Turkey, from Negotiation to War

The Bets of Peace and Surrender

Abstract

"While Mustafa Kemal Ataturk claimed on reconciliation within his country and with the world, we are now witnessing Turkish conflicts and tensions with all the countries of the region and the Turkish interior, with various factions and with the Kurds in particular. After 30 years of costly war between the state and the Kurdish movement, for the first time public negotiations began between the two. The famous speech of Ocalan was announced in Diyarbakir (March 2013). The movement has invested in this relatively peaceful environment and has begun to promote the Cultural Nationalism for the Kurds and other minorities on a large scale. But this atmosphere of peace and freedom did not last long. The state abruptly overthrew the peace process with representatives of the Kurdish movement by detaining thousands of its leaders. The guerrilla war began again, in many areas. The army has chased activists in houses and streets in cities such as Sur, Jazira, Naseebin and Sirnak. Some parts of the Kurdish areas have been destroyed, displacing about one million civilians. This research has tried to explain why the state has returned to its old policy of security and military approach, although in the past few years it has repeatedly claimed that it is possible to deal with the Kurdish question through peace and reconciliation. The research tries to study the complex relationship between these two poles."