Turkey’s ruling AKP is set to aim its guns once again at opposition party HDP, this time politically, with indications that it may support Kurdish-language announcements on domestic flights and roll out a series of policies to support minority groups in the country. Rumours from parliament suggest the new resolutions could pave the way for reconciliation between the AKP and Turkey’s embattled minorities.
Update: 27 January 2016
The proposal for Kurdish airplane announcements made by the Diyarbakir Bar has been denied by the 12th Administrative Court of Ankara.
The rumoured AKP move would also recognise Kurdish place names and give Alevi cemevis – religious prayer houses not recognised by hardline Sunni Muslims – special status although the statement falls short of offering full equality with the privileges bestowed upon Turkey’s majority Islamic sect.
The move would indicate a resumption of the AKP’s stalled resolution process, as the party works to win back minorities who switched allegiances to the upstart democratic party whose policies centre around increased autonomy and self-determination for minorities including Kurds and Alevis. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, former party head of the AKP, has been criticised for his increasingly authoritarian leadership.
The indications were made on Monday 18 January by Hürriyet writer Nuray Babacan. The paper is known to have close links to political sources in parliament.
