Is Ankara headed toward all-out war with Turkey’s Kurds?
Unless a deus ex machina like the United States enters into the equation between the Turkish government and the PKK, the clashes between the sides will continue.
At the time of this writing, gunfire can still be heard in the frontier town of Silopi, which is 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of the Turkey to Iraqi Kurdistan Khabur crossing. The small town with its staunchly pro-Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) residents is the venue of the latest flare-up between the Turkish security forces and PKK fighters. The skirmishes that took lives from both sides started after nightfall and continued through the next day, Aug. 7.
Turkish warplanes have been pounding the PKK bases and its headquarters in the Qandil Mountains in Iraqi Kurdistan, and the loss of lives, particularly of Turkish military personnel and policemen, has increased. Highways between provincial centers in the eastern part of Turkey are frequently closed.
For many people in and outside Turkey, the general feeling is, “We are back at square one!”
The situation is worrisome and reminiscent of the bloody years of the 1990s, when more than 40,000 lives were lost. The hopes that came with the peace initiative at the end of 2012 have been shattered. The hostilities have resumed between the Turkish government and the PKK, and each side blames the other for the collapse of the cease-fire.
