TURKEY: PRO-KURDISH DTP PARTY ELECTS HARDLINER AS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002774

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL OSCE TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: PRO-KURDISH DTP PARTY ELECTS HARDLINER AS
NEW PARTY CHAIRMAN

REF: ANKARA 2605

Classified By: Political Counselor Janice G. Weiner, reasons 1.4(b),(d)


1. (C) Summary and Comment: Pro-Kurdish Democratic Society
Party (DTP) members elected Nurettin Demirtas, 34, as party
chairman and adopted the concept of "democratic autonomy"
during a November 8 extraordinary convention in Ankara.
Several Kurdish contacts believe the elevation of Demirtas, a
hardliner who spent 10 years in prison for his PKK
connections as a student, reflects increasing PKK control
over the party. The mainstream Turkish establishment
interprets DTP's calls for autonomy as a euphemism for
secession, and has reacted by stepping up legal pressure and
political rhetoric against the party. DTP's provocative
course is testing the patience of the Turkish public and
making the party an easy target for those seeking its demise.
End summary and comment.

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DTP Elects Hardliner, Adopts "Autonomy" Platform
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2. (U) Amid a massive police presence and heavy security
measures, 878 DTP members gathered November 8 in Ankara at an
extraordinary party convention held to elect party leadership
and approve a party platform. In stark contrast to the norm,
and in typical provocative fashion, DTP did not feature any
pictures of Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in the
convention hall, nor did they open the meeting with the
Turkish national anthem. At least one member, Nil
Demirkazik, wore a badge depicting the "Kurdistan" region.
In opening remarks, speakers paid homage to "martyrs of
freedom and democracy."


3. (C) DTP members replaced greybeard Ahmet Turk with
Nurettin Demirtas, 34, as the new party chairman. In his
acceptance speech, Demirtas called on the government not to
order a military operation against the PKK in northern Iraq,
saying, "instead of moving their time, energy, and money
across the border, they should spend it trying to construct
brotherhood and social peace inside Turkey." Former Human
Rights Association (HRA) president Yusuf Alatas told us
Demirtas is considered less moderate than Turk, who surprised
many in July when he crossed the floor after the
parliamentary oath-taking ceremony to shake hands with
far-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP) leader Devlet
Bahceli. Demirtas, who spent 10 years in prison for alleged
PKK membership as a student, is known for his occasional
hardline rhetoric; he infuriated the Turkish public by
stating, after a military operation that killed nine PKK
militants, "the Turkish military should feel ashamed
combating the PKK by sending a 10,000-strong army to combat
just nine youngsters."

4. (C) DTP MP Sirri Sakik told us the party elected Demirtas
because it wanted a leader who was not an MP and could
therefore devote extensive time to the job. But contacts
from outside the party believe the move signals the moderates
have lost control. European Commission political officer
Sema Kilicer contends the elevation of Demirtas indicates the
party is increasingly controlled by its extremist wing,
beholden to jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, while relative
moderates like Turk are being sidelined. Rojbin Tugan, a
Kurdish attorney from Hakkari, agreed that Demirtas' election
shows the PKK is exerting increasing influence over the
party. Participatory Democracy Party (KADEP) Chairman
Serafettin Elci, a moderate Kurd who opposes the PKK, said
Demirtas' election is insignificant because DTP leaders "are
like civil servants" who merely implement decisions made by
"Imrali," the island on which Ocalan is imprisoned.


5. (U) DTP delegates also adopted a new party platform based
on "democratic autonomy," a concept that would devolve many
central government responsibilities to some twenty-five
regional assemblies, with each region attaining an autonomous
status. DTP acting co-chair Selma Irmak told the assembly
that the notion of "one flag, one country, and one language"
has created conflict. "Democratic autonomy" would allow
local authorities to make policy according to the needs of
their constituents. Irmak and other speakers cited Bulgaria
(which has a large ethnic Turkish population) as an example

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of a government granting extensive cultural rights, including
education in the mother tongue, to its minorities. DTP's new
platform also urges removal of the constitutional clause that
identifies every citizen as a Turk and calls for emphasis
instead on "Turkish citizenship."

