Gulan: Election campaigns in the Turkish way

The article in Kurdish

There is already enough of soldiers in the Turkish side of the boarder but 50 000 more of them were transported last week to Sirnak. Battles between PKK guerrillas and Turkish army continue in Cudi and Gabar mountains and in Bestler-Dereler area. The target of the army is clear: Iraq boarder and Kandil.

Turkish army makes plans. If Turkish Mehmetcis can not go to South Kurdistan at least PKK guerrillas should not come to Turkey. There are wild speculations how to do this. Turkish Daily News wrote two weeks ago about a plan to build similar wall on the Turkey-Iraq boarder than "security fence" which separates Palestinian West Bank from Israel. There are still some financial and topographical problems.

Iraq war has became to the American army a nightmare, their second Vietnam. But it seems that Turks have not heard about their problems. They claim their victory over the PKK in same country where American soldiers die every day.

This spring on average five Turkish soldiers have died every week in the battles. What would happen if Turkish army enters South Kurdistan? The amount of dead Turkish soldiers would rise. There would be more soldier funerals. When shown in TV they would be like election advertisements to the ultra nationalist party MHP.

The army has made its opinion clear about Prime Minister Erdogan's democracy plans. It gave a memo the 27th April and threatened the government with intervention because of the crisis in Parliament over electing president. What was the effect of this? According to polls more people decided to vote Islamist AK Party. The more the army wows against Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the more popular Erdogan becomes. It seems that army can not stop Erdogan to win the July elections and to build the next government.

Erdogan is not giving up. Abdullah Gül failed in May to become the president. AKP made quickly in the Parliament a new law: president will be chosen in direct election by the people. Neither the army is giving up. What will be its next step?

If Turkish soldiers go to South Kurdistan, there will be more soldier funerals. Good for the Deep State, more nationalist fanatics in television and more votes to MHP.

The army makes provocations to irritate the Kurds in Turkey when it needs a crisis to show its power. What would be irritating Kurds more than an attack to Kandil? Added with isolation of Abdullah Öcalan and rumours about his poisoning. Sooner or later angry Kurds would storm on the streets. Deep State waits it. It would be a good excuse for the army to claim an emergency rule in Turkey and put Erdogan and Gül out of power.

This spring has been a spring of hope in the Kurdish cooperation. I wish this continues and President Masoud Barzani does not give up to pressure from Turkish army and let it go to Kandil.

It would finish the period of good development in Kurdish relations. This spring Kurds in Turkey and in South Kurdistan have agreed that Turkey's invasion to Kerkuk would be same as an attack to Diyarbakir. But if Masoud Barzani lets Turkish soldiers to go to Kandil and they would later go also to Kerkuk, how much support Barzani would get from the Turkish Kurds?

Kurds have been controlled by centuries by "divide and rule" policy. Turkey's plan to get Masoud Barzani's permission to go to Kandil is just one link in this strategy. I hope Kurds have learned to resist this method and can finally struggle united for their rights.