TURKEY: URGING PRO-KURDISH DTP PARTY TO CONDMEN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002589

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL OSCE TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: URGING PRO-KURDISH DTP PARTY TO CONDMEN
PKK TERRORIST VIOLENCE

REF: A. ANKARA 2441


B. ANKARA 2412

Classified By: DCM Nancy McEldowney, for reasons 1.4(b),(d)

1.(C) Summary: Following the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society
Party's (DTP's) ambivalent public response to the PKK
massacre of 12 civilians (ref A),DCM contacted DTP MP and
group chair Sirri Sakik. She told Sakik the DTP must
unequivocally condemn violence if it wanted to help bring a
peaceful resolution to the Kurdish problem. Sakik deplored
the September 29 attack and the use of violence in general,
but said the DTP could not outright condemn the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK),for fear of alienating DTP's political
base. DCM countered that DTP had a historic chance to make
progress; they needed to proceed with courage and vision to
condemn PKK violence and prove their commitment to advancing
Turkey's democratic process. End summary.

2.(C) DCM contacted Sakik on the heels of a PKK massacre of
12 persons in southeastern Turkey. Following the incident,
DTP issued a statement that deplored the attack but also
questioned the immediate assumption that the PKK was
responsible, and criticized the government's continued
offensive operations in the Southeast (ref A). DCM
emphasized repeatedly that for DTP to have a credible voice
the party must unequivocally condemn violence and PKK
terrorism. Sakik, DTP's party group char and an MP from Mus,
condemned the attack and the use of violence in general. DTP
could not, however, outright condemn the PKK outright because
it would dissolve their political base. DTP constituents, he
said, all have a relative who is either "in the mountains, in
prison, or in a grave." (Note: Sakik has one brother who is
serving a life sentence for his crimes as a PKK member and
another who was shot in the back of the head while fighting
in the army against the PKK.)

3.(C) Sakik noted DTP's attempts at peaceful dialogue since
entering parliament this fall for the first time since 1991.
DTP leader Ahmet Turk had set a positive tone at the August 4
swearing-in ceremony by shaking hands with Nationalist Action
Party (MHP) chairman Devlet Bahceli; Sakik and others had
publicly stated DTP's desire to work toward the peaceful
resolution of the Kurdish problem within parliament; and DTP
MPs had reached out to all parties in parliament. Neither
the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) nor the
opposition had responded in kind. AKP leaders had referred
to Turkey's "cultural richness" but had failed to follow
through with any concrete action. President Gul's outreach
had been positive, but they were waiting for something
concrete. Opposition party MPs had lashed out at DTP in
public and shunned them in parliament, even refusing to sit
in the same hallway with them.

4.(C) Sakik said the continuing judicial campaign against DTP
(ref B) also stifled its ability to build bridges.
Prosecutors were exercising a double standard, ignoring the
constitutional guarantee of parliamentary immunity and
continuing prosecutions against DTP MPs, while (properly, he
said) suspending cases against MPs in other parties who were
accused of serious crimes such as murder. Other pressure
included a recent incident where two gunmen fired at DTP
headquarters in Ankara on October 3. Although one suspect
was apprehended, he was released the same day.

5.(C) In fact, he said, his constituents had given him and
other DTPers the mandate to come to Ankara and effect change
peacefully. He told of elderly Kurdish men, and women with
their hands hennaed, sending him off to Ankara with a plea to
stop the violence. Sakik emphasized that the DTP does not
want Turkey's division; otherwise they would not be in
parliament. They want recognition of their cultural
identity, which he understands would be enshrined in AKP's
proposed revision of the existing constitution. These few
words, he believed -- and he pointed to a statement to this
effect by imprisoned PKK leader Ocalan as well -- would
create sufficient leverage for them to get the PKK to lay
down arms.

6.(C) DCM acknowledged difficulties some DTP members had

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encountered and said, precisely for that reason, the party
must categorically condemn violence in all forms in order to
be an agent of change in Turkey. The USG and EU stand ready
to help the DTP in its stated desire of peaceful resolution
to the Kurdish problem but can do so only if the party
unequivocally condemns violence. Sakik said DTP had
condemned violence in past incidents, such as the May 27
suicide bombing in a popular Ankara shopping district, and
would do so in the future. Continued pressures on the party
would constrain the DTPs ability to effect change.

7.(C) Comment: This will be an uphill struggle. Our message
to Sakik appears to have had some limited effect. Following
a PKK ambush on October 7 that killed 13 Turkish soldiers in
southeastern Sirnak province, DTP issued an unusually strong
statement condemning the attack and calling for an end to
violence on all sides. And in the October 17 parliamentary
debate that preceded authorization of a cross-border
operation into Iraq against the PKK, the DTP speaker stated,
"Every drop of blood shed makes it harder to dress the
wound," called for a democratic solution to the problem, and
stressed that DTP had come to Ankara to resolve these
problems. In the face of continued pressure, including PKK
attacks that perpetuate a crisis atmosphere, it will be an
enormous challenge for moderates such as Sakik to convince
the party as a whole uniformly to espouse constructive
positions. End comment.

Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/

WILSON