A decade of one of the most destructive wars in history has ended in a Pyrrhic victory, with no clear winner and no lasting resolution.
It has now been exactly ten years since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) launched its strategic military campaign on 24 July 2015, under what it called the “Collapse Action Plan.” The attack, carried out with 70 warplanes and later publicly boasted about, marked the beginning of a new phase of warfare. Today, we are witnessing the tenth anniversary of that assault. 24 July also coincides with the anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne, the founding agreement of the Republic of Turkey. For those who ask, “What does the Treaty of Lausanne have to do with the Kurdish genocide?”, this is a small reminder.
The military campaign that began on 24 July 2015 with 70 warplanes marked a turning point in the war policies of the AKP government. Over the following ten years, it carried out actions unprecedented in the military history of the Republic of Turkey. In its war against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the government disregarded all principles of law and morality. It used every means of warfare, including chemical weapons and tactical nuclear bombs, placing its full trust in unmanned aerial vehicles and armed drones. The special war was intensified at every level, targeting society as a whole. On the prison island of Imrali, it subjected Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan to a regime of absolute isolation in the truest sense of the word. In short, there was nothing the state did not attempt in its effort to disable the PKK and suppress the Kurdish people.
There is no doubt that the so-called “Collapse Action Plan” was not devised solely by the ruling AKP. Rather, the plan was drawn up in the “deep” corridors of power within the framework of United States and NATO relations, and handed to the AKP government, which had already been tasked with carrying out the international conspiracy attack. Its purpose was to prepare for the current political landscape: to neutralize the PKK in order to secure Turkey’s place within the new Middle East order being constructed under Israeli hegemony. The system of capitalist modernity feared intervening in Turkey so long as the PKK remained strong. In this context, the AKP was given full political and military support to eliminate and dismantle the PKK. When the AKP proved unable to accomplish this on its own, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) was brought in. When that, too, was insufficient, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and, most recently, the Iraqi administration were added to the effort. Thus began the largest and most prolonged military campaign in the history of the Republic of Turkey, waged against the PKK for an entire decade.
Naturally, the Kurdish people, under the leadership of the PKK, mounted one of the most significant and far-reaching resistance movements in history in response to this campaign of total annihilation and liquidation. At the forefront stood Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who, from the prison island of Imrali, demonstrated a form of resistance rarely witnessed in human history. The Kurdish guerrilla, inspired by and most faithful to his vision, carried out an extraordinary and self-sacrificial resistance under some of the harshest conditions imaginable. Guided by this leadership, Kurdish women and youth, along with the Kurdish people and their allies across all four parts of Kurdistan and around the world, joined together in what became one of the greatest and most meaningful resistances in history. This resistance represented not only the peak of a century-long Kurdish struggle, but also the most significant moment in the fifty-year history of the PKK, marking a historical and symbolic summit of defiance.
Now, on the tenth anniversary of this intense conflict, serious efforts are underway to bring it to an end and move toward a meaningful peace. Since October of this tenth year of war, what has been called the “Peace and Democratic Society Process” has been gradually taking shape. This process gained concrete form with the historic call made by Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan on 27 February, and now, as the tenth anniversary of 24 July is marked, it has reached its most critical and potentially most transformative, phase.
But can this crucial threshold be crossed safely and successfully? Can the destructive and exhausting decade-long conflict be brought to an end, paving the way for a genuine, meaningful, and honorable peace long desired by all peoples? Can the commission being established in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) rise to the occasion and fulfill its historical purpose by advancing a solution to the Kurdish question, thereby opening the door to a new era of democratization for Turkey?
Of course, these questions can be answered positively—and there is ample evidence and data to support such outcomes. However, there are also significant challenges and negative factors that cannot be ignored. Therefore, we cannot take optimistic answers to these questions for granted. It is clear that such goals can only be achieved through a correct approach and effective struggle. Undoubtedly, the foremost requirement is to draw the right lessons from history, both from the past century in general, and from the last ten years in particular and to internalize them at a sufficient level of awareness.
So, what are the lessons of the past ten years? Clearly, both sides must answer this question truthfully and realistically. A decade-long war, one of the most destructive and exhausting conflicts in modern history, has ended, and yet the result has been what can only be described as a Pyrrhic victory. In other words, neither side achieved a definitive outcome; the conflict ended in a stalemate.
On this matter, the Kurdish side has demonstrated a remarkably open and understanding approach. Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan stated at the outset, “Over the past ten years, I have studied my lessons well.” He emphasized that a war of this nature, no matter how long it may last, would ultimately lead to a Pyrrhic victory for both sides, meaning that such a conflict could never produce a true winner. From the Kurdish perspective, while this war has undoubtedly plunged the Republic of Turkey into deep crises, it has not resulted in a military victory. More importantly, it has been clearly acknowledged and expressed that a military victory would not bring freedom or liberation to the Kurdish people. Reaching the conclusion that war is not a tool for achieving freedom or building a democratic society, the Kurdish side has adopted the position that warfare, as a method rooted in the nation-state model, must come to a complete end. In doing so, they have undergone a profound transformation in mindset and have begun seeking a solution to the existing conflict through a fundamental shift in perspective.
The actions taken by the Kurdish side in this context are clear and decisive. The PKK convened its 12th Congress, during which it decided to end its strategy of armed struggle. It concluded that it had fulfilled its historical mission by breaking the policy of Kurdish denial and securing the recognition of Kurdish existence through armed resistance and therefore announced the dissolution of its organizational structure. To demonstrate its determination and begin implementing this decision in practice, the PKK burned its weapons on 11 July. It openly declared that Kurdish freedom can only be achieved through the democratization of Turkey and by adopting a strategy of democratic political struggle.
In other words, the Kurdish side is moving forward by drawing the correct and necessary lessons from the past ten years of war at every level. It clearly states that a democratic society cannot be built through war, a method rooted in the nation-state system and has therefore changed its strategy to prioritize democratic politics. In doing so, it is striving to ensure alignment between its goals and the methods it employs. It openly acknowledges that this truth was learned through the difficult experience of the past decade.
By contrast, the Turkish side has not demonstrated the same level of clarity or coherence. Moreover, it lacks unity and internal consistency. It presents a fragmented picture, becoming entangled in petty power struggles and short-term interests. Yet it is precisely the Turkish state that should be drawing the most important lessons from the last ten years of war. In fact, the mindset and policies of Kurdish denial were already broken as early as the 1990s. As a matter of record, in 1992, the then Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel publicly acknowledged this by declaring, “We recognize the Kurdish reality.”
However, the practical implications of that recognition were never fulfilled. Particularly under the pressure and influence of foreign powers, the policy of eliminating the PKK continued for over thirty years. Yet the outcome of the last ten years of war has made one thing abundantly clear: the policy of annihilating and erasing the Kurdish people has failed. No matter what it does or which methods it employs, the Republic of Turkey cannot destroy the Kurdish people. The mindset and policy of denial and annihilation, first institutionalized through the 1924 Constitution, have been defeated and rendered bankrupt. This is the central lesson that Turkey must take from the past ten years of war. On the tenth anniversary of 24 July, this is the truth that Turkish politics must confront and accept. If it does, and if it builds a new democratic mindset and political framework based on this reality, then Turkey can finally achieve both national unity and democratization through Kurdish freedom, laying the groundwork for a new constitution. Without such a transformation in political thinking and approach, everything that is said or attempted will remain stuck in the past, carrying the same patterns of deception and falsehood.
