Kurdish question just won't go away

Istanbul, (AKI) - Whatever their ethnic origin and religion, all citizens are Turks, affirmed Turkish president Ahmet Necdet Sezer in his 2006 New Years Message, stepping into a heated national identity debate. The taboo question of Turkish identity has emerged in recent months, as the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) resumed attacks after a 1999 unilateral ceasefire and as Ankara faces tough scrutiny on human rights in its EU membership bid. Since the PKK began its battle against the Turkish state in 1984 some 35,000 people have been killed. Kurds make up 12-14 million of Turkey's 70 million inhabitants.

Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan triggered the discussion over Turkey's official ‘one nation-state’ policy, following violent protests following an attack on a bookstore in the southeastern town of Semdinli on November 9. Several people were killed in clashes between police and protesters. Three Turkish security officials have been charged in connection with the attack, thought to have targeted the shop's owner, who is Kurd, allegedly linked to the PKK.

Seeking to calm unrest in the Kurdish areas Erdogan said: “All citizens of Turkey are united under the primary identity of being a citizen of Turkish Republic, however all Turks have sub-identities. No one should be offended by this. A Kurd can say I am a Kurd.”

His break with state orthodoxy - the rigorous defence of the secular unified state as envisaged by the country's founder Kemal Ataturk - received enthusiastic applause from some in the European Union and from a small group of intellectuals in Turkey itself. But it unleashed a tide of anger and criticism everywhere else.

Turkish nationalists were furious warning that any redefinition of Turkish identity could lead to the break up of the country. And even the main opposition party, the social democratic Republican People’s Party (CHP) through its leader, Deniz Baykal said any redefinition of Turkish identity might tear the country apart, like the former Yugoslavia.

The powerful armed forces were predictably enraged. Hursit Tolon, former First Army Commander General, echoed soldiers reaction saying that Turkey doesn't have a Kurdish problem and that proposing the concept of sub-identity would serve the PKK.

The military wing of the National Security Council at a year's end meeting said: “Redefinition of identity is violation of the constitution. Discussions like those harm the structure of the state based on one nation.”

The same fears that Turkey might disintegrate are being echoed in the media. Taha Akyol, columnist in Milliyet wrote: “Ethnic differentations can lead to bloody decomposition. We should develop cultural pluralism while keeping one-nation state structure.”

However other commentators put the 'Kurdish question' in different terms.

“Of course the constitution says all citizens of Turkish state are Turks. But ‘Turk’ is also ethnically the name of a race. Someone who does not belong to this ethnic group may not be happy to be called Turk. The crucial point is to loyalty to the Republic of Turkey. We denied Kurdish identity for 80 years but this can not continue" said Ismet Berkan, editor-in-chief of pro-EU left-wing Radikal.

But how Turks define who they are and what that means for their large Kurdish population is no longer a purely internal issue. After some tension over Turkey's refusal to fully endorse the US-led war on Iraq in 2003, and a refocussing of foreign policy towards Europe, Ankara's axis with Washington now seems to be being reinforced. Particularly as Turks become increasingly aware of the reluctance of some European nations to include them in the 25-member bloc.

On the EU side, the first flash point is Roj TV, which still broadcasts in Denmark despite Ankara’s insistence that it supports the PKK, which the EU considers a terrorist organisation. The second is Joost Lagendijk, the co-chairman of the EU-Turkey joint parliamentary committee who is being probed by an Istanbul court for recent comments. Lagendijk, “The Turkish military wants clashes with PKK since it makes the army feel powerful and important” he allegedly said.

On the US side however, top officials of CIA and FBI paid visits to Ankara last month. It is reported that Ankara wanted the US to act militarily against the PKK top ranks in northern Iraq. It wants help in finding a military solution to the violence by the guerrilla group.

The government of Ankara has made some moves towards improving the rights of Kurds. Turkish media watchdog ‘RTUK’ announced in December that private television and radio stations will be able to start broadcasting in Kurdish as of January. The state broadcaster TRT started airing weekly half-hour programmes in Kurdish dialects in 2004.

While giving the green light for broadcast in the Kurdish language - something it had resisted for decades - Ankara is still demanding that Denmark ban the Kurdish satellite broadcaster Roj TV.

Turkey’s estimated 12-14 million-Kurds are not regarded as minority under the country's constitution. Under the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, Turkey granted minority rights only to non-Muslims. The EU is eager to have the Kurds classified as a minority and see their demands for some autonomy addressed.

In June 2004, the PKK cancelled its ceasefire declaration dating from 1999 when its leader Abdullah Ocalan was captured in Kenya. According to official government figures, since 2004 about 1000 members of PKK have infiltrated to Turkey from Northern Iraq where PKK has allegedly set up its base with about 3000 militants. From that time PKK violence has gradually re-emerged in Turkey, with nearly 200 soldiers and civilians killed over the past year.