A fragile process

The government is blaming provocateurs determined to undermine peace efforts for the incident. But the lack of concrete progress toward securing Kurdish rights is feeding old suspicions about the government's intentions.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan believed he could maintain a firewall between the recent wave of unrest that spread from Taksim Square and his efforts to secure peace in the Southeast. His approach, however, was flawed from the start. The Kurds need solid guarantees that their rights will be protected. The Gezi protesters have different grievances but they too want a more participatory form of democracy and respect for the rights of individuals.

The prime minister, however, did little to reassure the Kurds. During his recent meeting with the Wise People commissions, he denied that work was underway to allow education in Kurdish and to lower the electoral threshold. At a time when slow progress is generating discontent, it is hardly surprising that the construction of fortified gendarmerie outposts in the region is raising red flags about the authorities' intentions for local people who have faced decades of state oppression.

Demonstrations by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) to push the government into action were met by tear gas and water cannons. The government's show of force, similar to the heavy police response seen in İstanbul and elsewhere in the country in recent weeks, appears to be giving birth to a new phenomenon. I recently referred to the "alternate universes" that had, until now, prevented many Turkish citizens from showing solidarity for the plight of others under pressure.

The government's harsh response seems to be gradually breaking down some of these barriers. In recent days, İstanbul protesters have expressed their solidarity with the people of Lice. Similarly, thousands of people seeking a more tolerant Turkey, respectful of individual rights, swelled the ranks of the gay pride march that took place on Sunday. Lice was mentioned there too, suggesting that the government's authoritarian approach is generating new empathy between citizens of different backgrounds, united by the notion that rights should be enjoyed by all, not just by those who think or live like themselves.

It is still early days, but if this trend persists it may well lay the foundations for a genuinely different understanding of democracy in this country. Unfortunately, the prime minister is more likely to read this new meeting of minds at street level as a confirmation of a broad cabal against him, rather than as a sign of growing democratic maturity.

Still largely missing from the growing crowd of individual rights seekers is the more conservative segment of society. Memories of the indignities inflicted by the Kemalist state institutions are clearly still fresh, but some Muslim intellectuals have come forward to state clearly that having suffered past injustices doesn't justify imposing a similar plight on others. Let's hope a growing number of conservative Turks will understand that supporting demands for more personal freedoms and less state interference in individuals' lives ultimately offers them, as well as other groups in society, the best protection against a possible Kemalist backlash. Democratization alone can save Turkish society from becoming entrenched in "us" and "them" camps.

The tragic events of the past few day have clearly confirmed that the peace process with the Kurds and the discontent expressed elsewhere in the country are inextricably linked. In spite of the killing of a young protester in Lice, hopes for peace in the Southeast have not faded yet. If the government were to swiftly announce new reforms benefiting the Kurds and take steps to implement them, the impact would be felt not just in the Southeast, but it would defuse tension in the rest of the country as well. Failure to do so, however, could lead to further tension and have devastating consequences.