Erdogan's Self-Branding as 'Guardian of Peace' Raises Many Eyebrows

Speaking to supporters in the majority-Kurdish city Saturday ahead of a crucial referendum later this month that will ask Turks to grant him extremely broad powers, the president inferred that the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) was an extension of the PKK, a Kurdish militant group with which Ankara has engaged in a bloody conflict over the past year-and-a-half.

The HDP, Turkey's second-largest opposition party, has been a key critic of the Erdogan's constitutional reform initiative, campaigning extensively against it. However, their ability to do so has been compromised by the jailing of many of the party's leaders, amid allegations that they have links to the PKK, which Ankara classifies as a terrorist group.

"These supporters of the PKK keep saying 'peace, peace, peace'. Does empty talk bring peace?" Erdogan asked. "Could there be peace with those who walk around with weapons in their hands?"

"We are the guardians of peace, we are the guardians of freedoms," the president added, in a bold effort to garner the support of Turkish Kurds in the run-up to the referendum.

Needless to say, many Kurds, and others, disagreed with the president's self-description, taking to social media and the comment sections of news websites. 

For one thing, commentators pointed out that President Erdogan's record includes a military operation against the armed Kurdish groups in southern Turkey, in Iraqi Kurdistan and in northern Syria.

The policing operation in southern Turkey is thought to have displaced over half-a-million people, and according to the UN, has resulted in the deaths of up to 2,000 more, over half of them civilians. It has also destroyed a great deal of civilian infrastructure, including in the city of Diyarbakir itself.

That's not mentioning Ankara's campaign in northern Syria, which was launched last year without the approval of the legitimate government in Damascus.

Given this record, some Twitter users insisted that Erdogan must have been joking, or that the statement must have somehow been connected to celebrations of April Fool's Day.

[Today's Joke] Erdogan says he's 'guardian of peace,' as seeks Kurds' support in Diyarbakir Turkey https://t.co/48JXSOojUJ

— Turkey Deeply (@TurkeyDeeply) 2 апреля 2017 г.

Erdogan Appeals to Kurds as a 'Guardian of Peace'
So, it's April Fool's Day all over the word #aprilfoolsday

— Paul Lander (@paul_lander) 1 апреля 2017 г.

Others took a more serious tone, suggesting that the president's language bordered on the Orwellian – given the disconnect between his words and his record of action.

Another post-truth: Erdogan says to Kurds he is "the guardian of peace"!https://t.co/1JlfTiZ3wf

— Ηλίας Κουσκουβέλης (@kouskouvelis) 2 апреля 2017 г.

@RT_com Erdogan you are a true nut 🥜 #Turkey
Guardian of peace’ Erdogan urges Kurds to expand his powers in referendum

— washington rosales (@LastWave_) 2 апреля 2017 г.

Russian commentators too were more than a bit skeptical regarding the president's claims, recalling his government's earlier efforts to overthrow the Syrian government, and Turkey's record of support for the Daesh terrorists (which thankfully has been terminated).

Commenting on Erdogan's remarks in the comments section of the story on Russia's RIA Novosti news agency, some Russian readers joked that the president had "gotten carried away, and that he is aiming for the Nobel Prize."

"Soon McCain too will declare himself a peacemaker. We seem to be living in a time of infectious political schizophrenia," another user wrote. "Poroshenko also called himself the 'president of peace'; and Obama even became a laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize," another emphasized.

"Well, if you don't toot your own horn, no one will," one user joked.

Others pointed to the government's recent crackdown on the domestic opposition and on freedom of the press. "Yeah…Erdogan and freedom are two things that don't really jive," another Russian comment read. 

A few users however sought to defend Erdogan, one hinting that when compared to some of his neighbors in the region, Erdogan's characterization wasn't entirely absurd, particularly "compared to the Saudis, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, etc."

Finally, readers over at Iranian English-language news website PressTV also stressed that the president's claim was over the top, again focusing on Turkey's less than stellar record in neighboring Syria over the years.

"LOL – 'Erdogan guardian of peace' That's the joke of [the] century. The thief that stole from Syria, who positioned troops in Iraqi, Syrian territory without authorization from legal authorities, who supported the terrorists into Syria and destroyed millions of live, claims he is 'Guardian of Peace'," one reader angrily wrote. "You are guardian of extremism!" another suggested.

It remains to be seen whether the president's verbal faux pas will hurt his chances with Kurds.

Turks will go to the polls on April 16 to decide on a comprehensive package of 18 proposed amendments to the country's constitution. If passed, the reforms would see an executive presidency replace Turkey's existing parliamentary system of government, where the president has traditionally held a largely ceremonial role.