The Basques are a people living in northern Spain and southwestern France. Following the wars of 1833–1839 and 1870–1876, their administrative autonomy was abolished. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), founded in 1895, managed to regain some rights. However, after the Spanish Civil War (17 July 1936–1 April 1939), the fascist Francisco Franco seized power and declared a dictatorship. During the Franco era, which lasted nearly 40 years, Basque identity was denied. Euskera, the Basque language, was banned.

 

ETA WAS FOUNDED

 

In 1952, a group of young people published a magazine called Ekin. In 1958, this initiative took the name ETA (Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna – Basque Country and Freedom). While beginning its struggle to protect the Basque language and culture, ETA also opposed the Basque bourgeoisie. From 1960 onward, ETA launched various actions under the ideal of an independent and unified Basque country. During this period, ETA gained support across Spain and in many European countries.

 

With the rise of student movements in Europe in the 1960s, ETA underwent ideological restructuring. Abandoning Basque nationalism, it began to move toward a socialist line. As a result of ideological debates, ETA split in 1974 into ETA p-m (socialists) and ETA-m (ultra-nationalist and pro-violence).

 

THE AUTONOMY PROCESS

 

After Franco’s death in 1975, steps toward resolving the conflict began to be taken. With the 1978 Constitution, the Basque Autonomous Community was established and granted autonomous status. The Basque and Catalan autonomy laws were submitted to referendums in these regions on 25 October 1979. The laws were approved by around 90 per cent of voters and, after receiving approval from the central parliament, were announced on 18 December 1979.

 

According to the Guernica Statute of Autonomy, an autonomous parliament would be established in Vitoria, with self-governance in administrative, financial, and educational matters. Alongside the national police, a Basque police force would also operate. In the Basque Country, the Basque language would become an official language alongside Spanish, and a television channel broadcasting in Euskera would be established. According to the statute, Basque citizenship would be granted to everyone living within Basque territory. The autonomy law applied to the provinces of Vizcaya, Guipuzcoa, and Alava. The inclusion of Navarre in the Basque Country would depend on the will of the people of Navarre.

 

ETA and circles close to it found these arrangements insufficient. ETA criticized the failure to constitutionally recognize the Basques’ right to self-determination and the exclusion of Navarre from the Basque region.

 

In 1982, after the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) came to power, it established the counter-guerrilla organization GAL (Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación – Anti-Terrorist Liberation Groups) in response to ETA’s actions. GAL carried out extrajudicial killings. In 1995, the People’s Party (PP) came to power following general elections. During this period, various legal changes were made to enable the closure of Basque political parties, media outlets, and NGOs. ETA, in turn, escalated its actions.

 

THE ALGIERS TALKS

 

The Algiers Talks, held in three rounds between 1986 and 1989, were organized to allow direct communication between representatives of the Spanish state and ETA. The insistence on first ending the armed struggle caused the talks to stall and eventually collapse.

 

On 12 September 1998, leading Basque political groups—primarily PNV and Batasuna—came together under the Lizarra Pact and proposed that peace talks be conducted between the Spanish state and ETA. This proposal was not accepted by the Spanish government.

 

POLITICAL PARTY BANNED

 

A decision was taken to ban the Batasuna party on the grounds of its alleged ties to ETA. After its youth wing, Segi, was declared illegal by a court in 2001, legal regulations enabling the banning of political parties were completed in the summer of 2002. First, a temporary ban and then a permanent ban were imposed. In 2003, the Spanish Supreme Court upheld the decision.

 

A NEW PERIOD OF NEGOTIATION

 

With PSOE returning to power, policies toward ETA changed. PSOE leader José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero worked to grant greater autonomy to regional administrations. In 2005, Zapatero received authorization from the Spanish Parliament to negotiate on the condition that ETA lay down its arms. After ETA declared a permanent ceasefire in 2006, Zapatero held a press conference in parliament announcing that he would begin peace talks with ETA.

 

Responding to nationalist reactions of “there can be no negotiations with terrorists,” Zapatero said, “I am ready to pay any price and do everything necessary to stop this bloodshed.” However, talks held in Oslo and Geneva failed to produce results due to various disagreements. While negotiations were ongoing, an attack at Madrid’s Barajas Airport on 30 December 2006, which killed two people, led to the suspension of all talks.

 

INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR PEACE

 

On 10 September 2010, ETA declared another ceasefire. At the San Sebastián International Aiete Peace Conference, international figures such as former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams called on ETA to disarm and on Spain to initiate peace talks. On 20 October 2011, ETA announced in a video that it had completely ended its armed struggle and was ready for dialogue with the Spanish and French governments for a democratic solution.

 

In 2017, accompanied by civilian mediators, ETA revealed the locations of its weapons depots, leading to de facto disarmament. In 2018, ETA announced its complete dissolution. Over time, some former political prisoners associated with ETA entered politics.

 

ZULAIKA: WE MUST EXPLAIN IT TO THE PEOPLE

 

Igor Zulaika, a member of the Basque Parliament from Euskal Herria Bildu and Head of International Relations, emphasized that what happens in conflict resolution processes must be shared with the public. Zulaika said: “We must speak with our people and explain how the process is going. This gives us strength against those who do not want any progress. It helps us apply pressure and continue the process.”

 

 

FREEDOM OF ÖCALAN 

 

Stating that the international community played a key role in ETA’s disarmament process, Zulaika said a similar process could develop in Turkey. He said: “The international community should be playing a role, is putting pressure for the release of Abdullah Öcalan. We understand that that's a must, that the leader needs to be able to have relations, to discuss with the people, to have debates, to receive people, listen to opinions, and while Abdullah Ocalan is in prison, that's impossible. And also there should be an agreement, but meanwhile, there should be a pressure on the Turkish government for Abdullah Öcalan to be released.”

 

TWO KEY POINTS

 

Emphasizing that there is no single model for conflict resolution, Zulaika said: “There is no one-size-fits-all model. There is no template where you can say, ‘The Irish did it this way, the Basques did it that way, and it worked.’ But I think there are some lessons that can be learned. One of them is the importance of the community. It's not that every debate has to be made public to the community, but the community needs to be informed. We need to make them know where we are. That would be our first kind of important thing is we are doing this together, with our people, with our movement.”

 

Zulaika concluded: “The second thing is for the others is there is always risks. There is always fears. There is always a bit of untrust. But these kind of processes pay off to everyone. I don't think there is a single piece process on which people comes back and says, ‘you know, the previous scenario of violence was better.’ Even in processes that don't really succeed, people is happy. People says, ‘Okay, it was a good thing we did it.’ And that should be the message that gets to the other side also. It's kind of saying, ‘okay, we have a responsibility towards the democratization of Turkey, towards peace for Kurdish and Turkish people, for them to be able to live together.’ And I think that's the second point. So first would be with our community. And second is with the other side to take away their fears and make sure that we can do this all together.”

 

MA / Hivda Celebi – Berivan Altan