Could not find default endpoint element that references contract 'TranslatorService.LanguageService' in the ServiceModel client configuration section. This might be because no configuration file was found for your application, or because no endpoint element matching this contract could be found in the client element.
ANKARA (AFP) – The Kurdish conflict has emerged as a top priority for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the minority's representation in parliament nearly doubled in weekend elections.
Erdogan's Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) triumphed in the polls, winning 50 percent of the vote and a third straight term in power since 2002.
But the Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) was the other big winner, boosting its seats from 20 to 36 in the 550-member house, a record number for the Kurds, who number some 15 million in Turkey's population of 73 million.
The BDP is now crucial for Erdogan's plans to rewrite the constitution, the legacy of a 1980 coup, after the AKP fell four seats short of the 330-seat majority that would have allowed it to carry out the overhaul without the support of other parties.
Turkey's Kurds have enjoyed considerably expanded rights in recent years: they can now broadcast in Kurdish, teach their mother tongue in private courses and use it in political life.
But they have upped the stakes: the BDP says the new constitution should recognise the Kurds as a distinct element of the nation, grant them autonomy and the right to Kurdish-language education in school -- demands the government has frowned upon.
Political analyst Taha Akyol said that while the BDP has become "a force that cannot be ignored" it "must know the limits of its demands."
In the run-up to the polls, Erdogan markedly toughened his tone, declaring that "there is no longer a Kurdish problem" and insisting on "one country, one nation, one flag."
Columnist Guneri Civaoglu, writing in the left-leaning Milliyet daily, urged "democratic measures" as essential to reconciliation and described tensions in the Kurds' southeast stronghold as "the main issue that Turkey is now facing."
Tensions between Ankara and the Kurds mounted ahead of the polls, stoking fears of a new flare-up in a conflict that has already claimed 45,000 lives since the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) took up arms in 1984.
The BDP, which is seen as close to the rebels, has led "civil disobedience" protests in the southeast, ranging from open-air prayers shunning government-run mosques to violent demonstrations that have seen youths pelt police with stones and petrol bombs.
Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who retains his influence despite being behind bars, warned that "all hell will break loose" after the polls unless the sporadic contacts officials have had with him in prison are upgraded to serious negotiations.
"Erdogan is categorically opposed to education in Kurdish in schools, the main Kurdish demand," said Deniz Zeyrek, a writer for the liberal daily Radikal.
"The political forces have no other choice but to overcome their differences and work towards a compromise on the Kurdish issue," he added.
Discreet meetings with Ocalan began as part of a "Kurdish opening" that Ankara announced in 2009 in a bid to cajole the PKK into laying down arms, raising unprecedented hopes of an end to the conflict.
But the initiative faltered amid continued violence and a Turkish nationalist backlash.
Kurdish frustration has deepened over a massive probe into alleged PKK collaborators that has landed hundreds in jail, among them mayors and activists, including six who are now on their way to parliament among the 36 winning BDP-backed candidates.
沒有留言:
張貼留言