Washington Kurdish Institute
March 11, 2019
Since assuming power, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has often described the Kurds as “brothers” and claimed to have issues only with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), who have fought the Turkish state for the rights of the Kurds for decades, rather than Kurds as a whole. However, the reality is clearly different – since the establishment of the modern Republic of Turkey, Erdogan has been among those Turkish leaders who has fought the Kurdish people most harshly. Throughout his quest to consolidate his own powers, fighting the Kurds has been one of his main areas of focus, especially since 2015 when the electoral success of the progressive, pro-Kurdish parties posed a threat to his undisputed grip on power.
On March 31 of this year, Turkey will hold local provincial elections. The upcoming elections are being used by Erdogan as another for him to use Turkey’s security forces as a tool against his political opponents, and already thousands of members and supporters of the progressive, pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) have been detained or arrested. During his rallies and meeting with his supporters, Erdogan is repeating the same arguments of previous elections, and calls the Kurds terrorists to win nationalist votes in addition to his more established Islamist constituency. On February 26, Erdogan attacked the Kurdish people by denying the existence of Kurdistan in Turkey, calling on the HDP to go to northern Iraq, stating that “Kurdistan is there. There is no place for you in this country.” Ironically, Erdogan does not merely deny and oppose the existence of a Kurdistan within Turkey’s borders, he is also vocally opposed to the existence of a Kurdistan within Iraq, the very entity he referenced last month in his attack on the HDP and the party’s Kurdish constituency, as well as the existence of any Kurdish entity of any sort in any other country as well. Despite the economic benefits he receives from Iraqi Kurdistan via energy deals, Erdogan shared Iran’s position during the Kurdish independence referendum in 2017, attacking Massoud Barzani, who was then President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and was one of the leading proponents of the referendum. Furthermore, on January 21, Erdogan attacked the Syrian Kurds and vowed not to allow a second “Northern Iraq” in Syria. In Syria, Erdogan’s military incursions and backing for jihadist groups active near Kurdish regions has led to war crimes and hundreds of civilians casualties. Since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, Erdogan allied with various Syrian opposition groups, including a number of jihadist groups, and called for regime change in Syria, even calling Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, his former friend, a “terrorist”. Nonetheless, Erdogan is now willing to establish a new understanding with Assad based on animosity towards the Kurds.
Economic troubles and elections have long provided the backdrop for Erdogan to launch new wars, and, during his recent remarks, he threatened to replace Kurdish mayors with appointed “trustees” if they are victorious in this month’s elections, a tactic he previously used in 2016. In the upcoming elections, the HDP is attempting to regain what Erdogan has taken away from them by force. While the former co-chairs of the HDP remain in jail and tens of Kurdish mayors have been removed from their positions, the HDP’s current co-chair, Sezai Temelli, is demanding Erdogan to apologize for his remarks against the Kurdish people.
Speaking to the Washington Kurdish Institute (WKI), the HDP representative to United States Giran Ozcan discusses Turkey’s upcoming elections and his party’s position on the Kurdish issue.
WKI: How do you respond to Erdogan’s remarks about Kurdistan being only in Iraq and calling you to leave Turkey?
Ozcan: This racist rhetoric has been used in Turkey for the last 100 years, since the creation of the Republic. The unique thing about this is that Erdogan himself was the Turkish prime minister when the existence of Kurdistan in Turkey was accepted, as well as, at the same time, referring to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and how he referred to eastern Turkey as Kurdistan. And this was his “democratic opening”, as they called it. Furthermore, his appeal to the Kurdish population to try and solve the Kurdish issue eventually culminated in him sitting down with the PKK between 2014 and 2015 in what is widely called the peace process. So, this 180 degrees turn by Erdogan is what is unique about such a statement at this time. We are used to the racist rhetoric used by the Turkish government against the Kurds, but, with Erdogan, he is the one who actually reversed this first and engaged with the PKK, and now he is going back on things that he only said a few years ago, such as accepting the existence of Kurdistan, as now he is working to consolidate the nationalist base that he has built up, along with his alliance with the fascist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and for that reason he is using this language.
