Tough statements by the military as well as efforts by the DTP to legitimize the PKK will not solve the problems of the people of southeastern Turkey. We need a realistic approach and the ruling Justice and Development Party seems to have realized this.
When the Erdogan administration realized that military means will not be enough to end the PKK terrorist threat in Turkey it started talking about incentives to bring the militants down from their mountain hideouts through new legal steps like a watered down version of amnesty.
The media was made to believe that while the government was preparing such measures it was in full agreement with the military. As a matter of fact everyone knew that the military leaders had been saying for several years that military steps should be supplemented with social and economic measures to end PKK terrorism.
However, the statements of military leaders on Tuesday at a conference organized by the Strategic Research and Studies Center (SAREM) of the Turkish General Staff showed that the picture is rather different. Deputy Chief of Staff General Ergin Saygun was rather outspoken as he blamed some of Turkey's allies in NATO for sheltering the PKK while he also charged that the United States and European Union member countries were pressuring Turkey by using moral values like human rights as a as a pretext for terrorism so that they can impose their demands on Turkey. Chief of Staff General Yasar Buyukanit declared that terrorism is not only politicized in Turkey but is also legalized. He meant with the entry of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) into the parliament those who support the PKK had entered the house and now there were efforts to legalize the PKK through amnesties and pardons.
The generals said no one should give any hope to the PKK terrorists that they will succeed.
They lambasted a recent conference at the European Parliament on Turks, Kurds and the EU and said this encouraged the PKK.
We feel such statements and debates show how some circles in the state apparatus in Turkey are still miles away from a constructive attitude to solve the PKK problem on the one hand and the Kurdish issue on the other through realistic approaches.
We detest the PKK and what it stands for. However, the PKK is a fact of life which we have to endure.
What European politicians are doing is to take an objective approach and try to help Turkey out of this mess while they also keep in mind the realities on the ground. If you do not talk to Kurdish activists how can you really solve anything in southeastern Turkey?
Besides even the PKK leadership knows very well that they will succeed in nothing and that this is a losing battle. That is why the PKK has had to gradually give up most of its demands over the years.
The people of southeastern Turkey also know this or would they have withdrawn their support from the PKK and voted in the elections for the government party?
All we have to do is to win the hearts and souls of our people in southeastern Turkey. This can be done with a realistic approach. Not by the gun or by threats.
Tough statements by the military as well as efforts by the DTP to legitimize the PKK will not solve the problems of the people of southeastern Turkey. We need a realistic approach and the ruling Justice and Development Party seems to have realized this.
