Kurds key to current Turkish politics; domestic and foreign

Developments in Turkish foreign and domestic politics have entered a dangerous collision course, less than two months before the first round of presidential elections on Aug. 10.

The common denominator of developments in current Turkish foreign and domestic politics is the Kurdish issue. In domestic politics, the role of the Kurdish issue in the presidential elections is becoming more visible every day. There are a number of scenarios in the Ankara corridors regarding the possible role of Kurds in the presidentials.

It is no secret the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) sees the elections as an opportunity to force Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan into a bargain for autonomy rights. Most of the municipalities in the predominantly Kurdish-populated towns and cities of the southeast (either bordering or near to Syria, Iraq and Iran) were won by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) in the March 30 local elections, now changing its name to the Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP).

The Erdoğan initiative to carry out talks with the PKK through National Intelligence Agency (MİT) Chief Hakan Fidan in order to pursue a political solution to Turkey’s chronic Kurdish problem (which had claimed over 40,000 lives in 30 years) has cautious public support.

The PKK has stepped up its military activities in the last few weeks in order to persistently remind of their presence and demands to Erdoğan. A protest by the PKK against building stronger military stations in the Lice township of Diyarbakır turned into a clash where two people lost their lives.

Those demands include not only autonomy rights, but flexible prison conditions for Öcalan such as house-arrest, if not release. But when a PKK militant grabbed a...