What Does Erdogan’s Democratization Package Offer Kurds, Minorities?
Will the democratization package solve Turkey’s key issues?
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his long-awaited "democratization package" in a press conference on Monday, Sept. 30.
He said the announcement of the package was a "historic moment for Turkey." He sent a message to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Kurdish movement by saying that new reforms will follow as long as politics are used as a means of solving issues.
In his talk, Erdogan frequently referred to the 1960 military coup. He said that the coup had broken the mechanism of a well-functioning democracy, and that the shadow of that coup has obstructed change in Turkey since. This was an indirect allusion to the Gezi protests. The 1960 military coup followed intensive protests by university students, secular and urbanized segments of the population — a bit similar to the makeup of the Gezi Park protests.
What was noticed immediately was the absence of two important reforms that were expected in the package. Recognition of Alevi places of worship was not mentioned. The only gesture toward Alevis was the renaming of Nevsehir University to Haci Bektasi Veli University, honoring a historically important Alevi figure.
