Washington Kurdish Institute
February 26, 2019
The enduring governance of Turkey by the Pro-Muslim Brotherhood Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been characterized by aggression and persecution against many of the peoples of the country, especially the Kurds who form 19% of Turkey’s population. The AKP came into power mainly as a response to the economic crisis and rise in unemployment that had occurred under the Republican People’s Party (CHP) in 2001. The AKP’s economic reforms in the first years of governing rallied more support behind the party. Simultaneously, the AKP enjoyed the support from the United States and European countries, as it was seen as a “modern” Islamist power in Turkey. After winnings consecutive elections, the AKP consolidated its control of parliament and most local municipalities, winning approximately half of votes nationwide. In Turkey’s March 2014 local elections, the AKP also a noticeable number votes in the Kurdish majority region of the country after launching what was known as a Peace Process with the Kurds. Since the days when peace was discussed, the AKP has dramatically changed its policies toward the economy and the peace in Turkey. The AKP’s denial of the basic principles of democracy, after attaining power via a series of elections, was made plain in the June 2015 election when they lost the majority in the general (parliamentary) elections. In these elections, the progressive and pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) won 13.1% of the votes, earning the right to enter parliament as a bloc for the first time ever, and frustrating the AKP’s plans to form a government. After these elections, the AKP changed tactics and began to harshly target the Kurds and end the Peace Process to win the support of the ultra-nationalists in Turkey. After ending the Peace Process with the Kurds, the AKP launched brutal military campaigns against various cities and regions within the Kurdish region, leaving hundreds dead and tens of thousands displaced. The AKP’s economic failures also cost the party its majority, and brought its leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan to launch wars outside Turkey against the Kurds to distract the public of the domestic issues. The failed coup attempt in July 2016 was swiftly used as another tool by the AKP to stifle opposition, serving as a pretense for silencing of all criticism and the implementation of measures to solidify the AKP’s grip on power and ensure victory of future elections, which would be held under the shadow of the increasingly authoritarian AKP government. The AKP purged thousands of journalists, academics, and politicians. Despite allegations of electoral fraud, the AKP was declared the victor in subsequent elections and in a referendum that officially granted more presidential powers to Erdogan.
As Turkey prepares for upcoming local elections on March 31, 2019, the AKP is once again facing various opposition voices, as Turkey has become more vulnerable to collapse due to economic mismanagement and costly wars being pursued against the Kurds in Turkey and beyond the country’s borders in Syria and Iraq – an old AKP tactic used to shift the focus from the domestic issues, promote nationlist sentiment, and win far-right votes.
Months before the upcoming local elections, Turkey has launched a new wave of arrests against the Kurdish politicians amid the continuation of threats by Erdogan to invade more of the Kurdish region of Syria. HDP members, political prisoners in Turkey, and Kurdish activists around the world recently launched hunger strikes to demand an end the isolation of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. Ocalan, who has now been in prison for 20 years, was the primary representative of the Kurdish people of Turkey during the peace process, and has not been allowed to meet with his lawyers since mid-2011. The AKP government has continued its campaign of violent reaction to the demands of the Kurdish people, and this approach is certainly both part of their electoral strategy, but also a manifestation of their desire to oppose any Kurdish entity trying to ask for its rights peacefully in the country.
The Washington Kurdish Institute spoke to Dr. Konak Ismet to talk about the upcoming local elections in the country and its complications.
WKI: What does this election mean for the AKP?
Ismet Konak: We should know that the main purpose of elections for the party, which intends to make use of the power, is to get unearned income. However, the ruling party of the AKP, essentially consisting of the Turkish oligarchy, is giving weight to the upcoming elections in order to continue its “power of profiteers”. For the oligarchy, every municipality means a source of the unearned income. In this regard, the budgets of many municipalities are taken hostage by the AKP. Most of the Kurdish mayors, elected by people, were suspended and unfairly were put into jails. This is kind of a coup on the political process. Today, lawmakers and district mayors, appointed to many municipalities in the Kurdish region as a trustees (in Turkish: kayyım), forcibly rule the municipalities, and they openly misuse the budgets of people. For example, the trustee of the Batman municipalities, located in southeastern Turkey, allegedly drove the municipality into great debt. Thus, we see that the land of Kurds is forced to serve the group of profiteers as a “colony”. Several days ago, Erdogan’s government threatened the Kurdish mayoral candidates with the appointment of new trustees. Unfortunately, the Turkish “state” is evolving from a problematic republic to the kingdom.
WKI: How is the atmosphere for these local elections in comparison to the previous ones?
