What is the status of the 100-year project?!

The government is waiting for news from the terrorist leader in Imralı for the end of the PKK, while simultaneously pinning its hopes on regional actors, especially Barzani.

The expected call did not emerge from the second Imralı visit by DEM Party members either. Following this, AKP Spokesperson Ömer Çelik stated that “the traffic of visits was completed during that process” and added, “What is expected from here on out is the emergence of a call regarding the liquidation of the terrorist organization.”

MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli, who initiated the new opening, spoke as follows one day after Ömer Çelik:

“It is my sincere wish that the meetings between the DEM delegation and Imralı provide unconditional support for a terror-free Turkey and that the expected call be announced as soon as possible.”

While it is unclear from these words of the two partners whether the Imralı visits have definitively ended, what I am curious about is this:

Suppose the terrorist leader is going to make the expected statement; if the DEM members are no longer going there, who will announce it and how? Will the terrorist leader be provided with a press conference or something in Imralı, or will his statement be served to the Anadolu Agency as it was in 2019, or will he be made to speak on TRT like his brother Osman Öcalan?!

After Bahçeli called on the terrorist leader to speak in Parliament, would it be surprising if these things happened?

Let us also underline a statement made by DEM Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları on Tuesday regarding the content of the second meeting held with the terrorist leader. The terrorist leader reportedly told the delegation that “if Bahçeli’s approach meets with state reason, it will serve a historical breakthrough that will serve peace.”

Was this new process not a project of “state reason”... Had the pro-government media not been propagating it as such?

If Hatimoğulları’s claim is true, then “Bahçeli’s approach and state reason” have not even met yet!..

WHILE THE US BUILDS A “NATIONAL ARMY” FOR BARZANI

Let us move on to the expectations from Iraq and Barzani regarding the PKK/YPG/PYD.

Last week, Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler received Mansur Barzani, the Commander of the Peshmerga Special Forces of “Barzanistan.”

The pro-government media commented on this meeting, saying, “The fruits of Turkey acting jointly with Iraq on counter-terrorism and working in coordination on this issue have begun to be reaped.”

Who is behind “Barzanistan”? The US, once again.

Indeed, Nechirvan Barzani, in his congratulatory message to Trump, said, “We highly value our strong partnership with the US and look forward to working closely to advance peace, stability, and shared values.”

General Carter Ham, one of the US commanders of the International Coalition Against ISIS in Iraq, who met with Peshmerga Minister Shoresh Ismail in recent days, praised the military reforms of the Peshmerga and, while announcing that US and coalition financial and military aid would continue, said that they would “work together” for the “Peshmerga to become a national force in the region.”

HAD IRAQ NOT DECLARED THE PKK A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION?

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was also in Iraq over the weekend. Foreign Ministry sources reported that “steps to be taken to finish off the PKK” would be discussed during the visit. Fidan, who met with President Abdullatif Rashid, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Speaker of the Council of Representatives Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, called for, “Our ultimate expectation from Iraq is that it also recognizes the PKK, which it has declared a banned organization, as a terrorist organization.” However, none of his interlocutors responded to this expectation.

The absurdity is this: After the Iraq visit made about 1 year ago, Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler had said, “The Iraqi administration accepted for the first time that (the PKK) is both banned and a terrorist organization, and declared it here. This is something pleasing for us.”

But we heard the same Yaşar Güler say at his year-end press conference, “We welcome the decision taken by Iraq to declare the PKK terrorist organization a ‘banned organization,’ and we expect it to be declared a ‘terrorist organization’ as soon as possible,” which is another matter entirely!..

EXPECTATIONS FROM IRAQ REGARDING SYRIA AND THE PKK

It is understood that expectations from the Iraqi central government regarding Syria and the PKK were also addressed during Hakan Fidan’s visit.

The answer?

President Rashid said that “constructive dialogue should be adopted to reduce tensions in the region and stop escalations.” Prime Minister Sudani also stated that “they reject Syria becoming a conflict zone.”

In other words, they gave the message that Turkey should not conduct operations against the PKK.

In the same days, President Rashid announced that his country had played a mediator role to resolve the disputes between the Syrian administration and the PKK/YPG, which appears as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), but that this “unfortunately did not yield positive results.”

BARZANI’S ROLE

As is known, the US and France have been trying for years to unite the SDF of Mazloum Kobani, the head of the PKK in Syria, with the ENKS under Barzani’s control.

After the fall of Assad, this process accelerated; first his men, then Barzani and Kobani met.

Ultimately, it was announced that Mazloum Kobani and the ENKS Presidential Delegation, who came together in the presence of US and French representatives last Tuesday, decided to form a joint Kurdish delegation to negotiate with the Damascus administration.

Let us also record what ENKS Spokesperson Faisal Yusuf said after the Barzani and Kobani meeting. While stating that they were “pleased to see that Mazloum Kobani has gained the support of President Barzani,” Yusuf used the following expressions:

“A personality like President Masoud Barzani, who carries out the Kurdish national project, supports this unity and solidarity. This support also has weight at the regional and international level... At the international level, America and Europe, and even Arab countries, support us... The interests of the Kurdish people are above everything else. President Barzani sees himself as the owner of the Kurdish people.”

What is this? Barzani is carrying out the “Kurdish national project”... He sees himself as the “owner of the Kurdish people”...

Immediately after this, let us convey what Germany’s Syria Coordinator Tobias Lindner said.

Lindner, who came to Ankara with the German Foreign Minister in December and met with Nechirvan Barzani and Masoud Barzani a few days ago, answered a question asking, “Do you think Barzani’s efforts could somehow convince Turkey to stop the operations or at least start a political dialogue with the leaders in northeastern Syria?” as follows:

“We are pleased that the Kurdistan Regional Government is communicating with Ankara. It is important to convey the same message to all parties; to those in Damascus and General Mazloum, as well as to our Turkish friends. There should be no threat from Syria to Turkey, and the territorial integrity of Syria must be preserved. The security of the Kurdish population in northeastern Syria must also be guaranteed. We believe this should be solved through political means, not military ones.”

In short; before our very eyes, we are moving from a “terror corridor” to the establishment of a second “Kurdistan” through joint effort.

But Erdoğan says, “The project to divide Syria into three pieces and turn it into morsels that can be easily swallowed has collapsed,” and “No matter what anyone says, the 100-year game is being spoiled.”!..

Müyesser YILDIZ

January 31, 2025