Turkey redefines approach to Kurdish problem amid skepticism

Source:Xinhua Published: 2016-2-7 16:27:55

Turkish government's newly unveiled action plan to tackle terrorism is seen as redefinition of state policy toward decade-long Kurdish problem with some expressing skepticism, analysts here said.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has announced a 10-point action plan to eliminate terrorism in Turkey on Friday, saying that security, economic and political measures would be all jointly administered to root out Turkey's longstanding Kurdish problem.

"In a sense, the 'Master Plan' revealed by Davutoglu could be seen as redefining state's Kurdish politics," said Ali Bayramoglu, a long-time observer of Kurdish politics.

He underlined that the revamped policy envisages Turkey to adopt unilateral actions to ease concerns in the predominantly Kurdish region without a bargaining process with the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK).

The revision on Kurdish politics came after the government-initiated talks with the PKK since 2012 collapsed in 2015, paving the way for resumption of violence and spread of conflict to urban areas.

Speaking in Mardin, a border province in the country's predominantly Kurdish Southeast, Davutoglu said the government would not negotiate with the PKK again unless it lays down its arms.

The PKK is listed as terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.

The conflict with the PKK claimed lives of more than 40,000 people in Turkey.

The new government plan will introduce democratic reforms such as more powers to local administrations and drafting a new constitution.

Davutoglu also promised economic investment, urban renewal projects and financial aid to businesses and farmers in the underdeveloped Southeast.

The businesses and families that suffered from clashes will be offered relief packages such as deferrals of debts and compensations for damage.

However, the security concerns remain to paramount concern for everybody in Turkey.

The Turkish prime minister vowed that public order would be restored in all areas in the southeast and the PKK's terrorism will be dealt with.

Abdulkadir Selvi, Turkish political analyst, believed the main challenge in government action plan is to provide a sustainable security in the region.

"Without a (public) security, the settlement (of Kurdish problem) is not possible," he said.

Since last summer, several thousands of PKK militants, more than 250 members of the security forces and over hundred civilians have been killed in clashes, according to various accounts provided by the government and non-governmental organizations.

Several towns have been placed under months-long curfews in Turkey's southeast where over hundred of thousands were forced to migrate due to clashes.

The Turkish government said it would offer rental assistance to those who fled the conflict zones.

Some analysts are skeptical about whether the government's new action plan will actually work.

Mehmet Tezkan, columnist at national daily Milliyet, said the plan is less about concrete actions than general references mentioned by the prime minister.

He noted that the plan did not address critical questions on how the PKK will be convinced to lay down arms, and how the government would go about returning the life to normalcy in the region.

"Perhaps the government has no idea yet about what it would (actually) do," Tezkan remarked.

Cigdem Toker, an economist, also questioned the viability of economic investments in the region and said the figures appear to be exaggerated.

She said successive Turkish governments have all been bragging about big investment figures in multi-billion dollar infrastructure project called Southeast Anatolian Project (GAP) for years since 90s as tools to address Kurdish problem.

The government action plan sees an investment of 26.5 billion Turkish liras (9 billion US dollars) to GAP for the year 2016-2018.

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