TURKEY: KURDISH POLITICAL PARTY ENTERS PARLIAMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002038 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/02/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PTER OSCE TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: KURDISH POLITICAL PARTY ENTERS PARLIAMENT WITH HIGH HOPES REF: A. ADANA 78 ¶B. ANKARA 965 ¶C. ANKARA 1781 Classified By: Charge Nancy McEldowney for reasons 1.4(b),(d) 1.(U) This is a joint Embassy Ankara-Consulate Adana cable. 2.(C) Summary: The newly elected pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) MP's are signaling publicly their determination to work constructively in parliament. DTP leader Ahmet Turk's August 4 handshake with nationalist party head Devlet Bahceli set a positive tone. However, DTP faces significant complications given parliament's contentious agenda and DTP's perceived links to the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). While DTP and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) share the goals of constitutional reform and improved conditions for Turkey's Kurds, AKP will likely keep its distance from DTP, whose members have so far refused to publicly condemn the PKK as a terrorist organization. End summary. -------------- A New Era in Kurdish Politics -------------- 3.(C) DTP's 21 candidates banded together to form the first Kurdish parliamentary block since 1991, circumventing the ten percent election threshold by running as independents. Vice Chair Selma Irmak told us the party is determined to use this opportunity wisely. She assured us DTP remains open to dialogue with all parties and will promote "brotherhood" in Parliament. DTP has evolved and is more mature than it was in 1994, when pro-Kurdish MPs were expelled from Parliament and arrested for taking their oaths in Kurdish and wearing PKK colors, she explained. Turkey has also become more tolerant since that era, when open discussion of the Kurdish problem was taboo. DTP MP Sirri Sakik echoed Irmak in comments to the press, noting that it will be the ruling AKP's job to establish consensus and compromise in parliament. -------------- Looking for Partners -------------- 4.(C) DTP's top goal is enacting a new constitution that lessens military influence and expands cultural freedoms, according to contacts. They will likely look to AKP for support. AKP, which made impressive headway with voters in DTP strongholds, also supports constitutional reform but may be wary of allying with DTP, given DTP's PKK taint. Siyar Ozsoy, an aide to DTP Diyarbakir mayor Osman Baydemir, was upbeat about near-term cooperation on constitutional reform, but predicted that eventually DTP and AKP agendas will diverge. Currently, DTP and AKP seem like "natural partners", he said; AKP can translate its strong mandate into wide-ranging changes, possibly even a new constitution, provided it manages the politics adroitly. After 3-4 months, this power is likely to dissipate and priorities will shift. The Kurdish community's ultimate objective of legal recognition of its separate identity and freer use of Kurdish language and culture is likely to hit resistence from the nationalist MHP and Republican People's Party (CHP) MPs, setting the scene for contentious parliamentary debates. 5.(C) AKP also shares DTP's goal of improving the economic status of Turkey's Kurds but, again, may differ on approach. The single biggest gesture AKP could make, Ozsoy said, is to improve relations with the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, a move the GOT has regarded cautiously. Though conditions are not yet right for negotiations between the GOT and the DTP on the Kurdish issue, Ozsoy said that improved GOT-KRG relations would be a good first step. -------------- Who's calling the Shots? -------------- 6.(C) Many Turks are convinced the PKK controls DTP deputies. Former Human Rights Association President Yusuf Alatas told us that, while DTP MPs are clearly trying to project a moderate image, the party is still ultimately beholden to the PKK. Diyarbakir Bar Association President Sezgin Tanrikoglu, who had applied to run as a DTP-endorsed independent ANKARA 00002038 002 OF 002 candidate, concurred that DTP remains in the PKK's &Stalinist8 grip. &Based on my discussions about my candidacy,8 he said, &it was clear they did not want independent thinkers in their group. They wanted obedient servants.8 Tanrikoglu decided not to run. 7.(C) While Irmak denied a DTP-PKK link, she said the party would not denounce the PKK as a terrorist organization. Numerous DTP representatives have told us that the party is eager to serve as a go-between for the GOT and the PKK to develop a settlement to include PKK disarmament, amnesty for PKK fighters and political reforms granting additional rights to Turkey's Kurds. PM Erdogan has conditioned AKP outreach on DTP declaring the PKK a terrorist organization, a prerequisite his deputy chief of staff Yunus Emre Karaosmanoglu reiterated to us privately. -------------- Opposition Remains Wary -------------- 8.(C) Opposition MPs remain suspicious, if not indignant. CHP members Onur Oymen and Ilhan Kesici refer to DTP as the "PKK representatives" and the "terrorist representatives." The MHP has signaled readiness to work constructively with DTP MPs, but remains skeptical. Bahceli confidant and MHP theoretician Riza Ayhan called the DTP deputies "PKKers" in our meeting. He expects DTP to behave moderately in parliament but to continue pushing their hardline agenda with their grassroots. Beypazari MHP Mayor Mansur Yavas told us his party will work with DTP MPs, but only if they leave behind inflammatory rhetoric and controversial proposals such as dividing up the country into federal regions (which is not official DTP policy). -------------- Comment -------------- 9.(C) DTP's return to parliament may persuade alienated Kurds that non-violent avenues are available to achieve their goals. They are off to a harmonious start, but DTP MPs will need to demonstrate autonomy, compromise and flexibility to gain trust. And, as PKK violence inevitably continues, DTP deputies will likely be forced to take sides -- a choice that could establish their political courage or lead to their expulsion and arrest. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ MCELDOWNEY