Turkey's PKK peace law brings hope to mothers, anguish to veterans

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey/ANKARA, Aug 12 - Longing to be reunited with her son, Ayten Elhaman was glued to the television all day as Turkey’s parliament debated and passed a law this week enabling Kurdish militants to return home under a peace process to end their decades-old insurgency.

She recalled how Bayram had left his job in a bakery one morning nine years ago to join the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in a conflict with NATO-member Turkey that has killed tens of thousands.

“My son, if you can hear me, come home. There is peace now. What is this war for anymore? Let no more children die,” she said at a vigil that has been running for seven years in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, where mothers of PKK recruits are waiting in hope.

“That hope became the joy of all of Turkey. It became the joy of all mothers. In the end, it was mothers who suffered.”

The legislation passed late on Monday establishes a framework for the PKK’s disbandment. It paves the way for the return and reintegration of militants from hideouts in northern Iraq and the suspension of some prison sentences.

The move is a major step towards ending one of the world's longest-running insurgencies, which has killed 40,000 people, fuelled social division and, according to President Tayyip Erdogan, cost more than $2 trillion. If successful, it could become a legacy achievement of his 23 years in power.

WHY DID WE GO TO THE MOUNTAINS?

But military veterans and families of security personnel killed fighting the PKK voiced anger at the prospect of reintegrating into society people who have been viewed as terrorists for years.

Ibrahim Colakoglu, a veteran who showed the scars from a leg wound suffered in clashes with the group, said the prospect of former militants reentering society left him questioning the sacrifices made by Turkish soldiers who had battled the PKK in the mountainous southeast.

“If they were going to pass that law, why did I go to the mountains? Why did they send us there?” he told Reuters at a protest in Ankara seeking improved rights for military veterans.

The PKK, designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and European Union, took up arms against the state in 1984. Last year, jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan called on the group to disband and it agreed three months later.

At the Ankara protest, the head of an association for military veterans and the families of security force members killed in the conflict slammed the parliamentary move as “pardoning” the PKK.

“This is a great disgrace for the Republic of Turkey. As families of martyrs and veterans, we will never accept this," said association head Erdem Cercioglu. “These are baby killers, cruel people who have no understanding of humanity."

The PKK campaign initially sought an independent Kurdish state in southeast Turkey, but later refocused on seeking autonomy and Kurdish political rights.

HARD FOR SOCIETY TO DIGEST

Aydin Erdem, general manager of Istanbul-based KONDA Research and Consultancy, said that for all parties involved it was a difficult process to convince society that peace was coming.

"It is hard for society to digest because all of those PKK members have been called baby killers for the last three decades,” he told Reuters.

"On the other side, it's hard for Kurdish society to digest because they don't trust (Erdogan's) AKP and the state itself anymore."

Hatice Yasar, whose two sons joined the PKK and never returned, welcomed the prospect of peace, but was distrustful.

"We want peace this minute, but it must be an honourable peace," she said. "We trust the guerrillas, but we don't trust the state because for more than 100 years they have deceived us."

The new law does not deal with broader Kurdish demands for expanded political and cultural rights, changes to anti-terrorism legislation or the status of Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on Imrali island, in the Sea of Marmara south of Istanbul, since 1999.

Ahmet Buyukburc, whose younger brother was a Turkish soldier killed in the conflict, said in Diyarbakir he was not opposed to the reintegration of PKK militants, as long as they showed remorse.

“If people genuinely realise their mistakes and work for the good of society and the country, reintegration can succeed. If there is no sincerity, it will fail.” REUTERS