Good Kurds, bad Kurds

Ironically, the "good" and "bad" Kurds for the Turkish establishment are the same Kurds who have the same ethnic sentiments and strategic goals but different ideas about reaching the same goals: The good Kurds are the darlings of Ankara; the bad Kurds are traitors. Ironically, also, today's "good" Kurds were the "bad" Kurds two decades ago. But with a little bit of luck and $$$$$ pouring in across the border, today's "bad" Kurds could become the darlings of the establishment in Ankara in two decades - if not much sooner.

The region called the Middle East is like a big chessboard on which a couple of dozen players play chess at the same time - on the same chessboard. Occasionally banging their fists on the board and rolling the dice in the hopes of a double six, the Turks play it differently: backgammon on the chessboard. Banging their fists on the board as well and also rolling the dice for a double six, the Kurds have also played backgammon on the chessboard - until recently. The Kurds have learned to play chess on the chessboard while the Turks are still playing backgammon. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an called it "treason" after the Peoples' Democratic Party's co-chair, Selahattin Demirta?, recommended the establishment of self-governing regions in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish areas. Was it treason to establish the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in predominantly Kurdish Iraq? No. 

As part of the backgammon game, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation into Mr. Demirta?'s remarks on autonomy "as part of articles regarding crimes against the constitutional order and its operation in Turkish criminal law." Under investigation, Mr. Demirta? allegedly "broached the possibility of building an independent...