Europe Leaders Laud Turkey, PKK Proposal

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — European Union leaders are pleased that Turkey is considering formalizing talks with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which could jump start the peace process between Ankara and Kurdish rebels.

EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle maintained the EU supports the Turkish government’s bill to formalize talks, which is expected to be approved by the Turkish parliament on July 25.

"The EU welcomes the presentation by the Turkish government of new measures to reinvigorate the peace process and ensure the continuation of the current ceasefire,” the officials said in a join statement. “The new law should provide a stronger legal basis for talks and can make a positive contribution to stability and human rights in Turkey. The EU supports these efforts towards a sustainable peace."

The Turkish government has proposed the bill, called the "Draft Law to End Terrorism and Strengthen Social Integration" which aims to legalize direct and indirect talks between the government and top PKK officials including the imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. The bill would also disarm PKK militia fighters and grant them amnesty from prosecution.

Because Turkey designates the PKK as a terrorist organization, talks can easily be categorized as a crime under Turkey's existing anti-terror legislation.

Ocalan has welcomed the draft as an “historical development.”

PKK militants declared a ceasefire in March 2013. But peace talks stalled in September, after the rebels halted their retreat from Turkish territory, Ankara and the PKK accusing each other of failing to deliver on promised reforms.

The Turkish government is facing increased pressure to jump start peace talks with the Kurds following riots last month in some of Turkey’s Kurdish-majority regions. Protests have been held against the hundreds of new military posts that were erected despite the peace talks and the buildup of Turkish government-funded paramilitaries to fight the PKK.

“Talking about peace while building military bases and increasing the number of village guards (paramilitaries) does not make sense,” Ismail Besikci, the Turkish scholar, who spent 17 years in jail for writing about his country’s persecuted Kurdish minority, told Rudaw.

Nikolaj Villumsen, a member of the Council of Europe and the Danish parliament, supports legalizing negotiations between the parties.

“One does not negotiate with terrorists or sit at the same table as terrorists. Therefore, it is a step in the right direction to legalize negotiations between the parties. The EU should press the parties,” he told Rudaw.

"It doesn’t make much sense to label the PKK as terrorists when even the Turkish state already meets with the organization,” he added, in reference to talks earlier this year between the PKK and Ankara, which was pressing the militia to disarm.

According to Hejar Dashti, a Kurdish rights expert from Copenhagen University, the EU's praise for the bill is in line with its mandate that member countries must ensure the protection of minorities in order to join the EU. Turkey’s treatment of Kurds and other minorities contributed to its stalled EU bid.

"The EU will welcome Turkish reforms in relation to the Kurdish question, because it will make Turkey's road to EU membership shorter. Turkey can show the EU that they are serious when they want to resolve the conflict," Dashti said.

But according to Kariane Westrheim, head of the EU Turkey Civic Commission, an organization that monitors Turkey's compliance with rules for EU entry, the EU and the Council of Europe should play a more “crucial role” when it comes to solving the still unresolved conflict in Turkey.

“They should support the peace process in Turkey. But this cannot happen unless these institutions, and hopefully also the US, take big and serious steps forward,” she told Rudaw.

Politics may also be playing a role. Some believe Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is trying to get the bill passed before August’s presidential election in an effort to win Kurdish votes. Erdogan, who has been prime minister for three terms, is running in Turkey’s first public election for the presidency, a post that parliament has historically chosen.

"Erdogan needs Kurdish votes to become president, as he tries to reach out to them," said Dashti.

"At the same time he realized that the PKK is the appropriate interlocutor; you can’t ignore them if you want to resolve this conflict. The PKK is part of the solution."

Erdogan’s main rival the presidential elections is Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, former head of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation, nominated by the two Turkish opposition parties, the Republican People's Party and Nationalist Movement Party. 

According to Ahmet Alis, an historian from Bogazici University in Turkey, the bill isn’t likely to make an impact.

"The word ‘Kurd’ is not even mentioned. The issue is thus being treated like was it a social issue in western or northern Turkey and not within the framework of rights for minority groups," Alis told Rudaw.

"By passing the bill he’s trying to stop Kurdish votes from going to CHP in the presidential election," Alis said.