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For the last thirty-two years Turkey has been in conflict with Kurdish separatists. These separatists, of which the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is most prominent, desire to create an autonomous Kurdish republic, arguing that Turkey represses Kurdish culture. In fact, the Kurds are the world’s largest ethnic group that lacks a state, with peoples scattered across Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria. Since 1984, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 20,000 soldiers and civilians and although some Turkish governments have attempted to solve the conflict, either to create more domestic stability or win favor with the European Union (EU), the conflict has resumed due to disputes over Turkey’s handling of the Islamic State and the Turkish government’s crackdown on Kurdish activists. Human Rights Watch has criticized both sides for violating the rights of civilians and combatants, and ending the conflict is in the Turkish government’s best interest for the sake of its international reputation and economy.
This topic brief will provide some important vocabulary on the Turkish-PKK conflict, sources of tensions that exist between the two sides, and the implications of the conflict for Turkey domestically and internationally.
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Vocabulary
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK): Prominent Kurdish militant organization that has been fighting with the Turkish government since 1984. The party has a leftist political agenda, once campaigning for communist ideas. Today, the party is demanding autonomy for Kurdish peoples, but is also open to the idea of an independent Kurdistan that would embrace all of the Kurdish peoples of the Middle East. Its strength is estimated to be more than 30,000. Major international organizations such as the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) consider it a terrorist organization.
Kurds: One of the most significant ethnic groups in the Middle East, constituting a sizable percentage of the populations of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. Turkey has the largest population of Kurds in the Middle East, with an estimated 20 million Kurds inhabiting its territory. This means that Kurds are nearly a quarter of the national population. The Kurds are also prominent in Iraq, where they account for an estimated 20% of the population. As noted above, the Kurds are the world’s most significant minority group that currently lacks its own nation-state. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslim, but some also practice other prominent faiths such as Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism.
Murat Karyilan: The acting leader of the PKK ever since former leader Abdullah Ocalan was captured by Turkish intelligence officials in 1999. Karyilan was one of the founders of the PKK. U.S. intelligence officials argue that he may be tied to drug trafficking, but German officials have disputed such claims. He is currently the commander-in-chief of the PKK’s People’s Defense Forces, the name for its armed forces. Karyilan’s politics are leftist, but he desires complete autonomy for Kurdish peoples in Turkey.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Turkish president that has served since 2014. Prior to assuming that office Erdogan was Turkey’s prime minister, leading the Islamist Justice and Development (AK) Party to power in 2002. Erdogan governs in a conservative fashion, recently arguing that Turkish women should not practice family planning. Some argue that Erdogan’s recent crackdown on political opponents and the PKK is meant to distract Turkish voters from a corruption scandal that emerged in 2013 where family members of Turkish cabinet ministers were accused of corruption and using favors to influence government decisions. Seven years ago Erdogan appeared willing to try to solve the Kurdish problem peacefully, but complications arising from the Syrian Civil War, where Turkey worried that the PKK’s attempts to fight the Islamic State would spill into its territory, led to a halt of such peace efforts.
Serhildan: Name for Kurdish public rebellions against Kurdish rule since the 1990s. These protests have been launched in response to Turkish suppression of Kurdish culture, governments actions that Kurds interpret as racism and forms of discrimination, the arrest of Kurdish political figures, and the attempted suppression of Kurdish political activism. The term can encompass a variety of protest, both passive and aggressive, as Kurds have taken to closing local shops to memorialize the arrest of Abdullah Ocalan each year on February 15 and to do the same on March 21, which is the Kurdish New Year. Extempers should associate the term with the phrase “people’s uprising.” The Serhildan are basically equivalent to Palestinian intifadas that have been launched against Israeli rule over the last several decades.