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Establishment Expresses Growing Impatience with DTP
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6. (SBU) According to the EU's Kilicer, the mainstream
Turkish establishment generally views autonomy and federalism
as euphemisms for, or a prelude to, secession. The
convention caused a rise in the already significant legal
pressure against DTP (reftel). Ankara's Chief Public
Prosecutor is now investigating three DTP MPs who traveled to
northern Iraq for the release of eight soldiers held hostage
by the PKK; widely circulated photographs show the three
signing a document alongside PKK members at the turnover
meeting. DTP claims the document attested to the hostages'
good health. The prosecutor also recently indicted Demirtas,
along with 182 others, who allegedly evaded military service
by using faked health certificates. The Prime Ministry has
petitioned the Parliament's Speaker's office to lift the
immunities of DTP MPs Serafettin Hali and Ibrahim Binici for
their comments in the lead-up to July 22 general elections
that allegedly incited public animosity.


7. (C) DTP's increasingly provocative remarks have engendered
hostility from politicians of all stripes. MHP Deputy Group
Chairman Mehmet Sandir urged a public prosecutor to
investigate DTP MP Fatma Kurtulan because of her presence at
the hostages' handover, and her husband's alleged PKK
membership. Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Sahin (AKP) said
that DTP deputies will be held responsible if they persist in
servicing the goals of the PKK. President Gul, who has shown
himself more open to DTP than others, expressed his
frustration with DTP's refusal to play the national anthem at
its convention by telling reporters, "the Turkish flag, and
national anthem are above politics." Only a handful of AKP's
Kurdish MPs from southeastern Turkey still appear willing to
give DTP a chance. AKP Diyarbakir MP Abdurrahman Kurt told
us DTP is feeling intense pressure from political parties and
the PKK, and that politicians should give DTP MPs breathing
space to work within parliament.


8. (U) Turkish press also has expressed growing
disappointment with DTP. Yalcin Dogan of "Hurriyet" wrote
that electing a chairman who had been imprisoned for ties to
the PKK shows the PKK controls DTP. Moderate Turkish Daily
News columnist Yusuf Kanli wrote on November 9, "we would
like to consider DTP a political party but, through actions
and remarks, it underlines every day that it has no such
ambition and insists on being an agent of the separatist
terrorist PKK gang of murder in the Turkish parliament."
Yanli criticized the DTP for shunning the national anthem and
concluded that "what DTP is doing is a disgrace to the
electorate in the eastern and southeastern provinces that
voted for the independent candidates in the last elections."
In a November 14 column, "Radikal's" Murat Yetkin commented
that the elevation of hardliners to leadership positions
demonstrated PKK control over the party. The PKK, according
to Yetkin, is trying to use the DTP by forcing it to adopt
extreme position that disrupt US-Turkish-Kurdish cooperation
against the PKK.

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DTP Responds to its Critics
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9. (SBU) DTP's Sakik told us the ever-increasing pressure is
part of a politically motivated harassment campaign against
the party. Demirtas had offered to undergo another medical
exam to disprove the charges that he had used a fake medical
certificate to avoid military service. Kurtulan had also
made clear she had been falsely accused; she was not the
person seen in a photo with PKK militants. Sakik noted that
the three DTP deputies who traveled to northern Iraq on
November 4 to help secure the release of eight Turkish
soldiers held by the PKK earned only accusations of treachery
and collaboration from the media, and legal charges from the

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public prosecutor.


10. (SBU) Ahmet Turk, speaking at a meeting of DTP's
parliamentary group, called the allegations part of a
politically motivated campaign of harassment against the
party. Turk said those who "defamed" the DTP or called the
party separatist "are either blind or have ulterior motives."
In reality, Turk continued, the DTP proposes "giving greater
emphasis to our country and our flag. We seek greater
democratization. There is only one DTP and it is the DTP
firmly clasped together around peace and democracy. It will
remain so whoever chairs the party."

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WILSON