War Against PKK As A Political Move

War has not started yet. The warplanes bombing the Kandil Mountains are just a prelude. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) figures are experienced enough to understand whether or not these bombings are a declaration of war.
Turkey is responding to the PKK's threat to end the cease-fire because the negotiations between the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan have stalled. The PKK is in a difficult position. It has entered a period in which all its advantages are jeopardized. The US sold out the PKK to Turkey. Without American support, the PKK cannot resist effectively against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the north of Syria. The international recognition it had owing to American support is even more important. Turkey made a timely move and ensured that the PKK was alienated on the global stage. The most crucial part of the agreement between the US and Turkey is the removal of the PKK from the stage.
The PKK has gained a lot since the cease-fire declared by Öcalan on March 21, 2013. Its greatest profit was to attract greater popular support in a nonviolent environment. The Kurdish political movement gained prestige, as evidenced by the support for the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in the general election. This experience should have proved for the PKK that peace was more advantageous than violence. However, the PKK figures in Kandil used the peaceful environment to become stronger. They proved that they were not peaceful when they started preparations for urban warfare.
The pro-government media published photos of HDP Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş on vacation. These reports may not be authentic because they rely on privacy to undermine a political image. Yet there is a reality. HDP politicians are not saying anything while Turkish jets bomb Kandil. It has been argued that there is a disagreement between Kandil and the HDP over ending the cease-fire and that their silence should be attributed to this disagreement.
The HDP and the majority of those opposed to the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in Turkey believe that the government is escalating the PKK crisis to win an early election. They simply believe that an effective fight against the PKK will ensure a decline in support for the HDP and that the AK Party will win a majority of seats in an early election. But parts of this argument that seem plausible at first do not hold water. A wholesale attack by the PKK would rule out an election. Interim Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu would not be able to take Turkey to an early election in an environment of terror. An election atmosphere would exacerbate terror; for this reason, a political party that seeks popular support cannot assume responsibility for violence.
At a critical juncture, Davutoğlu needs legitimacy. He cannot wage a war as the leader of a resigned government. For this reason, he has to form a coalition with the Republican People's Party (CHP) and wage this war under the roof of that government. Under these circumstances, Davutoğlu has to stand against pressure from the president to hold an early election. Erdoğan may want an election, but Davutoğlu cannot go ahead with it.
Turkey won a critical diplomatic victory against the PKK by making a deal with the US. Naturally, the US wants ISIL finished. ISIL is also a huge threat for Turkey as well, but it is not as imminent as the PKK. If ISIL is the flu, the PKK is cancer. The PKK's preparations for urban warfare have collapsed. Syrian pro-Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) leader Salih Muslim's attempts to get closer to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will not offset the strategic superiority of Turkey when it made a deal with the US.
Despite the escalating violence, the government prefers diplomacy to war. It waits patiently so that the PKK will understand it is desperate. Demirtaş should interrupt his vacation and bring the situation under control.

MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE (Cihan/Today's Zaman)