The Solution Process: The name given to the Kurdish-Turkish peace process. The process started in December 2012 when the Turkish government negotiated with imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan. The initial peace process led to a ceasefire through 2013 and 2014, culminating in a withdrawal of PKK forces from southeastern Turkey and into Northern Iraq, which has a sizable Kurdish population (which had its own autonomous government for twelve years under international protection after the 1991 Persian Gulf War). This withdrawal was meant to trigger constitutional reforms that would better protect Kurdish culture, but Kurdish accusations that Turkey was supporting the Islamic State and PKK attacks on Turkish police led to a suspension of this process and a resumption of hostilities last July.
Sources of Tensions Between Turkey and the Kurds
Kurdish Accusations That Turkey is Aiding ISIS: Kurdish rebels argue that the Turkish government has been giving support to the Islamic State in recent years since it wants to use the Islamic State as a proxy to overthrow the Shi’ite government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Islamic State militants have been a major threat to Kurdish population centers in Iraq and Syria, which is why Kurdish militia groups have been working with the United States to dislodge the group from both countries. The Turkish government has denied the Kurds allegations, noting that there is no proof that it is sending any material or financial support to the Islamic State. Tensions between Kurds and the Turkish government rose last summer when Syrian Kurds were besieged by Islamic State fighters in the town of Kobani, very close to the Turkish border. Turkey appeared to take a hands-off approach to the situation, which angered its Kurdish minority.
Turkish Fears of Political Autonomy: Turkey’s worst nightmare is Kurdish succession, which would carve away the southeastern portion of the country and remove a significant portion of the national population. Although the PKK has shifted some of its demands in recent years to autonomy rather than outright national independence, Turkish conservatives believe that autonomy is just the first in a series of demands that would eventually produce secession. Turkey only has to look at how the devolution of political powers has created unrest in Great Britain – note the current unrest between Scotland and the rest of Britain – to see how granting the Kurds autonomy could play out in the long run. Fears of Kurdish independence is why Turkey stridently opposed the creation of an independent Kurdish state in Northern Iraq after the U.S. invasion in 2003. Then-Senator Joe Biden suggested that the United States divide Iraq into the three different countries for its Shi’ites, Sunnis, and Kurds, but Turkey did not desire this outcome for fear that it would inspire a radical independence movement in its Kurdish areas that would seek to become part of a new Kurdish state in the Middle East.
Turkish Suppression of Kurdish Cultural Values: One of the biggest flashpoints of tension between Turkey and its Kurdish minority is that Turkey has long resisted recognizing its existence. In fact, it took until 1991 for the Turkish government to even refer to the Kurds as “Kurds” (they were referred to as “Mountain Turks” before). Such tensions date back to Turkey’s founding, which was a nationalist reaction in the face of the downfall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War. During the 1980s Kurds were barred from speaking in their language and the government has continued to resist efforts to allow for Kurdish language instruction in schools. Kurds also argue that their culture is not adequately taught in Turkish secondary or post-secondary institutions. All of this has led to charges that Turkish governments are waging a cultural genocide as they seek to suppress Kurdish culture at the expense of the dominant Turkish culture. Furthermore, Turkey’s constitution prohibits political parties that are formed to defend the interests of a particular ethnic group and this has made it difficult for Kurds to organize peacefully for change.
Implications of the Ongoing Turkish-Kurdish Dispute
Damage to the Turkish Tourism Industry: Thus far this year Istanbul, the Turkish capital, has been attacked three times by terrorists. Although the PKK has not claimed credit for these attacks, it is widely acknowledged that they probably played a role. All of this is creating a problem for Turkey’s tourism industry, with economists estimating that the conflict has cost Turkey nearly $450 billion over the last several decades. The Christian Science Monitor notes that “attacks by the PKK and its affiliates have helped drive a 28 percent year-on-year decline in tourist arrivals – the biggest drop in a decade.”
