Peace Process: The buck stopped at Qandil

TURKEY - In Brief 17 Feb 2015 by Atilla Yesilada

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Hopes of a historic breakthrough in the peace talks between AKP and Kurdish rights actors were dashed when PKK refused to pull out from Turkey, while Davutoglu responded by turning down PKK’s prior conditions for doing so. The Process is not dead, everyone in Turkey wants peace, but it is best to think that no progress will be achieved until after the elections. This most-likely scenario means that the Kurdish side could put pressure on the government by provoking more street action, which could prove to be disastrous for economic sentiment and somewhat negative for AKP and HDP’s ballot performance. Most of the story of a break-through that fell through is still shrouded in the mists of state secrecy, but it appears that Ocalan was genuinely convinced that AKP would entertain Kurdish demand of federalism and bilingualism-- among others—in good faith after the general election. Thus, he urged PKK in Qandil Mountains to announce a permanent cease fire and a pull-out of its armed insurgents from Turkey. The Qandil cadres rejected Ocalan’s request late on Sunday on grounds that · The government still refused to engage in substantive final talks, · It failed to make the simple good-will gesture of releasing sick PKK-KCK convicts, · It advanced an Internal Security Reform Bill (Security Bill) that could allow the police and judiciary to severely crack down on PKK’s adjunct organizations. On Monday, PM Davutoglu spoke to the press after the weekly Cabinet meeting, refusing to dilute or withdraw the Security Bill, which is also resisted by other opposition parties and the bar associations, and adding that the government would not commit to any negotiations on the final conditi...