By Hemin Assaf
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region--Two strong explosions hit the civil police department in the Turkish city of Istanbul last week, causing strong reaction across the country. The Turkish authorities took even school children to the scene, teaching them hatred and intolerance.
The Turkish army mounted on an intensive military operation in July 2015, turning the country’s Kurdish towns into a battlefield countering the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The year-long operation has cost the lives of more than 2000 civilians.
The situations have now reached flashpoint. Turkey is now experiencing on a daily-basis acts of murder, abductions, car bombs, suicide bombers, military operations, and air bombings.
The PKK pledged to take the war to Turkey’s big cities following the year-long military operation, causing public outcry and condemnation by the country’s political parties including the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
The PKK’s new aggressive strategy has had blowback for the country’s Kurds, hampering the HDP’s inclusion in the country’s political process.
The HDP’ winning of 80 parliamentary seats changed the political balance in Turkey. But this didn’t prove long-lasting. The PKK’s influence on the HDP came at a cost, giving the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and other Turkish nationalists a pretext to introduce the HDP to the public as PKK’s shadow in the country.
The AKP and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) led a smear campaign against the HDP, accusing its MPs of being the PKK’s representatives in the Turkish parliament.
The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), an alleged offshoot of the PKK, recently claimed responsibility for the Istanbul bombings. This further fomented the situations on the ground, making the PKK the most likely culprit to blame for any future acts of violence in the country.
Following the Istanbul twin-bombings, a car bomb hit the Turkish city of Kayseri, targeting a bus transporting troops from the country’s commando brigade. The explosion cost the lives of 14 soldiers, and wounded 54 more.
This latest explosion caused more public anger, targeting the HDP offices in the country.
Two hours after the explosion, a group called ‘Ojaghi Osmanli’, the MHP and AKP members took to the streets chanting anti-HDP -and PKK slogans and eventually attacked the HDP headquarters in several cities. Three of its offices were raided in Istanbul overnight, one of which was burnt.
These insane attacks, neither natural nor a coincidence, forced the HDP to decide to close all its offices across Turkey.
Moreover, the Turkish army took to the streets after the Kayseri bombing, vowing to retaliate – echoing the anti-HDP sentiments.
The Turkish security forces mounted on a nationwide crackdown on the HDP following the July 15 failed coup, arresting over 700 of its members, launching nearly 40 raids on its headquarters, of which 6 were burnt under the guise of countering terrorism.
This is aside from the 12-hour long military operation against the HDP, arresting its co-chairs and 8 of its MPs in early November.
Public outcry will hurt the standing of the HDP, especially now that its leaders are imprisoned with no clear indication of their release.
Political analysts do not think the HDP will go defunct. However, they think that it will be suppressed and will no longer be allowed to be the sole party expressing the will of the Kurds in the country.
The Turkish government is now trying to keep the HDP’s electoral threshold under 10% to ensure that it is distanced from the parliament.
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