Who did you say will pay for the damage?

I have seen the same headline in several papers: “Who will pay for this loss now?”

Reactions against the ban of Nevruz demonstrations caused major damage in Istanbul and Diyarbakır.
 
What you would call a state administration has to be flexible at times, should be able to reciprocate fiercely when the time comes and has to ignore things at certain times. 

For exactly two years, the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) expanded these celebrations to the week. For exactly two years, the state did place any bans. 

For exactly two years, there was no bloodshed at the demonstrations nor was there a Molotov cocktail thrown. 

This year, somehow, the state said NO and almost provoked these demonstrations. I’m not saying those who staged demonstrations and torched and destroyed the surroundings did a good job. I only want to show how distant the state mechanism is from community psychology. 

Of course, another justification that comes to mind is that the state was pushing the BDP to these clashes so that a loss of prestige is inflicted, but I doubt it would go that far. 

Nowhere in the world can such issues be solved by these methods. Constant fighting and living in a constant conflict lead nowhere. This is true for both sides. One day, one of them will cause more damage to the other, and then the opposite will give up. 

At present, this is exactly what is being experienced between the security forces of Turkey and the KCK-BDP-PKK front (outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the alleged urban wing of the PKK). One day one of them will stop resisting. 

Those caught in between will suffer. 

Isn’t this a pity? 

Why do those kids take to the mountains? 

We suffice to call it the “killer organization.” Well, that organization is made up of people. Very young people, either because they must be angry at some things or they must be unhappy with their status, take to the mountains. Moreover, the age of taking to the mountains is gradually dropping. Now it has gone back to between the ages of 12 and 25. 

Since these kids are not going to a picnic, don’t you even wonder why they are taking to the mountains?

At the beginning of the year, the International Center for Terrorism and Transnational Crime (UTSAM) of the Police Academy made an agreement with a private research firm to investigate the “Sources Feeding Terror in Turkey.” The aim was to find the reasons for taking to the mountains (which means joining the PKK). 

In the 24 provinces (including Istanbul) where citizens of Kurdish origin live and where terror incidents occur mostly, a survey was carried out with 2,600 people, revealing very striking facts. 

These are the ones that interest me the most among the findings: 

The age of taking to the mountains intensifies at youth, between the ages of 12 and 25. 

The leading reasons for joining the PKK are mistreatment by the police and the military, beating, operations and the rage against unresolved murders. 

Unemployment and poverty are among the significant reasons.

The reason one-fourth of the girls take to the mountains is to escape forced marriage. 

The fact that a family member has taken to the mountains before or that a family member has been killed in the mountains whips up a youth’s participation. 

How typical, isn’t it? 

The rebellion of a young person growing up in an environment of joblessness and hopelessness... Searching for a sense of belonging… Seeing family members being shoved, the wish to rebel against maltreatment… The rage against the state’s brutal force… Satisfying all of these by taking to the mountains and joining the PKK… 

I wonder if the purchase of new arms and sharing of intelligence is being mulled over more in Ankara than the calculations on how we can satisfy these kids? 

Let’s not forget, we cannot win this struggle by killing. 

We can make a difference by winning these youth.