TURKEY: ARREST OF DTP PARTY MEMBERS SPARKS PROTESTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000055 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PTER TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: ARREST OF DTP PARTY MEMBERS SPARKS PROTESTS THROUGHOUT THE SE ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Turkish police apprehended 19 members of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) during September 11 anti-terror operations. The arrests sparked a week of protests in Kurdish-populated areas throughout the southeast. Kurdish contacts have divergent assessments of what the arrests presage for the GOT's Kurdish initiative and what steps the Kurds should take next. The detentions, as well as the recent deaths of 11 Turkish soldiers and eight PKK militants in anti-terror operations, have damaged hopes in the southeast for a lasting solution. END SUMMARY. -------------- -------------- -------------- "AN ATTACK ON DTP IS AN ATTACK ON PEACE" -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On September 11, Turkish law enforcement launched simultaneous anti-terror operations in Diyarbakir, Sirnak, Mardin and Van in what many of our Kurdish contacts perceive as a harassment campaign targeting DTP members. In the early morning hours, media report police raided the homes of DTP party members, arresting them and seizing computers and documents. (Comment: This is not the first such police operation against the DTP: in April 2009, police detained more than 50 DTP members in what Kurdish activists called the ruling Justice and Development [AKP] party's revenge for losing major cities to DTP during the March local elections. End comment.) The detentions sparked week-long protests throughout the southeast, with thousands marching through the streets in Van, Diyarbakir, Hakkari and Sanliurfa, and smaller-scale demonstrations in other cities. The illegal protests led to additional arrests of Kurdish demonstrators, further fueling tensions. ¶3. (SBU) DTP contacts expressed surprise and outrage over the latest wave of arrests, which caught party officials by surprise given earlier momentum on the GOT-led democratization initiative. One former party leader told us Kurdish hopes had been dashed and "an attack on the DTP is an attack on peace." He warned of growing pessimism, but said DTP would continue its "democratic reaction and demands." Adana DTP Chairman Osman Dogan said the detentions dealt a blow to finding a solution to the Kurdish issue and blamed "forces within the state" for undermining the process and showing insincerity. Two Kurdish attorneys expressed surprise the state would repeat the "wrong" of April 2009, and said it was mistake to arrest people involved legitimately in politics as it would merely strengthen the hand of Kurds resisting the process. -------------- -------------- INTELLECTUALS: PKK MUST DISARM -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Two leading Kurdish intellectuals told us the essence of the problem is the struggle between the civilian authority (GOT) and the stronger military. The PKK's armed struggle highlights AKP weakness and undermines AKP's efforts. They insisted the PKK must abandon an armed struggle so a legitimate civilian solution can be reached, removing the military's pretext for continued involvement in the issue. The DTP, they observed, would receive far more domestic and international support if it showed itself the sole interlocutor in this matter. One attorney said rather than putting the GOT in a difficult position by pointing to PKK as the interlocutor, the DTP should use its lawmakers to make its own proposals. He said the military's announcement that it would cut down every last PKK terrorist - and the populist GOT's need to concur publicly with that sentiment - has shown that a solution, if even possible, will be very painful. -------------- FROM HOPE TO SKEPTICISM ADANA 00000055 002 OF 002 -------------- ¶5. (SBU) A prominent attorney in Batman said citizens have moved from early hope to skepticism about the GOT's initiative after receiving the bodies of 11 Turkish soldiers and eight PKKers killed in recent military-PKK clashes in the southeast. (Comment: Government officials are refusing to release the bodies of five militants to their families, fueling further unrest among Kurds in Hakkari. End comment.) He distinguished between unallied political agnostics, who do not blame the government for the recent detentions, and political-minded people who see the GOT's handing of the initiative as "unskillful." He also pointed to divisions within the PKK, saying there are members who have not adapted to the initiative and would sabotage the process. -------------- -------------- -------------- DETENTIONS PLANNED TO MOLLIFY THE OPPOSITION? -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) A Kurdish freelance journalist living in Diyarbakir sees the detentions as AKP's carefully orchestrated attempt to mollify vocal opposition parties, which have accused the AKP of treason for opening a Kurdish initiative. He said the 19 detained DTP members were low-level bureaucrats, and AKP knew that this "pinprick" would agitate but not completely upset its delicate political chess game. He observed Minister of Interior Atalay's rhetoric had changed right before the detentions. Before the detentions, he said, Atalay was insisting the GOT was listening to every opinion on the initiative and considering legal incentives to encourage PKK members to abandon its armed struggle. After the war of words began with opposition parties CHP and MHP, with one ultranationalist politician calling the slain soldiers "martyrs of the Kurdish initiative," Atalay said amnesty would never be offered to terrorists. The journalist believed the AKP was sincere, but as it has cast itself as the "party for all citizens of Turkey," it was walking a political tightrope. He observed the DTP was taking advantage of the situation, pushing tension and fueling indignation to its advantage. He said the DTP is a fractured mess, with even imprisoned PKK leader Ocalan criticizing a DTP lawmaker for mentioning separatism. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (SBU) While AKP leaders continue to use words of brotherhood and unity to maintain momentum on its Kurdish initiative, the recent arrests have led many Kurdish citizens to question its sincerity. Despite the PKK's alleged ceasefire, terrorist attacks and bloody clashes continue in the southeast. Prime Minister Erdogan said the continued violence against the military was "sabotage to the democratization plan," and vowed that terrorist bullets would not halt the process that was supported by 72 million people. Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc urged people not to react emotionally to the murdered soldiers, and said the risks taken now would avoid further losses in the future. While the AKP speaks with one voice, the Kurdish community is unified by hope at a lasting peace, but deeply fractured at how to achieve it. DARNELL