Prosecuting Peace in Turkey
By Michael Rubin
January 18, 2016
The situation in Turkey has become increasingly insecure and chilly. Turkey’s press freedom ratings put it in an unenviable club that includes Egypt, Pakistan, and Russia. Indeed, since Recep Tayyip Erdoğan first took the reins of power, it has declined in press freedom rankings 50 spots; it may soon fall below even Saudi Arabia and Cuba. Whereas feminists in the United States and Europe fight for new rights, Turkish women are fighting for rights that are actively being stripped away from them.
In recent months, however, those who have suffered the most under the mercurial Erdoğan are Turkey’s Kurds. Whereas Erdoğan once sought to claim a mantle as pragmatic and progressive in his efforts to resolve the grievances of Turkey’s large Kurdish community, it has now become evident that his approach to the Kurds was cynical. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which had fought an on again, off again insurgency inside Turkey since 1984, laid down its arms and hundreds of fighters left Turkey. Erdoğan, however, seemed only want to gain Kurdish votes in the short-term to consolidate his power. When he realized that many Kurds in Turkey did not share his agenda, he turned on them with a vengeance, transforming vast swaths of southeastern Turkey under military curfew that has lasted days in some cases. What has transpired in these closed zones is like something out of Syria. (I published a report out of Turkish Kurdistan, here).
While Erdoğan’s brown shirts have largely prevented the media from reporting on the situation of the Kurds under military siege, many academics have seized the role as the conscience of the republic. Over 1,000 academics signed a petition asking for an end to fighting, for the renewal of negotiations, and for peace. Erdoğan was furious and declared the professors traitors. “I call upon all our institutions: Everyone who benefits from this state but is now an enemy of the state must be punished without further delay,” he declared. In other words, no longer are Turkish academics allowed to disagree or diverge from the beliefs or positions of the president. (Goodbye, Darwin; hello, book-burning). Security forces have begun detaining those who signed the petition asking for peace, and vigilantes working on behalf of the government have begun tacking threatsto the signatories’ office doors and dabbing them with red paint.
Erdoğan ally Sedat Peker, a Turkish mafia boss, declared, “We will let your blood in streams and we will take a shower in your blood.” How telling it is of Turkey today that Peker walks free while those seeking peace find themselves in prison or on-the-run.
January 18, 2016
Commentary Magazine
The situation in Turkey has become increasingly insecure and chilly. Turkey’s press freedom ratings put it in an unenviable club that includes Egypt, Pakistan, and Russia. Indeed, since Recep Tayyip Erdoğan first took the reins of power, it has declined in press freedom rankings 50 spots; it may soon fall below even Saudi Arabia and Cuba. Whereas feminists in the United States and Europe fight for new rights, Turkish women are fighting for rights that are actively being stripped away from them.
In recent months, however, those who have suffered the most under the mercurial Erdoğan are Turkey’s Kurds. Whereas Erdoğan once sought to claim a mantle as pragmatic and progressive in his efforts to resolve the grievances of Turkey’s large Kurdish community, it has now become evident that his approach to the Kurds was cynical. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which had fought an on again, off again insurgency inside Turkey since 1984, laid down its arms and hundreds of fighters left Turkey. Erdoğan, however, seemed only want to gain Kurdish votes in the short-term to consolidate his power. When he realized that many Kurds in Turkey did not share his agenda, he turned on them with a vengeance, transforming vast swaths of southeastern Turkey under military curfew that has lasted days in some cases. What has transpired in these closed zones is like something out of Syria. (I published a report out of Turkish Kurdistan, here).
While Erdoğan’s brown shirts have largely prevented the media from reporting on the situation of the Kurds under military siege, many academics have seized the role as the conscience of the republic. Over 1,000 academics signed a petition asking for an end to fighting, for the renewal of negotiations, and for peace. Erdoğan was furious and declared the professors traitors. “I call upon all our institutions: Everyone who benefits from this state but is now an enemy of the state must be punished without further delay,” he declared. In other words, no longer are Turkish academics allowed to disagree or diverge from the beliefs or positions of the president. (Goodbye, Darwin; hello, book-burning). Security forces have begun detaining those who signed the petition asking for peace, and vigilantes working on behalf of the government have begun tacking threatsto the signatories’ office doors and dabbing them with red paint.
Erdoğan ally Sedat Peker, a Turkish mafia boss, declared, “We will let your blood in streams and we will take a shower in your blood.” How telling it is of Turkey today that Peker walks free while those seeking peace find themselves in prison or on-the-run.
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