PHOTO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
I spoke with Malaysia’s BFM Radio on Thursday about the challenges facing the Turkish Government, including the Kurdish issue and the Syrian crisis.
Will the Government’s strategy — including airstrikes on the Kurdish insurgency PKK and the proposal for a “safe zone” — offer a way forward both at home and abroad.
I don’t think the Turkish air attacks on the PKK in northern Iraq recently or the threat to break the ceasefire is directly due to the [pro-Kurdish party] HDP’s success in the June elections.
Rather, I think the Turkish Government — and, in particular, President Erdoğan — are seeking to give themselves room to maneuver domestically and abroad. By attacking the PKK and by pushing them back, Erdogan is trying to deal with the HDP by saying, “I’ll talk to you about Kurdish autonomy, but I’m going to do it on my terms. I’m not going to be pressured into making concessions by the PKK.”
He’s pushing the HDP to make a choice between allying with the PKK’s methods or distancing itself to maintain the “peace process by disavowing the PKK.
There’s a factor in the region as well. Turkey wants to create a “safe zone” in northern Syria to put refugees in a place where they will be protected from attacks from the Assad regime. And, quite frankly, they want to do it as part of the effort to overthrow President Assad.
But to set up that safe zone in Syria, you have to make sure that it is not challenged by the Syrian Kurdish movement.
