Ceylanpınar incident

The Ceylanpınar incident (22–24 July 2015) saw the killing of two policemen in Ceylanpınar, Turkey, which led to the resumption of the Kurdish-Turkish conflict. The attack was used by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government as a casus belli to end the otherwise largely successful 2013-2015 solution process and resume its war against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). As the AKP had failed to win a majority in the June 2015 Turkish general election the month before, and soon after the resuming hostilities announced the November 2015 Turkish snap general election, analysts believe that the Ceylanpınar killings and return to war have been used to increase Turkish nationalist fervor and favored the ruling party taking back control over the Turkish parliament.[1] Other motives have also been advanced, with the Syrian war encouraging extremist parties from both sides to undermine peace efforts by increasing nationalism and readiness for war.[2]

Ceylanpınar incidents
Part of Turkish involvement in
the Syrian Civil War
LocationCeylanpınar, Turkey
Date22 July 2015 (2015-07-22) (EEST)
TargetTurkish policemen
Attack type
Assassination
WeaponSilenced gun
Deaths2
VictimsOkan Acar, Feyyaz Yumuşak
PerpetratorsKurdistan Workers' Party
Accused9 alleged PKK agents, acquitted

Background

Early AKP policies were reformist and appeasing. In 2011, Kurdish independents candidates won 6.6% of the votes and 35 parliament seats[3] while the 2013 Turkey's peace-process greatly reduced PKK activities in South-Eastern Turkey. Lower incomes and lower literacy have been observed for decades in Turkey's South-Eastern provinces, causing higher demographic dynamism and raising political weight for Kurds.[3] On 7 June 2015, following a largely successful ceasefire[4] period thanks to the government and the rebels efforts, the June 2015 Turkish general election provided a major +6.5% gain to the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) which collected 13.1% of the national votes and a notable decrease for AKP, gathering 41% of votes or a -9% evolution. This electoral success has been called the "Kurdish miracle" and deprived the AKP of its majority previously maintained since 2002.[3] On 20 July 2015, ISIS led the 2015 Suruç bombing, killing 32 Kurdish volunteers. PKK elements accused Turkey of supporting ISIS and being complicit of the bombing.[5] It has been argued that ISIS willfully wanted to put pressure on the Turkey-Kurdish peace process and succeeded in its aim to stir conflict between them.[2]

Incident

On 22 July 2015, two police officers were assassinated by unidentified men. The officers were killed as they were asleep.[6] Soon after, 9 Turkey Kurds were anonymously denounced as the killers, arrested and accused of assassinations under PKK orders.[1]

Authorship and command

Authorship was first claimed by PKK's armed wing People's Defence Forces (HPG),[7][8][9] describing it as a retaliation following the prior Suruç bombing.[10] The claim suggested PKK-related killers.

The claim was soon countered by higher PKK authorities:[11][2] a week after, the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) spokesman Demhat Agit said that the PKK was not officially involved, saying "these [attack has been led by] units independent from the PKK. They are local forces which organized themselves and not affiliated with us."[12]

Executive reaction

On 24 July 2015, the Erdogan government simultaneously ordered Turkish Police large scale internal operations while the Turkish military began a large-scale military Operation Martyr Yalçın against the PKK and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). As a result of attacks by the Turkish army, the PKK officially announced the resumption of full-scale hostilities. The collapse of the ceasefire has been linked to AKP poor performance at the recent June election.[1][13][14]

Impact

On 24 August, President Erdogan of AKP called for a snap election. HDP leadership accused the ruling AKP of orchestrating nationalist attacks against them, HDP volunteers facing a "campaign of lynching" with HDP offices being attacked, in one instance 200 times in 2 days.[15] As fighting intensified, military curfew was imposed in 100 areas in South-Eastern Turkey, most notably in Cizre's 2015 clashes.[15] HDP accused the ruling AK Party of looking to reignite war with PKK and stoke unrest to revive nationalist support ahead of the 1 November election.[15]

On 1 November 2015, the November 2015 Turkish general election provided a major gain to the AKP (49.5% of votes, +8.6%) and decrease for the HDP (10.7% of votes, -2.4%). The HDP narrowly hovered the 10% election threshold needed to win seats. The low score of the HDP has been linked to the renewal of violence and fear of IS attacks on HDP political rallies.[16]

Trial and acquittal of the 9 suspects

In March 2018, all 9 PKK suspects of the July 2015 killing of the two Turkish policemen in Ceylanpınar, which led AKP to denounce the peace process and resume the conflict, were acquitted by the Turkish Court as no substantial evidence was provided.[17] On 16 April 2019, the 9 suspected PKK operatives' acquittal was upheld by a Higher Court.[1] No suspects have been confirmed for the 22 July 2015's casus belli.[18]

See also

External
  • Hoffman, Max. "The State of the Turkish-Kurdish Conflict". Center for American Progress. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  • "Ceylanpınar iddianamesi çöktü. Katil(ler) kim?". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  • "2005-2015 PKK-Türkiye Görüşmeleri: Çözüm ile Derinleşen Çözümsüzlük (2005-2015 PKK-Turkey Talks: Diving into the non-settlement Solution)". 2017.

References
  1. "Acquittal of nine Ceylanpinar murder suspects upheld". 16 April 2019.
  2. Hoffman, Max. "The State of the Turkish-Kurdish Conflict". Center for American Progress. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  3. "Are the Kurds the Next Kingmakers in Turkey?". Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. 11 May 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  4. International Crisis Group (2018), Turkey's PKK Conflict Kills almost 3,000 in Two Years
  5. "Kurdish militants claim 'revenge' killing of two Turkish policemen". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  6. Cook, Steven A. (15 March 2016). "Between Ankara and Rojava". Foreign Affairs. ISSN 0015-7120. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  7. "Kurdish group claims 'revenge murder' on Turkish police". Aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  8. "PKK claims Turkish police killing in revenge for Syria border attack". France 24. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  9. AFP, LeFigaro fr avec (22 July 2015). "Le PKK revendique le meurtre de policiers turcs". Le Figaro.fr (in French). Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  10. "Turkish crackdown on Kurds leaves death and destruction in border town of Cizre". ABC News. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  11. "Davutoğlu accuses pro-Kurdish HDP of 'arrogance' after 2015 general elections". Ahval. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  12. "KCK official says PKK not responsible for murders of 2 Turkish policemen". TodaysZaman. 29 July 2015. Archived from the original on 29 July 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  13. Graeber, David (18 November 2015). "Turkey could cut off Islamic State's supply lines. So why doesn't it? | David Graeber". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  14. Cumming-Bruce, Nick (10 March 2017). "U.N. Accuses Turkey of Killing Hundreds of Kurds". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  15. "Leaders 'driving Turkey to civil war'". BBC News. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  16. David Graeber (2015), Turkey could cut off Islamic State’s supply lines. So why doesn’t it? https://theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/18/turkey-cut-islamic-state-supply-lines-erdogan-isis
  17. Kurdish teen brutally tortured in case that ended peace process | Mahir Korulu https://ahvalnews.com/turkey-kurds/kurdish-teen-brutally-tortured-case-ended-peace-process%5B%5D
  18. "Ceylanpınar iddianamesi çöktü. Katil(ler) kim?". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 8 May 2020.
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