WKI: Erdogan also made remarks about possibly removing Kurdish mayors and elected officials in this region even if they win the elections. What does that tell you about the elections?
Ozcan: Well, he has already done this before. In the 2014 local elections, the HDP and allied Democratic Regions Party (DBP) together won around 100 municipalities. However, after the failed coup in 216, Erdogan seized additional executive powers, declared a state of emergency, and ruled by decree, stifling all opposition and imprisoning over 80 of the mayors elected from our party, replacing them with government-appointed trustees. So, he has already done this, he has already taken away the municipalities that we had democratically won. Thus, his threat to do the very same now before the upcoming election is a credible threat and a clear attempt to disenfranchise the voters, ensuring that they do not go to the polls. Nonetheless, we can say this that we are absolutely adamant and confident that we are going to win back all of those principalities no matter what Erdogan does, even if, one hour after our victories, he moves to once again imprison our democratically-elected co-mayors and replace them with appointed trustees. We will still win those back –we seek to serve the citizens who choose us, despite all pressures, to address their concerns as their representatives.
WKI: What is the latest news concerning the HDP’s election campaign, the government’s reaction and the ongoing hunger strikes?
Ozcan: Right now, we are trying to campaign for local elections but we have already had several of our candidates imprisoned. There are nearly 6,000 activists and members of the HDP in prison right now. So, it is very difficult to run a campaign when the whole state apparatus is suppressing you in this way and targeting you very openly. Erdogan is calling us a terrorist organization every day. He is telling us to leave the country. So under this kind of suppression, it is very difficult to run the campaign. As for the hunger strikes, counting our lawmakers and others, there are over 200 people both in prison and elsewhere on hunger strike to demand an end to the isolation imposed upon the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. The aim is to end the isolation imposed upon him and to call for reengagement with him in order to bring about a solution to the Kurdish issue.
WKI: Was the HDP part of the coup d’etat? Following the coup attempt, the HDP and the Kurdish people have been harshly suppressed.
Ozcan: Absolutely not. But Erdogan has used that coup attempt to give himself the powers he needed to go on a relentless campaign of cracking down on democratic opposition, of which we are the most potent actor. We believe that we are the strongest opposition force in Turkey today, and that is why he sees us as the biggest threat. He used that coup attempt to legitimize his crackdown on democratically-elected members of Parliament, including 9 lawmakers from our party who are currently in prison – including both of our former co-chairs.
WKI: But during the coup of July 2016, what was the HDP’s position?
Ozcan: We are against every single coup. That is a basic principle that cannot be altered in any way whatsoever.
WKI: What was the HDP’s role in the peace process, and possibly in any peace talks in the future between the government and the PKK?
Ozcan: We are actively working on restarting the peace process that we believe saves thousands of lives. We believe that the Kurdish question is Turkey’s biggest problem. This has an impact on the economy and on basic freedoms. Once Turkey can overcome this age-old problem, it can then be stable and successful both economically and politically. That is why the HDP engages like it did in the last peace process. We were an active part of that process. We are now actively pursuing a policy aimed at bringing both sides back to the negotiating table.
WKI: Do you think the current economic situation of Turkey has anything to do with the way that Erdogan and his allies are campaigning for the elections?
Ozcan: Firstly, the worsening economy has everything to do with the way Erdogan is running the country politically. His crackdown on the opposition represents a complete erosion of democratic institutions in the country. This and his disrespect for the rule of law are factors that discourage investment in Turkey. On top of that, his economic mismanagement has played a big role. However, first and foremost, his political attitude has an impact on the economy.
WKI: Do you think, after this election Erdogan, could open up once again to the Kurds, given that he may not feel the need to rally nationalist votes when no other election is on the horizon?
Ozcan: Well, we know that Erdogan is someone who is completely focused on polls, where he stands and how many votes he’s going to get. This is what dictates Erdogan’s attitude on everything. So the fact that there won’t be elections for the next four years after this upcoming local election does give us an opportunity to see what Erdogan may really be thinking on certain issues. If you look at him and his current language, there is not much hope for the future. But knowing his focus on polling and elections, the fact that there will not be one for four years may give him an opportunity to alter some of his policies.