The conflict between the Turkish government and the Kurdish opposition
The Interior Ministry stated on Monday that Turkish police arrested more than 700 people, including members of a pro-Kurdish political party, in operations against the PKK group after the murder of 13 Turkish detainees in northern Iraq.
On Sunday, the Turkish government stated that forces from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) had executed police and military personnel as most of them had been detained in 2015 and 2016. The murders occurred during a military operation.
The ministry said that the 718 people arrested on Monday in 40 provinces across the country included provincial and district chairs from the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), constitute the parliament’s third-largest. While, the opposition parties have accused the government because it is moving too slowly to release the detainees.
It’s clear that the political consequence could increase the risks in what analysts say that are produce a rift between the HDP and other opposition parties that collaborated in municipal elections in 2019 to cause the failure of Erdogan.
Moreover, Members of the HDP, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Iyi Party declared that the government had not acted even though they had previously raised the issue of the captured Turks in parliament.
On his part, Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, who is an HDP lawmaker, said that negotiations had allowed for rescues in previous cases but the government had not considered such an option this time. He informed Reuters that there could have been a solution but this happened due to the government and the ruling party’s general policies, adding: They are not considering a solution or peace right now; therefore they did not attempt such an option.
Whereas, Erdogan refused the criticism and declared on Monday that Ankara had functioned very hard to save the detainees, adding that the latest cross-border operation into Iraq, launched Feb. 10, had this aim.
Besides, Erdogan’s government has accused the HDP that it has links with the PKK and repeatedly detained or arrested its members. It has criticized the CHP for working with the HDP.
Erdogan’s communications director stated on Twitter on Sunday: PKK and HDP are one and the same, but the HDP denies this and responded: Nobody can clean the blood and tears they are responsible for by attacking the HDP.
Indeed, the PKK that is designated by Turkey, the United States and European Union as a terrorist group, has been conducting an insurgency in the mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey since 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been murdered in the conflict.
Turkey’s recent combat against the PKK has increasingly focused on northern Iraq, where the group has its center in the Qandil mountains.
