Quote Originally Posted by tequila
....The AK Party is viewed by the officer corps as soft on Kurdish terrorism as part of their program to join the EU --- this is in line with the reforms AK has instituted regarding human rights. There were some initiatives which AK introduced in the southeast, for instance allowing Kurdish-language broadcasts, that were adamantly opposed and ultimately rolled back by the military in the late 1990s....
The Turkish officer corps is heavily indoctrinated in the unique brand of Kemalist ethno-nationalism that makes up the mythology of the modern Turkish state. Of course they will view any party or individual who deviates from those lines as "soft on terrorism" and often as a threat to the state itself.

In any case, the AKP didn't come to power in Turkey until late 2002 - so how could they have introduced reforms that were rolled back in the "late 1990s"?

But getting to the point, the bans on Kurdish broadcasting and education were lifted in Aug 02 - before the AKP had their big electoral victory in Nov of that year. These bans have not yet been "rolled back", but they are sorely lacking in implementation. Significant obstacles have repeatedly been thrown in the way of any meaningful education in the Kurdish language, and what little Kurdish language broadcasting does go over the airwaves must pass through stern censor hurdles. It is easy to see how someone working in any branch of the Turkish military and security services would claim that they have "rolled back" the reforms....