Berfin, a self-described Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) sympathizer, met with Al-Monitor on Dec. 7 at a bustling Istanbul cafe. She talked about her grievances in detail, on condition her last name not be used. “I grew up here in Tarlabasi, but I went back to Sur, Diyarbakir, when I got married four years ago. My family had moved to Istanbul from Sur in the 1980s. My husband feared I would be allured by the PKK so he sent me and the children back here. Life in Diyarbakir is nothing like what you see on TV. It is constant fear. I am tired of being scared, so I wanted to fight for my three children. Here people — my own relatives — do not want to hear about life in Kurdistan. They call it fate, and then start gossiping. It is their indifference that hurts me more than the bombs,” Berfin said.

Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-chair Selahattin Demirtas echoed similar sentiments in his Dec. 22 speech. Demirtas said, “Is it courageous to enter small villages with tanks and artillery? There is not much the [Turkish] armed forces can do at this point. The problem is a political one and requires a political solution. We warn the government against human rights violations. They don’t allow people to bury their dead, there is an embargo on food deliveries and there is torture on the streets. In the west of Turkey, they may think 'Great, those terrorists got what they deserved.' But that's wrong because you are paying the cost of the war out of your pocket. People [in the west of Turkey] should raise their voices against this, because this is done in their name. If Turkey’s west says 'No' to this war, the government cannot prolong it for another day. Dialogue and negotiations can start the next day. We are willing and ready."

Following the collapse of the peace process this summer, pundits feared this time the conflict would not be contained to southeastern Turkey, as there is a sizable Kurdish population in all western cities. The fear was that the alienated Kurdish youths in the slums of Istanbul, Ankara and other cities would wreak havoc on the streets. Since an overwhelming majority in Turkey supported the peace process, its collapse was expected to generate a backlash. The peace process collapsed and now President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to crush the “self-rule” movement. So why are the people, both Kurds and Turks, in the western provinces silent about the suffering of the Kurds?

There are four main reasons. The first is that the opposition is suppressed and labeled as terrorist. It is not easy to raise one's voice in Turkey against the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government on any issue, especially when it involves the PKK. Multiple times peace activists have fallen victim to terrorist attacks and arrests. For example, most recently 15 Dokuz Eylul University students were arrested in Izmir while protesting for peace. These negative images associated with peace has curbed any enthusiasm to use civic rights to protest. In addition, with the crumbling of the peace process, the state security forces have initiated a proactive plan to arrest, question and even shoot at potential activists.