A PKK attack took place at the Daglica (Oramar) military post last week. Eight soldiers and 23 PKK militia died. What is ironic is that the acting head of the PKK, Murat Karayilan’s interview with a Turkish journalist who visited the organization’s headquarters at the Qandil Mountain was just released. In the interview Karayilan had regretted that the Oslo Peace process negotiated between the Turkish officials and the PKK operatives had been scuttled with another attack such as this one a year ago. He mentioned “unidentified” perpetrators who wanted do drive a wedge between the Turks and the Kurds. A day after his seemingly sincere admission (that is the impression of the interviewer) PKK attacked with 300 men in a well-orchestrated manner revealing its real aim: continuing with its spree of violence.
Indeed the PKK still believes that violence pays. If it wasn’t for violence neither the Kurdish grievances would be heard by the Turkish government, nor the organization would be invited to the negotiation table. Hence continuation of violence would increase the bargaining chances of the organization to go after its maximalist demands.
Once again it is made evident by the PKK that its primary aim is not reconciliation with Turkey. For reconciliation or settlement is a political term. The organization wants sharing; sharing the national territory and managing the Kurdish dominated provinces. All the rhetoric about democracy and participation seems to be a tactical maneuver to gain time and to appease the general public. So its systematic sabotage of the peace process is a political strategy that will continue until it realizes its aim of managing the entire Kurdish political geography to begin with Turkey.
Two things facilitate the maximalist approach of the PKK. The docility and obvious support of the part of the Kurdish people who vote for the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and who lend their sons and daughters to the militant organization. Secondly, the blindness of the Turkish establishment in understanding that the “Kurdish problem” is indeed a matter of democratic deficiency and lack of rule of law (not lack of laws, but quality of laws that are quite distant to international documents of human and citizen rights and conventions that guarantee basic democratic rights and freedoms). This deficiency rendered the state an almighty Leviathan and dwarfed the citizens who had to suffer whenever they demanded the rights and freedoms stolen away from them. In sum, the “Kurdish problem” was one of the similar problems that arose from the non-popular nature of the regime built on the primacy of the state over the society. Hence its solution rests on the emancipation of the citizen and the body politics from the state and start running its own affairs without the “big brother” syndrome.
However, at a time when this was realized, the PKK presented and fashioned itself as the Kurdish “big brother”. It has not only appeared as the “deliverer” of the Kurds in Turkey but as the future ruler of the Kurds all over the Middle East. This grand design has been penned by PKK leaders as the KCK Convention (KCK meaning the Union of Kurdish Communities). In this Convention presented as the Constitution of the Free and United Kurdistan encompassing Kurdish communities in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria, PKK is at the center stage as the defense force of the proposed supra-national political entity. “KCK citizenship” denotes allegiance to a new political entity apart from present territorial citizenships. The Convention draws up a state apparatus that is parallel and alternative to the current state formations in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria.
It seems that the PKK will try to realize the design it has proposed if conditions avail. It will do everything in its power to manipulate the conditions. So far the only semi-independent Kurdish community is in Iraq and it is run by local actors. Iran and Turkey is too strong to found a local Kurdistan in these countries. However, Syria is in turmoil and the best chances to create a (Syrian) Kurdistan is in this country. Already the Kurds led by the PKK is in hold of north Syria along the southern Turkish border.
According to visitors to the Qandil Mountain, PKK leadership is making plans to evacuate the Arab towns and villages in the north and create a Kurdish province (later statelet) that has connection to the Mediterranean Sea. Turkish government is informed of this design and wants to intervene in Syrian politics to fashion a post-Assad government it will have influence on. However, neither Israel nor Iran wants this. So together with desperate Bassar Assad they are aiding the PKK to have its way in Syria.
Needless to say neither the KRG (Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government) leadership nor the Turkish government is happy about this intricate relationship that could lead to the domination of the PKK over the entire Kurdish political geography. That is why both Mr. M. Barzani and Mr. C. Talabani are trying to reconcile the PKK with Turkey. However, given the direction of the current events PKK is trying to play for time and to consolidate its foothold in Syria where it will declare its autonomous administration with the blessing of afore mentioned governments.
It is at this juncture that two things began to be discussed. The first was an unprecedented uttering of “solution of the Kurdish problem within Turkey and between the peoples by peaceful means”. Ms. Leyla Zana, a respected veteran of the Kurdish imbroglio and Selahattin Demirtaş, co-president of the BDP. The fist said, the problem could be solved under the leadership of Prime Minister R.T. Erdogan and we must all help him. The second called on the PKK to lay its arms down and said let us not anticipate for a ceasefire or a peace initiative either from the PKK or the AK Party; the people must reconcile amongst themselves. Both statements are devoid and violence and adherence to a militant understanding that has been the cause of continuing conflict.
The second rhetoric is about a military surgical operation by Turkish armed forces on the Qandil. The question was addressed to the Chief of Staff, General Necdet Özel. He said, ”if the political authority commissions us and casualties are tolerated” may be. This is exactly what the PKK wants: to pull Turkey into a fight with the Kurds (Turkish-Iranian-Syrian) from where it recruits its militia and Iraqi Kurdish settlements between the Turkish border and PKK camps on the Qandil that will surely be harmed during a possible operation. So the Turkish military expedition will conveniently be transformed into an all-out Kurdish-Turkish conflict. Furthermore if Turkish troops annihilate less militants than expected the operation will look like a failure that will definitely be presented as the victory of the PKK. The ensuing psychology will weaken the AKP government.
It is with these sentiments that we have concluded a week full of heated debates and soul searching in Turkey.



Prof. Dr. Doğu Ergil is a Professor of political Science in Fatih University \ Turkey, and also an expert on the Kurdish Question, and he is one of the well-known authors in Turkey.