The main opposition leader’s pre-referendum overtures to the country’s East and Southeast have drawn mixed reactions in the region, which was largely ignored by his predecessor at the helm of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP.
“The CHP has neglected the East and Southeast for years. Now, following years of negligence, you visit the area and ask for [our] vote. You will, of course, be protested,” Osman Künte, chairman of the Batman branch of the Human Rights Association, or 襤HD, said Thursday in response to CHP leader Kemal K覺l覺çdarolu’s tour of the region.
“The leftist parties have to deal with human rights and democracy. [But the CHP] didn’t take any initiative to understand the problems of Kurds living here. It didn’t do any research or prepare any report on Kurdish issue,” Künte told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “The messages aren’t sufficient. Action is needed.”
K覺l覺çdarolu’s pre-election tour covering Batman, Van, Elaz覺 and Bingöl represents an effort by the main opposition to make peace with the East and Southeast and the Kurdish community living in the region. His predecessor, Deniz Baykal, had been criticized for not visiting the area, which has few CHP voters and is dominated by supporters of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, and the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP.
Outside of his hometown of Tunceli, K覺l覺çdarolu tour’s drew small crowds and some protests, but the CHP leader continually reiterated his determination to break with the past, criticizing his own party as responsible for its own poor showing in the region because it did not make enough visits and did not listen to people’s problems.
The CHP has not been able to send a deputy to Parliament from Elaz覺, for example, for 33 years.
Speaking in Tunceli, K覺l覺çdarolu revisited his earlier comments about creating a social consensus on a possible general amnesty for people accused of terror-related offenses associated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK – something daily Cumhuriyet journalist I覺k Kansu called the CHP leader’s potential “trump card.”
‘General amnesty, CHP’s major card against AKP, BDP’
“The real ‘Kurdish move’ is beginning right now. Along with K覺l覺çdarolu’s emphasis on brotherhood, his rhetoric on a general amnesty for all those who stand accused of PKK-associated offenses is his major card against the AKP and BDP,” Kansu, who has followed the CHP leader’s East and Southeast tours, told the Daily News.
The journalist said the call for a general amnesty based on a social consensus is K覺l覺çdarolu’s most important message for the region and his party’s most powerful tool against the AKP’s religion-oriented and the BDP’s identity-oriented politics.
“K覺l覺çdarolu is making peace with the region. In the past, the locals reacted to the CHP even without listening to what its leader said. Now, they have an interest and curiosity. They listen,” Kansu said. “And there has not been any big anger or protest except for small incidents raised by AKP and BDP supporters during the visits.”
Zahir Kandaolu, chairman of the Van Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is also optimistic about the CHP leader’s bid to make peace with the region.
“Two days ago, I came across the CHP’s Gürsel Tekin walking through the streets of Van at midnight together with his colleagues. He was talking to locals. I joined and talked to them. It was nice to witness such a scene after so many years,” Kandaolu said.
He said the Kurdish community living in the region strongly desires peace but resents how the CHP has failed to come and listen to its problems.
“That’s why the people in the region are reactive and protest the CHP. Their anger stems from the CHP’s years-long absence here,” Kandaolu said. “But now, there is a new leader and a new period begins ... If there is a new vision and movement, then there is a new beginning. The CHP’s new leader should utilize this chance well. The leader who solves the Kurdish problem will receive all the prayers and votes.”
Other figures in the region agreed with human-rights activist Künte that the CHP chief’s appearance in the region is an election ploy.
“The CHP leader’s efforts are promising for the future, but he comes to the region for [our] votes and his party’s success in the referendum,” said Ali ekerda, chairman of Elaz覺 Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “It is important to know the real problems of the locals here and propose solutions for them. You can only be successful if you do this.”
