For the past hundred years, those who govern Turkey have been trying to erase the Kurds from history. As a state policy, they have consistently based their approach on assimilation and cultural genocide. In addition, they have created a history marked by dozens of military operations, massacres, forced displacements, and severe destruction. At this point, denial has been surpassed, and now there is talk of “dialogue,” of creating “Kurdish-Turkish unity and brotherhood.” Because Kurdish existence has been proven, Abdullah Öcalan made the decision to end the armed struggle. Upon this decision and call, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) convened its congress and declared that it had ended its existence and its armed struggle.
However, Turkey is not taking steps in line with this proposed unity and brotherhood. It still seeks to move forward by clinging to the constitution of 12 September, which blatantly denies the existence of the Kurds and bans the Kurdish language. That constitution, drafted under the military coup, remains in place. Abdullah Öcalan has taken steps of historic significance. Yet they still continue to hold him hostage. Now, there are efforts to form a commission. But it is unclear whether this commission will propose a comprehensive solution. They may settle for only limited steps. In this respect, it is essential that the opposition and democratic circles take this issue seriously and assert their weight.
Turkey does not want to hear concepts such as autonomy or federation in relation to the Kurds. The federal status established in Southern Kurdistan (Başur) has not been accepted. Erdoğan has repeatedly said, “We will not make the same mistake in Syria that we made in Iraq,” and he is blocking the Kurds from gaining status in Syria. He presents this as a cause for war. In fact, in order to prevent this, he invaded Afrin (Efrîn) and other regions, working to neutralize and eliminate the Kurds.
Solutions such as autonomy and federation are publicly portrayed as attempts to divide the country. They seek to instill the perception among the population that the state will be split and that the Kurds will establish a separate state. Through the presidential system, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan worked to consolidate power in a single hand and succeeded. He dismantled democratic gains and, on this basis, waged an intense war against the Kurds. But what problem in Turkey has actually been solved? None. On the contrary, all problems have deepened. The economy has deteriorated. Freedoms and rights have been curtailed. The justice system has collapsed. Society has been polarized, and a profound moral decay has taken root.
Turkey has not ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government, even though it was designed to help build a democratic system. In order to prevent the Kurds from benefiting from democratic mechanisms, the state gave up on democratization altogether. As a result, all of Turkey and democracy itself, has suffered.
Now, Turkey is working to impose the mentality and rule of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on Syria. It is seeking an agreement with the United States to sideline the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The objective is to prevent the Kurds from gaining any form of political status. To that end, the people of Syria are being forced into a system even worse than that of the Ba’ath regime. And yet, there are real opportunities to build and strengthen democracy in Syria. The country’s various faiths, cultures, and peoples can come together to establish a democratic system. Autonomous regions or a federal structure are entirely possible. Differences can be preserved within unity, and Syria can be shielded from new crises and conflicts. But Turkey says no, “Syria will be a unitary state.” By continuing to exert pressure and threats, it seeks to leave the Kurds in Syria without any recognized status.
United States Special Representative for Syria, Thomas Barrack, has now joined Erdoğan’s mentality and vision of a uniform, centralized system. Just as they once handed over Afghanistan to the Taliban, they now appear ready to hand Syria over to HTS, a continuation of Al-Qaeda with the same ideological mindset. Barrack has gone so far as to issue a decree, declaring, “Autonomy and a federal system do not suit the Middle East.” In parallel, Turkey insists, “Demands for federalism or autonomy are separatism; we will not allow Syria to be divided.”
What is striking is that the United States representative, much like the defenders of authoritarian and oppressive regimes, portrays federal and autonomous administrations as forms of division. Yet he himself lives in a federal country. The United States was only able to ensure its unity through the establishment of a federation. Without federalism, there would have been no United States. The same applies to Germany, which secured its unity through a federal system. As we see, federation is not a formula for division, it is a model for coexistence and unity. Countries like the United Kingdom, Spain, and Switzerland have developed their democracies and resolved national issues by applying different models. This is not something the world needs to rediscover.
The Alawites have been subjected to massacres. The Druze are now facing of massacre. Conflict and insecurity are escalating. Either they will submit to HTS or be marginalized and targeted. The armed groups under HTS operate with the same mentality as the Islamic State. They do not spare women or children. They do not abide by the laws of war. They do not refrain from massacres and looting. They recognize no principles of law or morality. The disastrous consequences of insisting on “one state, one government, one army” and imposing HTS as a universal authority have already been witnessed. Instead, there must be a coming together around a democratic project for Syria. If the United States and other international actors lend their weight to this, the possibilities and conditions do exist. The peoples of the region are inclined toward democracy. They are open to living together in diversity. No one is asking to break away.
Source: ANF News
