by Marcus Papadopoulos
Turkey is bracing itself for an upsurge in Kurdish secessionist violence following a court ruling which banned the country’s largest Kurdish party from participating in Turkish politics.
Last week, the Constitutional Court in Ankara banned the Democratic Society Party on the grounds that it is co-operating with the Kurdistan Workers Party, the armed secessionist group fighting for an independent Kurdish homeland in the south-east of Turkey, where most of the country’s 14 million Kurds reside. Eleven judges ruled that the party had become “a focal point of activities against the indivisible unity of the state, the country and the nation.”
Following the court’s decision, deputies from the DTP said they would be quitting parliament, a move which could force elections in Kurdish districts. The chairman of the party, Ahmet Turk, told a news conference: “From this day, we are withdrawing from parliament. We will not participate in any parliamentary meetings or events.”
The DTP is the only pro-Kurdish party in Turkey’s parliament and is in control of nearly 100 municipalities.
Clashes between Kurds and Turkish police took place in the south-east of the country, especially in the towns of Dogubeyazit and Hakkari, after the announcement. In the city of Diyarbakir, the largest in the Kurdish region, 5,000 people assembled under the watchful eye of Turkish riot police to welcome home DTP deputies who were riding on an open top bus.
The court’s decision could undermine efforts by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to end the 25-year conflict between the Turkish government and Kurdish militants, which has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people. The Turkish leader has been pursuing a campaign of allowing Kurds to rediscover their cultural heritage.
In jeopardy, too, is Ankara’s quest to join the European Union, which is a contentious issue for many Turks as well as many planners in Brussels.
Responding to the decision of the Constitutional Court, the European Commission said it could harm the Turkish government’s application to join the EU as it would deprive the Kurdish community of representation in Turkey.
Emma Sinclair-Webb, the Turkey researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “Banning the DTP is a blow to efforts to resolve the Kurdish issue and ensure minority rights in Turkey. As a matter of urgency, the government should revise the constitution and Law on Political Parties, so that this kind of ban won’t be possible in the future.”
Some analysts believe that the banning of the DTP might strengthen the cause of the PKK as Kurds become disillusioned with the political process.
