An AKP rally in Diyarbakir
The deciding vote on Turkey’s upcoming constitutional referendum will likely fall to the country’s marginalized and maligned Kurdish population. Polls ahead of this Sunday’s ballot indicate that the country is evenly divided with a significant chuck of voters still undecided—many of whom are Kurds.
The challenge for AKP is to convince Kurds that they should vote at all. The Kurdish Peace and Development Party (BDP) has promised to boycott the vote on the grounds that the reforms don’t address key issues relating to Kurdish rights. For many Kurds, however, the referendum is less about rights and more about revenge. One of the 26 proposed amendments would revoke immunity for the military leaders who planned the 1980 coup and the subsequent crackdown on Kurds, exposing them to prosecution in civilian courts.
During a rally last week in Diyarbakir, Erdogan explicitly tied the referendum to justice for the Kurds by promising to raze the infamous Diyarbakir prison where thousands were tortured and murdered in 1980. AKP has also gathered support for the referendum from important members of the Kurdish diaspora in Europe and prominent Kurdish businessmen, who have largely benefited from AKP’s rule.
Whether AKP’s push in the Southeast will be successful is a matter of conjecture. Gut feeling: enough Kurds turn out to vote and almost all vote for the referendum giving AKP a slight but nonetheless significant win on Sunday.
For those of you in the DC area, be sure to check out the Project on Middle East Democracy’s event September 13 titled “Is Turkey Becoming Less Democratic?” It should be a good referendum wrap up. Full event description here and you can RSVP here.
The challenge for AKP is to convince Kurds that they should vote at all. The Kurdish Peace and Development Party (BDP) has promised to boycott the vote on the grounds that the reforms don’t address key issues relating to Kurdish rights. For many Kurds, however, the referendum is less about rights and more about revenge. One of the 26 proposed amendments would revoke immunity for the military leaders who planned the 1980 coup and the subsequent crackdown on Kurds, exposing them to prosecution in civilian courts.
During a rally last week in Diyarbakir, Erdogan explicitly tied the referendum to justice for the Kurds by promising to raze the infamous Diyarbakir prison where thousands were tortured and murdered in 1980. AKP has also gathered support for the referendum from important members of the Kurdish diaspora in Europe and prominent Kurdish businessmen, who have largely benefited from AKP’s rule.
Whether AKP’s push in the Southeast will be successful is a matter of conjecture. Gut feeling: enough Kurds turn out to vote and almost all vote for the referendum giving AKP a slight but nonetheless significant win on Sunday.
For those of you in the DC area, be sure to check out the Project on Middle East Democracy’s event September 13 titled “Is Turkey Becoming Less Democratic?” It should be a good referendum wrap up. Full event description here and you can RSVP here.
