Iraq colors Kurdish campaign in Turkey's national election

On the eve of Turkish elections, thousands of Kurds throng a working class neighborhood of this city to cheer on their favorite political party. Circles of young people join hands in a Kurdish dance or halay, and women wear ethnic dresses in the Kurdish national colors of yellow, red, and green.

The scene is one of many signs that tensions between the Kurds and the Turkish government are slowly cooling. After spending most of the last decade battling militant Kurdish separatists in the southeast, hopes of joining the European Union have compelled the government to let Kurdish voices be heard in a way they never have before.

Yet just as this more relaxed political environment was making itself felt, the government is finding new cause – the likelihood of US military intervention in Iraq – to be deeply wary of resurgent Kurdish nationalism.

"It seems ironic that at a time when the Kurdish people in Turkey feel more at ease, the Turkish establishment feels more of a threat," says Professor Kemal Kirisci, an expert on Kurdish affairs at IRISCI, Bosphorus University in Istanbul.

At Sunday's rally – one week ahead of national elections – the predominantly Kurdish DEHAP (Democratic People's Party) drew more than 200,000 people, according to Turkish media reports. DEHAP leaders say this is the first election season they or any other pro-Kurdish party have been able to campaign without much harassment from the government. Analysts say the primarily Kurdish party might even squeeze into office by picking up enough votes – at least 10 percent – to gain seats in parliament. It would mark the first time Kurds have group representation in Turkey.

"This is the first time we've ever been this free," says Pinar Yilmaz, a teenage textile-factory worker in a glittery robe and headscarf. "Before, because of the pressure by police, people were too afraid to attend."

The new atmosphere stems from several important trends in Turkey.

The defeat of the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers' Party, and the life imprisonment of its leader Abdullah Ocalan ended an era of violence. Bloodshed and disillusionment have also led many Turkish Kurds away from secessionism and toward demands for more cultural autonomy instead.

"There has been a Kurdish turnaround: they want to be a part of a multicultural Turkish state," says Mr. Kirisci.

With tensions winding down in the largely Kurdish southeast has come an increased push to join the European Union, whose guidelines have obliged reluctant Turks to loosen restrictions on the Kurds. Just this summer, parliament voted to lift the ban on broadcasting and education in the Kurdish language.

Though he doesn't think that DEHAP will make it into parliament, Kirisci says "[DEHAP's campaign] will reinforce Turkey's democratic credentials."

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