Urfa Residents Welcome PKK Withdrawal But Remain Skeptical of Lasting Peace

SANLIFURFA, Turkey – Sitting in the shade of a tree in Urfa's central park and constantly adding coal to his hookah pipe, Salih Cesur says he welcomes the Turkish government’s peace process with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), but doubts it will impact his life in any way.

A large urban center with at least a half-million population, Urfa is primarily Kurdish, but also hosts Turkish and Arab residents, their peaceful coexistence never disturbed, even as the PKK-Turkish war raged in the region.

“Look around you,” says Cesur, pointing at the magnificent and tranquil gardens, which are built around a mosque. “Does it look like this place was at war two months ago?” he asks, surveying the idyllic retreat, with its numerous fountains and lawns where families gather for picnics, lovers take romantic walks and children play.

Many other Kurdish residents of the southern Turkish city, agree that the PKK withdrawal is important, but it will not change their lives.

Mahmut Abrak, 50, a large, solid Kurdish man running a butchery in the city center says that he has supported the PKK “with all my heart,” but is glad that the war is seemingly over.  

“In here we never really felt at war; Urfa was always relatively calm during the 28-year-long conflict -- or at least that's how I felt it,” Abrak says.  “Those who were unlucky, who really suffered through the war, were the people living in small villages in the countryside. This was not a war of cities. The PKK was always fighting outside the cities,” he explains.

Indeed, using guerilla tactics, the PKK usually avoided large urban centers – except to conduct terror-style attacks - and waged its war in rural areas, where an alleged 4,000 villages were destroyed during clashes with the Turkish government.

Abrak and many others in Urfa doubt that the peace will last: “Of course, it is a good step forward. No one wants more killing, but it is foolish to think 28 years of war are going to vanish in a month.” he warns.

Ramazan Bacdil, the 35-year-old owner of a phone shop in the city's bazaar, expresses similar doubts. He says that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan “used the peace as a campaign ploy; but I don't think it's going to last.”

Though many residents agree that the peace declared on March 21 was a positive step toward more stability in the region, other Kurds in Urfa express concern over how the Turkish government will behave once the PKK is gone.

Mehmet Imek, 38, who runs a pharmacy in the city's western suburbs, fears that, with the PKK gone, no one would be left to fight for the rights of the Kurds.

“People are celebrating the end of the war, and so am I. But the only key to success comes from the Turkish government's actions. If they finally give us some rights, if our children can finally learn our language at school, then this peace will last. If they use the peace to be even more unjust, then the war will start all over again,” Imek believes.

Like many Kurds, Abrak is certain that PKK guerrillas agreed to withdraw from Turkey into bases in the Kurdistan Region only because they were asked to do so by their jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

“Ocalan made the peace process happen. Every PKK fighter listens to him. If he says the truce is over, the fighters will return from Iraq the same day,” according to Abrak.  

While many speculate whether the peace will last, or try and find reasons why the war should be reignited, Cesur lights up yet another hookah.  “I'll just stay here by this tree. If there's another war I probably won't hear about it. Worst case, I'll take a nap and wake up for the next peace process,” he grins.