Ismet Konak: Actually, people in Turkey no longer have trust in polling accuracy. The trust of anyone holding an opposition view was especially shaken after the constitutional referendum, which held throughout Turkey on 16 April 2017. Because the Turkey’s Supreme Election Board (YSK) controversially accepted the unsealed ballot papers in violation of electoral law (i.e., Article 98), the AKP was victorious. Voters nevertheless will insist on the voting for their future. They know that the dictatorship drives them to desperation, removing the voters from ballot boxes. Yes, there is noticeably unhappiness among people, but they still are determined to change the political atmosphere.
WKI: The interior ministry of Turkey announced the arrest of 735 people in the recent house raids over demonstrations held by Kurds in Turkey. Why do you think the crackdowns against the opposition had intensified recently?
Ismet Konak: The thing, mobilization by dictators is not a sign of courage. On the contrary, it represents horror. They always fear that the opposition will overthrow their illegal power. For this reason, the dictator orders, and public institutions obediently carry out his orders. The Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu usually uses humiliating method of speaking against Kurds and their party, the HDP. Earlier this month, he personally blocked supporters of the party from marching in Istanbul. He should be aware that Article 34 of the Turkish constitution gives a right to Turkish citizens who want to make a demonstration in the street without aggression, not getting permission. We can describe a state which is not based on law and justice as a “pirate state”. The ruling class does not comply with the law, and systematically oppresses the Kurds, Alevis, and socialists. These three groups make up the radical opposition in Turkey, and one of the basic targets of the AKP is to prevent radical opposition from joining the elections.
WKI: Do you think the results of these elections will have an impact on the foreign policies of the Turkish government? For example, the Turkish government is threatening to invade the Kurdish region of Syria.
Ismet Konak: “Wars are sold the same way cars are, by lying,” said the Uruguayan writer and novelist Eduardo Galeano. The Syrian Kurdish entities in Syria are unfairly and baselessly considered as “terrorist” by the Turkish rule. By doing the warmongering, the Turkish government tries to keep the psychology of war alive. This tactic strengthens the patriotism inside the country, and generally brings victory to the ruling party. So, the elections and warmongering are related to each other. For example, the Turkish army invaded the Kurdish town of Afrin in northwestern Syria, and, subsequently, the AKP gained the majority of votes on June 24, 2018.
It is clear that the Turkish state has a Pandora’s box, an artifact in Greek mythology. If you open the box, you would see all evil plans concerning the Syrian Civil War. After the upcoming elections, the Turkish government absolutely is going to push ahead with its “colonization” in Syria. It will go on becoming a part of the proxy war in Syria. In this context, Turkey’s next mission is to build houses for the refugees in the proposed buffer zone for those who migrated to Turkey during the Syrian Civil War. The Turkish side plans to generate new unearned income in the framework of that project. Turkey’s other task is to provide necessary support to the Idlib operation, planned to begin against the jihadist groups by the Syrian regime in the spring of this year, even though the AKP is not so keen on supporting this effort.
I guess it would be difficult for Turkey to invade the rest of the Kurdish region of Syria. Don’t compare this with Afrin, please! Today, the east of River Euphrates is as sacred to all Kurds in the Middle East.
WKI: Do you think the AKP will gain the same majority in Turkey as their previous local elections? And why?
Ismet Konak: According to the latest surveys, the AKP will lose the election, particularly in Ankara. But, in Istanbul, it will most likely maintain its power. The situation of other cities in the west of Turkey is not clear. The Anatolian reaction and provincial conservatism will play a key role for the AKP in the elections, as usual. Besides that, also according to some surveys, in the Kurdish areas, voters mostly will prefer the HDP. This means that the trustee policy of the Turkish state is not definitely welcomed by Kurds – they would like to rule themselves. Their political resistance actually indicates a desire for self-determination such as autonomy, federation or independence.
We shouldn’t forget that in Turkey, the electoral system works differently. In my opinion, there is a parallel election system which manipulates the results. We generally face an illusion and huge gerrymandering organized by the ruling party. For example, former CHP deputy Barış Yarkadaş explained, “In last general elections, we couldn’t take any information connected with approximately 50,000 ballot boxes.” This means that the main opposition did not control the 25 percent of votes. We certainly need transparency, and we shouldn’t set the fox to guard the geese.
Additionally, I would like to say that the ongoing economic crisis in Turkey might influence the results of elections. As we know, the neoliberal individual is a pragmatic subject, and primarily lives for his/her own interests. He or she might change his\her mind in case of an economic “depression”. Turkey’s citizens must decide whether they circumambulate the Kaaba or the palace of a dictator. Either they will be on the side of Ebuzer, the famous symbol of resistance in Islam, or they will be on the side of Mu’awiyah, the symbol of wastefulness.
Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and positions expressed by authors and contributers do not necessary reflect those of the WKI.