US double standard towards the Kurds

The PKK and the majority of Kurds in Turkey want autonomy and a regional assembly to control social services and cultural activities, to practice their own culture, and to be educated in their own language. Economic development is almost zero in the Kurdish region compared to the rest of Turkey, reflecting the deliberate policies of the Turkish regime to debilitate the Kurds in Turkey.

The PKK is the product of a harsh policy of repression and denial imposed by the central government. The PKK knows better than anyone else their limitations against a strong Turkish army, but they have few options. Armed struggle has not benefited Kurds either, but the responsibility for that lies with the Turkish Government, whose suppressive policies have forced young Kurdish people to carry weapons to fight for their rights. While the PKK says that it is now ready to disarm and open negotiations to resolve the Kurdish issue, but while the Turkish Government claims that it is ready for a peaceful solution, it is not willing to talk to the PKK.

If the Turkish Government refuses to negotiate with the PKK, how will they resolve this issue? If Ankara will not guarantee an end to the violence, the Kurds and the international community cannot trust Turkey to improve its human rights records. Adding the PKK to list after list of terrorist organisations will solve nothing.

Washington’s recent policy of categorising the PKK as terrorists and a common enemy, while on the other hand viewing Iraqi Kurds as friends, does little to appease the perceived need for the PKK to remain armed. Washington feels no sense of moral obligation to deal with violations of human rights and democracy in the region. Historically Kurds have been victims of international and regional powers and recent policies and actions confirm that this suppression and discrimination is to continue indefinitely. With a population of more than 40 million people, the Kurdish people are entitled to practice their own language and self-determination in their own land. The Kurds can neither live like Turks nor become Turks, just as in Iraq the Kurdish people rejected Pan-Arabism and becoming Arabs, despite Saddam Hussein’s attempts to eradicate them.

Instead of the US administration putting pressure on Kurds in southern Kurdistan within Iraq to fight against the PKK, it would be better for Washington to use its moral standing to apply pressure to the Turkish government. Policies to be implemented include no more imposition of Kemalist ideology and Turkish bigotry upon Kurds in Turkey, no more killing of Kurds and negotiations with the PKK to resolve the Kurdish issue. To succeed, any genuine political solution in Turkey means recognition of the Kurds as the second largest ethnic group within the country and an agreement for a corresponding level of autonomy to practice Kurdish politics and culture. The benefits to the Turkish government, Kurdish people and Washington would be that the PKK’s weapons would become a thing of the past and negotiations could commence between the Turkish government and the PKK directly.