The Economist (20140705) by calibre

Author:calibre [calibre]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: news, The Economist
Publisher: calibre
Published: 2014-07-03T18:37:05.628000+00:00

Turkey and the Kurds

Dreams of Kurdistan

Buoyed by the recent success of their Iraqi brethren, the Kurds in Turkey look hopefully to the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan for a new peace deal

Jul 5th 2014 | YALAZA, LICE | From the print edition

IN YALAZA, a remote mountain village near the town of Lice, the seeds of a “free Kurdistan” are being sown. A “popular council” vetted by rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) will soon launch Turkey’s first school offering education in the Kurdish language. Last summer Yalaza’s fields were carpeted with cannabis. They are now filled with tobacco and other legal crops after the PKK outlawed the booming drug trade. “Yalaza will be a model commune for all of Kurdistan, the state cannot set foot here,” says Serdar Celik, a PKK man who seems to be in charge.

On the main road from Lice to Diyarbakir, the PKK’s star-emblazoned crimson flag is hoisted less than a kilometre away from a Turkish army checkpoint. It marks the entrance to several makeshift camps housing Kurdish activists, mostly women. Fehime Ete, who has a husband and two sons in jail on charges of separatism and three other sons fighting for the PKK, is typical. All are bent on preventing the construction of two army bases, which they say demonstrate that the ruling Justice and Development (AK) party is not sincere in its latest peace talks with the imprisoned PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

The Kurds’ protests took a bloody turn last month after Turkish soldiers tried to force them back, killing two protesters. Thousands of Kurds took to the streets across Turkey. Mr Ocalan’s 14-month-old ceasefire seemed about to collapse. That could have dented the hopes of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, who this week announced that he would run in the first direct election for the presidency in August, for which he hopes to secure Kurdish support.

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