Turkish-Kurdish Peace Process Poorly Managed

DIYARBAKIR — Perhaps Lawrence of Arabia put it best when he said, “War upon rebellion is messy and slow, like eating soup with a knife.” These words, spoken by the British officer who united the Arab tribes against their Ottoman rulers during World War I, sums up today's challenge facing the Turkish-Kurdish resolution process. What further complicates the path ahead is the lack of real consensus between the Turks and Kurds whether to move forward as one or divided.

Some Turks in state institutions or in academia, speaking on condition of anonymity so as to express their views freely, stressed certain issues to Al-Monitor. They expressed that more than enough money from Turkey's budget has gone to defeat the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). These efforts did not work, as the PKK — maybe not legally but practically — is now embraced openly by the majority of the Kurdish population as their legitimate representative. Turks don’t want to continue to pay the bill for Kurds until they declare their independence. They believe the Erdogan government’s drafting of a new constitution paves the way for Kurds to seek full autonomy. 

“There are several prominent wealthy businessmen who have written letters to the prime minister to be brave enough to divide us,” one told Al-Monitor. “This resolution process will eventually lead to Kurdish autonomy, and that they will only expect from us to shoulder their burdens until they declare their independence with our money. We spent enough money on them. This is not working, and it’s time to break away. Kurds don’t mean unity talking about peace, their dream is division.”

Another source said, “Remember how the Soviet Union came to an end. The leadership in Moscow decided that they were worn out, and tired of pushing back the demands for separation. They made a simple cost-and-benefit calculation, and decided on allocating their resources for today’s Russia.”