turkey Special: Erdogan Government Reaches Out Abroad, Talks Tough at Home

Prime Minister Erdogan is striking a conservative posture at home, even as it holds out the unclenched first abroad. This does not mean he is seeking confrontation as an election strategy: there is no desire for a military clash with PKK, any more than there is a wish to use Iran and Syria against the US, but he is going to the leave no doubts. He is the man in charge.

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Turkey Analysis: Erdogan Faces Political and Paramilitary Challenges on the "Kurdish Question"

With Ankara's cease-fire with the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) still in effect, discussions on the political level continue

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has responded to criticisms from opposition parties over his silence on the demands of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) for bilingualism and autonomy.

BDP Co-Chairman Selahattin Demirtaş said it would begin a de facto bilingual system in municipalities in the eastern and southeastern parts of Turkey.which would enhance the country's democratic structure. Vice Chairman Meral Danis Bestas added:

Our proposal is that we want regional assemblies apart from Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) and provincial assemblies. We bring this proposal to strengthen local governance because central government is not responding to demands. We don't want this only for a single region but for the whole country. We don't want Turkey to get divided but we want an urgent and democratic constitution in which everyone can feel himself/herself inside and and which can include rights and freedom in unity.

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New WikiLeaks On Turkey: Snubbing the Opposition, Suspecting the Military, Warning about Iran

The Main Opposition: "No More than a Bunch of Elitist Ankle-Biters"

The cable, sent 30 December 2004 and titled “Erdoğan and the AK Party after Two Years in Power: Trying to Get a Grip on Themselves, on Turkey, on Europe,” reports not only about the Justice and Development Party (AKP) but also about the main opposition party (CHP). The CHP is called “no more than a bunch of elitist ankle-biters” and claimed as one of the reasons why there is no serious alternative to Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

Eric Edelman, then the US ambassador to Turkey, adds: “The AKP’s lack of cohesion as a party and lack of openness as a government is reflected in the range of murky, muddled motives for wanting to join the EU we have encountered among those AKPers who say they favor pursuing membership...or at least the process.”

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Video and Latest on Bombing in Turkey: 32 Wounded but Still No Claim of Responsibility

On Sunday, a suicide bomb was detonated in the heart of Istanbul, wounding 17 civilians and 15 police. Istanbul Police Chief Hüseyin Çapkın said the male bomber tried but failed to get into a parked police van, detonating the bomb just outside the vehicle.

After the incident, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Edogan said:

I am, once again, reminding all that there will be no tolerance to those who want to stir up trouble and break the peace, stability and security atmosphere and that these attacks can never retain Turkey from solidarity, brotherhood and its growth targets. We are one, we are together, we are brothers and these games will be broken as long as our solidarity, unity and brotherhood remains. What lies behind these games? The prevention of a developed and modern Turkey lies behind [them]!

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Turkey Analysis: What Does Ankara's New "Red Book" of Threats Mean?

On Wednesday, Turkey's National Security Council (MGK) agreed to make radical changes to a document. referred to as the “Red Book” or the "Secret Constitution", in which the main threats over the next five years to Turkey's security are outlined.  

Is the Erdogan government a new "De Gaulle" which is just pursuing its political calculations or is it the Trojan Horse aligning with "radicals" such as Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah?

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