Barzani’s Diyarbakır visit and a renaissance for all Kurds

Some walls are being pulled down while some others are being built in the Kurdish context. A visit from the leader of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Masoud Barzani, to Diyarbakır on Saturday and his joint public address with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan marked a breakthrough for Turkey and the Kurds in the region. Another wall was pulled down this weekend when Erdoğan made his first visit to a member of the BDP (the Peace and Democracy Party), Osman Baydemir, the mayor of Diyarbakır. This was the first time that he engaged in dialogue with politicians from Kurdish political parties.

At the same time, some new walls are being built among Kurds. Last week the PKK-affiliated Democratic Union Party (PYD) announced autonomy and an interim government in northern Syria. Barzani, who has been accusing the PYD of making secret deals with the Syrian regime and imposing its own agenda on other Kurdish parties, rejected the PYD’s unilateral declaration. He also accused it of forming an autocracy, marginalizing other Kurdish parties and getting Kurds into a war that is not in their interest, referring to the PYD’s clashes with the jihadist forces within Syria. Barzani’s worsening relations with the PYD naturally affects his relations with the PKK as well.

This picture hints at an alliance between Turkey and the KRG on the one hand, supported strongly by Washington, and a partnership between the PYD and the PKK on the other. In addition, it looks like the BDP is being drawn into the first camp so that it embraces the peace process in cooperation with Barzani. Yet there are two problems with this picture. The BDP strongly supports the PYD, and the leaders of both parties often talk about their unity. So it is not that easy to imagine collaboration between the BDP and Barzani in light of their policies on northern Syria. Another problem is that on the one hand, Turkey’s alleged proxy war against the PYD looks to be over. PYD’s Saleh Muslim, said Ankara has ended its support for the Islamist groups which had been fighting against the PYD. However, Ankara has also rejected the PYD’s recent declaration of autonomy. 

Turkey’s motivations are lucid. It allies with Barzani not only due to their strong economic cooperation, energy deals and Barzani’s support for the peace process, but also due to the fact that their regional interests fully overlap. Both Turkey and the KRG have sour relations with Damascus, Tehran and despite diplomatic efforts, still with Baghdad. They are both against Syrian Kurdish autonomy. Yet, at the same time, Ankara is also keen on not souring its relations with Barzani’s main rival, Saleh Muslim. It would be Turkey’s loss if the PYD becomes more aggressive toward Turkey and if the rift among Kurds reaches an armed level. This picture demands that Turkey play a mediating role between these Kurdish groups. Moreover, Turkey is the only country capable of doing that since it is the only one which has dialogue with all these groups. This would also lay the basis for developing economic, social and cultural integration among Kurds in the region. And last Saturday gave nothing but hope.

Barzani’s Diyarbakır visit and a renaissance for all Kurds