The Kurdish people have always endeared peace as a directive to their ultimate outcomes for a nation they can call a homeland. I believe providing a 'state' for the Kurds within the nation of Turkey might actually bring more stability to the entire region.
...In the wake of World War I, (click here) with US President Woodrow Wilson's call for "self-determination" echoing loudly, the Kurds were promised a homeland - Kurdistan - in the Treaty of Sevres (1920). However, the victorious allies backed away from their pledge in an attempt to court the new Turkish regime of Kemal Ataturk, and in fear of destabilizing Iraq and Syria, which were granted to Britain and France, respectively, as mandated territories. The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne thus abrogated Kurdish independence and divided the Kurds among Turkey, Iraq, and Syria. Ataturk's discrimination against Turkey's Kurdish population began almost immediately, with Kurdish political groups and manifestations of cultural identity banned outright. In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the Kurds of Iran, with Soviet support, succeeded in establishing the first independent Kurdish state (the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad). But this was quickly crushed by Iranian troops.
Today, Kurds are the largest ethnic group in the world without a state of their own. They are unevenly distributed between Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Armenia and Azerbaijan. If the Middle East map were to be redrawn to give the Kurds their own boundaries, Kurdistan would be as large as France, stretching over 200,000 square miles....
Kurds are a rather unique brand of Sunni Muslim. They are far more loyal to their ethnic influences than religious. They want autonomy, but, will settle for influence within a sovereign nation so long as that nation is benevolent to the Kurdish people.
The reason I bring this up has little to do with a park, but, for the real opportunity to put peaceful roots among people that can be radicalized as evidenced by the PPK. Turkey has been in negotiations with the PPK. Considering the uptick of violence and with it instability in the region it is time to look at providing stability for a people that were promised their own homeland. The Kurds are adhering to a particular region of the Middle East and that needs to be recognized as a place for their settlement that is agreeable with the sovereign nations of the region.
Iraq accommodates the Kurds in their northern region, but, yet a civil war continues to dislodge peace. The Kurds have mostly been loyal to The West, including Turkey. The extremists exist, but, not necessarily in the politics of the ethnicity.
Currently, there is a growing unrest in Afghanistan by the Taliban. I believe the Taliban has allies and those are the extremists in the region including the PPK. If the Kurds were provided viable options for the people of this ethnicity then The West is a far better option for them than being radicalized by the Taliban in a forever war.
In the case of Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood rose to power of which they have sought for decades. Unfortunately the radicalized members of the Muslim Brotherhood had more sway with the new president than was beneficial to their outcomes as a political strain in Egypt. There are currently two charges against Former President Morsi that maintains him within prison. Being in prison is not alien to Mr. Morsi. That is not the point. The extremists of radicalized people have to be provided a light at the end of the tunnel.
I strongly believe the Shi'ites have a Homeland in Iraq if not Iran and are more or less their diaspora. The radicalized Islams such as Hamas and Hezbollah existed to assault the political structure to bring about their own nation. There cannot be a global nation of Shi'ite or Sunni or Kurds. They need to have a homeland and believe they are treasured among the nations. The best example for this and the radicals won't like it, but, Israel. Israel is a homeland to an ethnic and religious peoples. It has done well. It found notoriety due to a lousy world war, but, there does not have to exist that extreme in order to find the peoples in disarray and provide for their own homelands.
In the case of the Kurds, a state within the nation of Turkey is more than realistic and it can have some degree of autonomy while still being a part of the nation. The Kurd's state could be bilingual and carry focus on the traditions of the people.
A melting pot. No different than the USA has been a melting pot to some many great cultures and people.
The uptick of violence in Afghanistan is a concern as is the migratory capacity of the Taliban throughout Pakistan. It seems to me the Kurds are the best avenue to providing a more stable region and I believe the leadership in Turkey is more than adequate in finding a path to peace with all their citizens.
