IN TURKEY, NEW HOPE FOR PEACE RISES
But coalition must be formed within 45 days
For more than three decades, this ancient city in southeastern Turkey has been at the heart of a long-simmering war between the government and separatist Kurdish rebels. But for the second night in a row, the gunshots fired from the streets of this predominantly Kurdish city were meant to celebrate a new era of peace.
The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) won 80 seats in Ankara’s 550-member Parliament, clearing the 10% threshold required to enter the Legislature for the first time. The Kurds effectively served as a check on the ambitions of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was seeking a larger victory for his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to expand his grasp on power.
While the party embraced a progressive agenda that expanded its support beyond the traditional Kurdish base, HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas campaigned on a promise to seek a peace deal that would end the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) insurgency.
Demirtas reiterated that pledge Monday in an interview with CNN. “We’ve always said that the process has to continue, and now we’re stronger in parliament,” he said, blaming Erdogan for the stalled talks. “Whatever the conditions, we will continue to support a peaceful resolution.”
In Diyarbakir, some voters celebrated Monday as if a peace settlement was all but assured. “Our boys and girls will soon be free to come down from the mountains,” said Rojges Dogan, a student in Diyarbakir, using the common euphemism for returning PKK guerrillas. “I have no doubt that Demirtas and ( jailed PKK leader Abdullah) Ocalan will restore our dignity and stop the bloodshed.”
Some analysts urged caution in interpreting Sunday’s election results, which deprived the AKP of the majority needed to rule alone. To form a coalition government, the AKP must reach an alliance with one of the Turkey’s three main opposition parties within 45 days, or Turkey could be in for a fresh election. With opposition leaders so far ruling out the prospect of a coalition, Turkey’s political future remains far from certain.
“The HDP has ensured that they are part of the political process, which is no small feat,” said Howard Eissenstat, a historian at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. “But the road to a peace process still requires a government to agree to it.”
If Turkey is forced into another round of elections, it isn’t clear whether the HDP would again muster enough votes to enter parliament. While experts expect the cease-fire reached with the PKK in 2012 to hold, some Diyarbakir residents were prepared for war. “Whatever our leader says, we will do,” said Orhan Balmie, 18, a student celebrating the HDP victory. “We want peace, but if we must go back to war, then I am prepared to die.”