The Turkish government is acting as if Bahceli’s Ocalan action is being done alone

When Devlet Bahceli, a nationalist member of Turkey’s ruling coalition, publicly endorsed a new round of talks with imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, everyone assumed it was a government initiative.

Since the beginning of October, Bahceli has made one gesture after another to lay the foundation for aid to Kurdish opposition groups.

He reached out to the pro-Kurdish Democratic Party for the first time during the opening ceremony of parliament.

And then he called on Ocalan to publicly order the PKK to disarm. The armed group has been waging war against the Turkish state since the 1980s, first for independence and then for ‘cultural autonomy’.

This week, Bahceli exceeded everyone’s expectations, saying Ocalan should be visited by his family and lawyers and suggesting he call for the dissolution of the PKK from the Turkish parliament.

While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments appear to support Bahceli’s outreach, he is yet to say anything in detail about his own views on the issue.

Yet Turkish officials and insiders of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) were quick to deny that this was a new “peace process” with the PKK.

Previous attempts to end the conflict failed in 2015, when Kurdish armed activity grew during the Syrian civil war.

“Bahceli himself puts forward the idea of ​​disarming the PKK. There is no nationwide decision to re-engage Ocalan in starting such talks,” a senior AKP member told Middle East Eye.

Two Turkish officials said neither the National Security Council nor the intelligence community were involved in the effort, and branded the whole matter a Bahceli adventure.

“This is not state policy and the president is not part of the game plan,” a third official said.

Finding a balance

Bahceli is not a lightweight in Turkish politics. His Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) traditionally represents Turkish nationalism in politics.

Thanks to Bahceli and his MPs, Erdogan was able to secure a majority in parliament, and the president routinely consults him extensively before taking crucial steps.

And there are signs that this latest gamble has not been taken unilaterally either.

“If Bahceli’s initiative succeeds, they will claim ownership. If it doesn’t work out, they will deny their involvement.”

– Source from the Turkish government

The day after Bahceli told parliament that Ocalan’s 44-month isolation should be lifted, the PKK leader’s nephew, Omer Ocalan, a Dem party lawmaker, was allowed to visit his uncle for the first time in four years.

“You need to involve both the Turkish intelligence service and the Turkish Ministry of Justice to facilitate such a visit,” said a Turkish source closely following the issue.

“And many had known for two weeks that Omer Ocalan would visit his uncle as part of the new round of engagements.”

In his speech, Bahceli also mentioned the “right to hope” under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which suggests that everyone should be released after a maximum of 25 years.

Bahceli suggested that Ocalan could use this legal avenue to secure release from his life sentence.

Observers then noted that Sirri Sakik, a Dem MP, had introduced a bill along similar lines to Parliament in September, proposing to release people who had spent 25 years in prison.

Even more suggestive is the fact that Erdogan himself has not objected to or criticized these statements over the past four weeks, but has only occasionally made comments that appear complementary.

A Turkish government insider said the stance was not surprising.

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“The government does not want to take the new round of agreements with Ocalan and the PKK into its own hands, because 2015 has taught them a lesson,” the source said.

“If Bahceli’s initiative succeeds, they will claim ownership. If it doesn’t work out, they will deny their involvement.”

This approach provides the perfect cover for the government, according to the insider.

Wednesday’s attack on Turkey’s aerospace industry (TAI) by two suspected PKK operatives was illustrative of the balance the government appears to be trying to achieve.

Although the government is not officially cooperating with Ocalan, it quickly responded to the attack with retaliatory airstrikes in northern Syria, destroying oil wells and facilities controlled by PKK affiliates, which also led to deaths, according to local reports.

But there are indications that some elements within the government do not support Bahceli’s move.

A headline in Yeni Safak, a government-affiliated newspaper, stated on Wednesday that the Turkish public does not support any dialogue with Ocalan.

“After pushing the PKK into northern Iraq and capturing border areas in northern Syria, the PKK has been strategically in the background since 2016, with many in the government preferring military solutions to any political progress,” the insider said. the government.