The HDP and PKK hand in hand


The outlawed PKK, which has been involved in terrorist activities in Turkey since 1984, has reactivated its violence again after the two-and-a-half-year cease-fire.The PKK did not attempt any large-scale activity throughout the reconciliation process, which was conducted with the initiative of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) between December 2012 and July 2015.Within this period, the state of Turkey did not launch any operation on the PKK, which promised to leave the country. As a matter of fact, the security forces only used their right of self-defense even in the face of the provocations from the organization such as forestallment, blocking public works, abduction, racketeering and harassment fire targeting outposts. However, this non-conflict period was marred just after the June 7 general elections. But the PKK's political and legal wing, namely the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), enjoyed success in the elections, exceeding the 10 percent election threshold, and the state did not attempt any operation that would upset the actual situation in the country. It continued that way until July 25, when some PKK militants killed two police officers while they were asleep at their house in the predominantly Kurdish southeastern province of Şanlıurfa.The PKK undertook this act, which was the final straw. The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) started to conduct airstrikes on PKK camps in northern Iraq. In return, the PKK mainly focused its terrorist attacks in urban areas in Turkey. About 100 police and military officers have been killed in PKK attacks since July. The organization also killed many civilians including children and doctors assigned in the region.The PKK has performed two major and sensational attacks this week. Firstly, some 16 soldiers were killed by roadside bombs in the Dağlıca area of Hakkari province on Sept. 6. The second one was an attack on the shuttle bus carrying police officers in Iğdır province on Sept. 8. Some 13 police officers lost their lives in this attack.THE LEGAL WING HAS NO DIFFERENCEThe PKK's legal wing, the HDP, which is represented with 80 deputies in Parliament, also displays a demeanor in the face of the terrorist attacks that is problematic in every aspect. The HDP tries to solidify its representation authority with the violence of the armed wing. The party does not even slightly condemn the violent acts; it even goes further and systematically justifies PKK terrorism.The tweet HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş wrote one day before the PKK attacks in which 16 soldiers and 13 police officers were killed, was a clear demonstration of their attitude: "All armies are helpless in the presence of people. This also goes for [President Recep] Tayyip Erdoğan, the army and police. They have been defeated, and will continue to be defeated."In what kind of a democracy in the world does the judiciary allow the chair of a legal party to issue such an explicit call for violence to his country? The answer is clear, only the Turkish judiciary.WHAT IS THEIR GOAL?The HDP is not a party that seeks reconciliation within the limits of democracy as it claims. It strives for a great design remnant from the Cold War period, namely a Kurdistan state that would span parts of Iraq, Syria and Turkey. Following the June 7 elections they determined that they had the minimum power to take action for that goal. However, since they do not have enough support for separation even among Kurds, they have to start a war that would increase the polarization in society.However, it is impossible for them to realize what they could not achieve in the period of weak coalitions, when 50,000 people lost their lives over 30 years, now under AK Party rule, which has a strong and rooted base. Consequently, they need one more force to overthrow the political rule, which is nothing but the military since they could enable it to take action as such. They think that the sphere of influence of the military officers will be widened as a result of the chaos they created, and they would take control into their own hands in the face of the government representing popular will like they did in the past. This atmosphere is undoubtedly a golden opportunity for organizations practicing a Leninist party model like the PKK.PKK and HDP administrators' frequent expression of civil war rhetoric and the overt repetition of "military coup" by party spokesmen last Saturday are among some serious indications.It is known that the TSK has recovered from the coup tradition in its past as much as possible with the discharge of some tutelary forces from the organization in recent years. The military takes nearly no interest in politics now.But still, this development is not an obstacle for the PKK to impose this method to which Marxist or Leninist traditions often resort to in the Middle East.