Turkey sliding towards civil war
Istanbul (AsiaNews) – Confusion continues to reign over the number of victims from Saturday’s twin suicide bombing in the center of Ankara, the Kurdish question in Turkey, has not yet been definitively established.
According to official information, there were 95 victims; according to the Kurdish party HDP, the death toll is 127 people and more than 500 wounded.
The uncertainty about the number of victims of this latest attack, on the eve of the parliamentary elections of November 1, is just one more sign of the uncertainty that shrouds the political future of the nation. The climate that reigns throughout the country is one of a nation on the brink of civil war.
In this election, the party of President turkish Tayyip Erdogan aspires to recover an absolute majority in parliament and to impose a presidential regime. The last parliamentary elections, on June 7, even though the AKP won 40,86%, it failed to obtain the outright majority of 276 seats, because of the performance of the Kurdish Hdp party of Selahatin Demirtas.
In getting 13.3%, the HDP prevented the AKP of the majority of half plus one of the seats in parliament, necessary for the various reforms, robbing it of absolute control of the country. For the record, it was also the first time in the history of the Turkish republic that a Kurdish party exceeded the threshold of 10% required for a group in Turkish parliament.
Thus far it has been a very close race and polls had been unfavorable of the AKP. But also the two other opposition parties CHP and MHP also seem unwilling to collaborate with the 'AKP, at the head of which is the current prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
For the moment, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
International observers note that Davutoglu only appeared in national media seven hours after the massacre, to declare that the attack was authored by the PKK, Isis and various leftist organizations.
The same Davutoglu in declaring three days of national mourning, added that these three days will commemorate not only the victims of the October 10, but also the Turkish police and soldiers who have fallen in the battle against the PKK.
This despite the fact that intelligence services have confirmed that s Isis militants were behind the attack.
Instead the Kurds accuse Erdogan and his "deep state (derin devlet)": they believe the aim of the latest attacks is to create a state of tension on the eve of elections and foster a return of nationalism among the Kurdish population.
HDP leader Salahatin Demirtas, said ironically: "It is surprising that in a country like Turkey, where the intelligence services also control the flight of birds, it has not been possible to predict the attack" two days ago.
Following the violence, yesterday the Prime Minister Davutoglu invited Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the CHP, the main opposition party and Devlet Bahceli, MHP leader of the far-right nationalist party for talks.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu set the immediate removal of the ministers of the interior and justice as a precondition for meeting. Bahceli rejected the invitation.
Interestingly enough, Selahatin Dermitas, the head of the pro-Kurdish HDP was not invited to take part.
Meanwhile, Turkish military forces have continued to attack PKK positions, despite the latter's proposal to operate a ceasefire until the next general election.
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19/03/2016 13:19