Further Consolidation of Erdogan’s Political Rule: Erodgan has made it clear to Turkish voters that his long-term aim is to rewrite Turkey’s constitution and shift the nation to more of a presidential, rather than parliamentary system. In June elections last year, the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), which aligns itself with pro-Kurdish forces (although not directly with the PKK), won 13% of the national vote and it won over 10% in new elections in November. Turkish law used to protect Members of Parliament (MPs) from prosecution, but such restrictions have recently been lifted. Critics allege that Erdogan intends to get these Kurdish MPs evicted, rousing the nation behind his efforts in light of the PKK’s recent attacks, and replace them with friendly MPs that will support his constitutional changes. Making such changes will require that Erdogan flip thirteen seats needed to call a referendum for constitutional alterations.
Hindering Turkey’s Hopes of Joining the European Union: Successive Turkish governments have attempted to make Turkey part of the European Union (EU). Turkish help with the Syrian refugee crisis is meant to pave the way for Turkey’s possible membership in the body, but it faces significant obstacles to get in. First, Europeans are wary of admitting Turkey because it is culturally different from other EU members. European nativists warn that allowing Turkey into the EU and granting its citizens free passage to other EU countries will produce an exodus of poor workers throughout the body, significantly altering the continent’s demographics and driving down the wages of other workers. Additionally, Turkey has a territorial dispute with Greeks in Cyprus over who truly owns the rights to that island and since Greek Cypriots are part of the EU that is a significant stumbling block. However, Turkey’s treatment of the Kurds is also used as a reason that it is ill-suited to be a future EU member. Turkey did made some policy alterations in the early 2000s to pave the way for EU membership such as abolishing the death penalty and relaxing some suppressions of Kurdish culture. Still, the European Court of Human Rights finds that Turkey is still deficient in protecting Kurdish rights, as well as those of other minority groups, and the ongoing struggle with the PKK will continue to shine light on the poor relations Turkey has with its Kurdish peoples.
Straining of the Turkish-American Relationship: One of the problems for U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East is that America has largely been deemed as a protector of the region’s Kurdish population. This is largely due to prior American involvement in Iraq, where the U.S. enforced no-fly zones after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. This allowed Kurds in Northern Iraq to govern themselves for more than a decade, building a more prosperous state than Iraq at large, which at the time was under significant international sanctions. President Barack Obama and his administration consider the Kurds to be a valuable regional tool for fighting the Islamic State, but Turkey is suspicious of American efforts to bolster the Kurds defensive capabilities there, fearing that weapons will find their way into the hands of the PKK. To be sure, the United States does not recognize the PKK as a legitimate voice for Turkey’s Kurds (and Turkey’s Kurds are significantly divided concerning whether or not they support the PKK’s aims and goals), but it does not support Turkish efforts to crackdown on the PKK since it deems those to be heavy handed. Another problem is that the Obama administration wants Turkey to play a productive role against the Islamic State and simultaneously work with other European nations on the Syrian refugee crisis. All of this amounts to a strained relationship, complicated even further by both nations being part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is struggling to figure out how to cope with a resurgent Russia.
Sources
“A Deadly Bombing in Istanbul is One More Sign Terror Has Come to Turkey” (Time, June 7, 2016)
“Did Erdogan Look the Other Way During YPG Operation in Syria?” (Al-Monitor, June 6, 2016)
“German Chancellor Merkel Expresses Concerns Over Kurds in Turkey” (Deutsche Welle, May 22, 2016)
“Reversing Course on U.S. Solider Wearing Kurdish Rebel Insignia” (The Atlantic, May 27, 2016)
“Timeline: Attacks in Turkey on the Rise” (The Middle East Eye, June 7, 2016)
“Turkey’s Downward Spiral Into Instability: How Did it Get Here?” (CNN, June 7, 2016)
“Turkey’s Erdogan Accuses Russia of Arming Militants” (Reuters, May 30, 2016)
“Turkey’s President Lifts Lawmakers’ Immunity” (The Orange County Register, June 7, 2016)
“Turkish Security Forces Kill 7600 Militants Since July: Erdogan” (Reuters, June 7, 2016)