Both PKK, ISIL are dangerous, Turks say

ISTANBUL

Demonstrators gesture as they gather to protest against ISIL during a rally in solidarity with the people of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane, in Diyarbakir, Nov. 1, 2014. REUTERS Photo

Turkish people perceive both the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as being equally dangerous, results from a recent survey conducted by research organization Metropoll have shown.

While 43.7 percent of the people said PKK was more dangerous than ISIL, 41.6 percent said they felt ISIL was more dangerous than the PKK. Some 4 percent of the respondents qualified PKK and ISIL to be of equal danger, the survey revealed.

The survey, conducted under the name “Turkey Pulse October 2014,” revealed that 54.9 percent of the respondents do not find the government’s Syria policies correct and 49.8 percent also do not view the “resolution process” the government is pursuing to solve the Kurdish conflict as successful.

Out of the 2,752 respondents of the survey chosen from 28 provinces building upon the 26 regions of the NUTS2 system, 92.5 percent said they did not sympathize with ISIL, although 14.3 percent of Felicity Party (Saadet) supporters, who are known for their extreme conservatism, said they feel sympathy for ISIL.

While 58 percent said the resolution dialogue between the government and the PKK to solve the decades-long conflict should be continued, 49.8 percent do not view this process as successful.

The peace process appears to be near collapse as the government has reportedly decided to freeze dialogue with the with the relevant parties, such as Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan following consecutive attacks on members of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).

The government has decided to freeze contact with the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), as well as contact between state officials and jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan for an indefinite period of time in the already stalled efforts for the peace process, as reported by private broadcaster CNNTürk on Oct. 31.

Situation in Turkey worsening

Meanwhile, half of the respondents agreed that Turkey was heading toward a worse situation, whereas 34.4 percent felt the opposite and 13.3 percent believed the situation was about the same as before. This marks a sharp fall from the 53.6 percent of people who answered for a better situation in December 2011, while the people who had opted for a worsening scenario were 39.7 percent.

People who are hopeful of their and their family’s future are about equal with the people who are not, with both of the groups consisting near 40 percent of the responses.