Former members of the Kurtulus group argue that Kurdistan is a separate country, and that the Turkish left has no business to organise there. (Some even argue nationalists should not organise outside the south-east of the country, despite the fact that half the Kurds of Turkey now live outside historic Kurdistan!)
Others opposed ÖDP organising in the Kurdish areas for more practical inadequate resources, the polarisation between the army and the PKK,
Kurdish party similar to the ODP, no force with a similar social programme. Socialists in the Kurdish region are not welcome in Hadep, and, if the ÖDP does not organise itself there, they will be left without
Since its foundation, the ODP has organised a series of peace demonstrations in cooperation with Hadep But this co-operation has been limited to the struggle for peace, and against the "dirty war" in the Kurdish region.
The two parties have different social programmes, and a very different analysis of the Islamic question. ODP rejects the ultra-Jacobin republicanism of the Turkish state, and calls for respect of religious sensibilities. Hadep goes much further, and panders to the Islamic beliefs and identity of its base.
(The PKK recently added "freedom of religion" to its seven key demands, and defines the Muslim population of the world as part of A "progressive humanity.")
The weakness of the left in the Kurdish region meant that this was a rather secondary debate, until recently. But the success of the ÖDP is equalising the balance of forces between the left and the Kurdish
Th nationalists.
In 1995, the BSP (the forerunner SI of the ÖDP) made an electoral alliance with Hadep, with a common programme of peace, work and liberty. But Hadep only campaigned on the peace question, and the coalition won only 4.2% of the vote. Despite the BSP's strength in Istanbul, where one in four people are Kurds, the joint list scored a disappointing 2.5%.
Opinion polls just before the arrest of Öcalan suggested that the ÖDP will score 2-3% in the April elections, and Hadep around 5%. parliament. [FO/JD] *
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* Kurdish question The Turkish left CIR DE