The HDP's civil war discourse
Oct. 10 was one of the darkest days in Turkey's history. Ninety-nine people lost their lives after two suicide bombs exploded outside the main Ankara train station. Members of some nongovernmental organizations and various left-wing circles, mostly comprised of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) voters, affected a deep shock to Turkey's political and social life. The fact that a considerable amount of those who were killed were proponents of the outlawed PKK prompted some social fault lines to crack.
The state did its best since the very beginning to prevent this shock from leading to a crisis. In a written statement, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said: "The citizens that lost their lives are not any different from the civilians and military and police officers killed by the PKK," emphasizing that no discriminatory approach will be tolerated by the state. In addition, he said that the attack targeted the Turkish public and the country's future as a whole, calling everyone to sensitivity.
Along with the official messages of condolence from the interim Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, a decision was also issued to provide the relatives of the victims with monthly payments just like the families of military officers who are killed. Victims' relatives were also assured that they would be provided with help finding jobs in the public sector. Both Erdoğan and Davutoğlu paid a visit to the scene of the attack, left flowers and prayed. Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu also paid a visit to the scene of the bombings, and his efforts to be sensitive were appreciated.
However, HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş stabbed the public conscience, which is hard to forget, with a statement he made only half an hour after the bombing. He addressed his base, which has faith in him:
"The AK Party [Justice and Development Party] government's chance of hemming and hawing has come to an end. You are murderers. Your hands are drenched in blood. Blood spilled all over on you. And it turns out that you are the greatest proponents of terror."
Since the PKK ended the cease-fire on July 20, it has killed 130 people, including civilians. Within this period, some Democratic Regions Party (DBP), the regional affiliate of the HDP, district chairs were apprehended with bombs in their vehicles or municipal trucks. A lot of evidence was revealed showing that there is an organic relation between the HDP and the PKK. However, within these two-and-a-half months, no authority from the AK Party has referred to the HDP as murderers, since defining a party with 13 percent of the national vote as such, means causing a confrontation between its electorate and others. However, Demirtaş said what he said just after the attack, directly targeting the AK Party government and its base.
Demirtaş was expected and demanded to retract his statement, which was assumed to be said in the frenzy of the moment. But he maintained the same hostile attitude in a speech he made at Sıhhiye Square the following day shortly after the bodies of the dead were removed from the scene of the incident:
"We will never grovel before those vile people. ... You are in the face of people who are from a dignified convention of resistance and who will not be afraid of you. We do not wish to coexist or cooperate with despicable men. It is not possible to coexist with people who have lost their dignity. This is not an attack organized against the unity of our state and nation, but rather an attack against our people organized by the state. They seem to be very pleased with the results."
These remarks, which directly declared a war against the people's will to coexist and referred to the AK Party and its proponents as vile and despicable people, brought forward the question of whether the HDP wants the outbreak of a civil war in Turkey like in Syria. When the PKK's Syrian affiliate Democratic Union Party's (PYD) acquisitions from the Syrian civil war are considered and when it is observed that the current call for a "revolutionary people's war" has not appealed to Kurds, I think that this is not a possibility that could be underestimated.
I hope the HDP will step back from this polarizing and hostile discourse as soon as possible.
The state did its best since the very beginning to prevent this shock from leading to a crisis. In a written statement, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said: "The citizens that lost their lives are not any different from the civilians and military and police officers killed by the PKK," emphasizing that no discriminatory approach will be tolerated by the state. In addition, he said that the attack targeted the Turkish public and the country's future as a whole, calling everyone to sensitivity.
Along with the official messages of condolence from the interim Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, a decision was also issued to provide the relatives of the victims with monthly payments just like the families of military officers who are killed. Victims' relatives were also assured that they would be provided with help finding jobs in the public sector. Both Erdoğan and Davutoğlu paid a visit to the scene of the attack, left flowers and prayed. Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu also paid a visit to the scene of the bombings, and his efforts to be sensitive were appreciated.
However, HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş stabbed the public conscience, which is hard to forget, with a statement he made only half an hour after the bombing. He addressed his base, which has faith in him:
"The AK Party [Justice and Development Party] government's chance of hemming and hawing has come to an end. You are murderers. Your hands are drenched in blood. Blood spilled all over on you. And it turns out that you are the greatest proponents of terror."
Since the PKK ended the cease-fire on July 20, it has killed 130 people, including civilians. Within this period, some Democratic Regions Party (DBP), the regional affiliate of the HDP, district chairs were apprehended with bombs in their vehicles or municipal trucks. A lot of evidence was revealed showing that there is an organic relation between the HDP and the PKK. However, within these two-and-a-half months, no authority from the AK Party has referred to the HDP as murderers, since defining a party with 13 percent of the national vote as such, means causing a confrontation between its electorate and others. However, Demirtaş said what he said just after the attack, directly targeting the AK Party government and its base.
Demirtaş was expected and demanded to retract his statement, which was assumed to be said in the frenzy of the moment. But he maintained the same hostile attitude in a speech he made at Sıhhiye Square the following day shortly after the bodies of the dead were removed from the scene of the incident:
"We will never grovel before those vile people. ... You are in the face of people who are from a dignified convention of resistance and who will not be afraid of you. We do not wish to coexist or cooperate with despicable men. It is not possible to coexist with people who have lost their dignity. This is not an attack organized against the unity of our state and nation, but rather an attack against our people organized by the state. They seem to be very pleased with the results."
These remarks, which directly declared a war against the people's will to coexist and referred to the AK Party and its proponents as vile and despicable people, brought forward the question of whether the HDP wants the outbreak of a civil war in Turkey like in Syria. When the PKK's Syrian affiliate Democratic Union Party's (PYD) acquisitions from the Syrian civil war are considered and when it is observed that the current call for a "revolutionary people's war" has not appealed to Kurds, I think that this is not a possibility that could be underestimated.
I hope the HDP will step back from this polarizing and hostile discourse as soon as possible.
Last Update: October 16, 2015 02:17