Turkey: what will the PKK's disbandment mean?
The banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has announced that it is disbanding. The move follows a call at the end of February by its imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan to lay down its arms. According to the Kurdish news agency ANF, the decision was made a week ago at a party congress in northern Iraq. A look at Europe's press shows why this news is provoking concern as well as relief.
Possibility of rapprochement with Europe
New paths could now open up for Turkey, the Kleine Zeitung explains:
“The Kurdish war has not only hampered Turkey's political, social and economic development, but also its relationship with the EU. Now there are greater chances for a revival of Turkish-European relations. A 'Turkey without terror', as President Erdoğan says, will be able to shed a lot of undemocratic ballast. ... The PKK's self-dissolution will not turn Turkey into a democratic state overnight. But the end of the Kurdish war after more than 40 years could open new doors for Turkey - including doors to Europe.”
A great opportunity for peace
Ankara must now put its all into steering the process in the right direction if it wants to end the terror, pro-government Daily Sabah insists:
“Türkiye has reached a critical and historic turning point in its efforts to resolve the terrorism problem that has persisted for nearly half a century. The PKK's decisions to dissolve its organisational structure, cease all activities carried out under the name PKK and lay down arms open the door to the beginning of a new and promising era for Türkiye. ... However, this opportunity will only produce concrete and lasting results if Türkiye manages the process meticulously and decisively and takes all necessary political, military and social measures.”
Democracy will suffer
The Times sees Erdoğan as the winner:
“Concessions on expressions of Kurdish identity could win him the support of Kurdish parties in securing a super majority in the legislature, allowing him to alter the constitution and run again for the presidency in 2028. It also means the end of a draining counter-insurgency campaign that has cost Turkey, with its 38 per cent inflation and 46 per cent interest rates, dearly. ... There is another potential casualty: democracy. With the Kurds on his side Mr Erdogan could completely outgun the liberal secular opposition he is currently persecuting.”
New enemies in the crosshairs
The Tages-Anzeiger notes that the Kurds have been replaced by new "enemies of the state":
“Turkish society is living with a state that it cannot trust. The president may have now decided to stop stigmatising the Kurds because he wants to drive a wedge between them and the opposition. Erdoğan said just a few days ago that the latter would 'die'. He spoke of his opponents as if they were animals. The stigmatisation continues, although it is directed against different targets. As long as this man is in power, everyone in the country is exposed to his almost unlimited power. What is peace? The opposite of oppression. Otherwise, only those in power enjoy peace.”
İmamoğlu must not be forgotten
taz newspaper counters:
“Despite all the euphoria about the end of the violence, we must not forget: for Erdoğan the rights of the Kurds are nothing more than a bargaining chip. Öcalan's release was announced shortly before Ekrem İmamoğlu's arrest. This was no coincidence: it jeopardises the fragile alliance between the [Kurdish] DEM and the CHP, which is precisely what the AKP wanted to achieve. Having two major opposition parties against him is dangerous for Erdoğan. The DEM even distanced itself from the CHP during the recent protests so as not to put the peace process at risk.”
And what about in Syria?
For Turkey, however, the question of what will happen to the PKK's Syrian offshoot, the YPG, remains unanswered, comments T24:
“As expected, the organisation's statement doesn't focus on Syria because the issue of Syria has been postponed to a later date for both the PKK itself and Ankara. ... Ankara knows, of course, that the organisation will not make a decision about the YPG. But integrating the YPG into the Syrian army and ending its existence will definitely be on the agenda as an expectation.”