Reach on Kurds just beyond grasp
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Şafak Timur
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 13, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Debate continues about the country’s ’opportunity’ to resolve the Kurdish issue but no one seems to know how to take advantage of this chance and implement policies in order to make it a reality. Some experts believe the circumstances have made the environment more receptive to new initiatives - if only there were a consensus on how to act
Most leading politicians agree there is an opportunity to resolve Turkey’s long-standing Kurdish question, but experts say it will be hard to capitalize on because no side has anything new to offer.
President Abdullah Gül first voiced optimistic hopes back in March, when he told the nation to expect "nice things" to happen on the Kurdish issue. His repeating of that statement last week, with special emphasis on the matter being Turkey’s "number one" problem, was welcomed by senior Kurdish politicians, many of whom agreed that an "opportunity" had presented itself that the country could ill afford to waste.
While most agree there is now a chance to resolve the issue, there is dissension on how the government perceives this opening and how it could be utilized. "There is a change in discourse, but no change in actions or mentality," said political scientist Prof. Doğu Ergil, who has prepared a report on the Kurdish issue. The state’s diagnosis of the Kurdish question as an issue of security and terrorism has not changed, Ergil said, adding that none of the state bodies that must be involved in any such initiative have altered their thinking.
"I guess we are now entering a time when a sort of self-persuasion will convince everyone that all is fine," he told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. However, representatives of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, see the president’s remarks on the matter as very important. The DTP increased its support in its main constituency of southeastern Anatolia to the detriment of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, in the March 29 local elections.
One of the first to welcome Gül’s remarks, DTP leader Ahmet Türk echoed the sentiments he expressed at yesterday’s party group meeting in Parliament, saying, "The statement of President Gül opened new prospects."
Türk, however, noted that the main responsibility for utilizing the opportunity to resolve the Kurdish issue belongs to the government. In yesterday’s group meeting, Türk also asked a question that is on many minds: "Does the government have a concrete project?"
DTP deputy Akın Birdal also told the Daily News that will and determination were critical. "I find the president’s statement very important," he said. "But these sentiments and remarks should be transformed into concrete policies."
Radikal columnist Avni Özgürel, on the other hand, believes Turkey is faced not with an opportunity, but rather an urgent need to resolve the matter. Özgürel said he believes that the government wants to resolve the Kurdish issue, but that having the will and finding the right way are two different things. "The methodology of the solution is not clear yet," he said.
’Opportunity there’
Esat Canan, the former Hakkari deputy for the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, shared the opinion that Turkey has been presented with an opportunity, noting that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, had announced its decision to extend a winter-long cease-fire until June. The DTP victory in the Southeast also showed a political presence that the country should acknowledge, Canan said.
The Turkish military has also expressed its belief that the Kurdish problem cannot be resolved through force alone, Canan said, noting that all the recent developments make it easier to produce a "civilian solution."
The statement by President Gül is also a sign that the atmosphere is much more receptive for a solution, Canan said, calling on the government to take more brave steps.
Seydi Fırat, a member of the Peace Assembly, shared the view that there is an opportunity to resolve the issue, but said the means to utilize it must be clarified. "President Gül said there is an important opportunity and that good things could happen," Fırat said. "However, he talked too diplomatically and did not clarify what he meant by ’nice things.’" Back in 2005, when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a speech in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır stressing that the state had also made mistakes in the past, Fırat said, there was no agreement within the government, which took a step backward after this positive initiative. "There were also doubts about the AKP’s intentions within the state," Fırat added, noting that the state institutions now seem to be more in agreement on the issue. Also attracting public attention yesterday was a statement by Interior Minister Beşir Atalay, who told Radikal that measures could be taken to re-allow the use of the original Kurdish names of villages in the Southeast if the public demands it. These kinds of statements are critically important to increase confidence within society, Fırat said.
President Abdullah Gül first voiced optimistic hopes back in March, when he told the nation to expect "nice things" to happen on the Kurdish issue. His repeating of that statement last week, with special emphasis on the matter being Turkey’s "number one" problem, was welcomed by senior Kurdish politicians, many of whom agreed that an "opportunity" had presented itself that the country could ill afford to waste.
While most agree there is now a chance to resolve the issue, there is dissension on how the government perceives this opening and how it could be utilized. "There is a change in discourse, but no change in actions or mentality," said political scientist Prof. Doğu Ergil, who has prepared a report on the Kurdish issue. The state’s diagnosis of the Kurdish question as an issue of security and terrorism has not changed, Ergil said, adding that none of the state bodies that must be involved in any such initiative have altered their thinking.
"I guess we are now entering a time when a sort of self-persuasion will convince everyone that all is fine," he told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. However, representatives of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, see the president’s remarks on the matter as very important. The DTP increased its support in its main constituency of southeastern Anatolia to the detriment of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, in the March 29 local elections.
One of the first to welcome Gül’s remarks, DTP leader Ahmet Türk echoed the sentiments he expressed at yesterday’s party group meeting in Parliament, saying, "The statement of President Gül opened new prospects."
Türk, however, noted that the main responsibility for utilizing the opportunity to resolve the Kurdish issue belongs to the government. In yesterday’s group meeting, Türk also asked a question that is on many minds: "Does the government have a concrete project?"
DTP deputy Akın Birdal also told the Daily News that will and determination were critical. "I find the president’s statement very important," he said. "But these sentiments and remarks should be transformed into concrete policies."
Radikal columnist Avni Özgürel, on the other hand, believes Turkey is faced not with an opportunity, but rather an urgent need to resolve the matter. Özgürel said he believes that the government wants to resolve the Kurdish issue, but that having the will and finding the right way are two different things. "The methodology of the solution is not clear yet," he said.
’Opportunity there’
Esat Canan, the former Hakkari deputy for the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, shared the opinion that Turkey has been presented with an opportunity, noting that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, had announced its decision to extend a winter-long cease-fire until June. The DTP victory in the Southeast also showed a political presence that the country should acknowledge, Canan said.
The Turkish military has also expressed its belief that the Kurdish problem cannot be resolved through force alone, Canan said, noting that all the recent developments make it easier to produce a "civilian solution."
The statement by President Gül is also a sign that the atmosphere is much more receptive for a solution, Canan said, calling on the government to take more brave steps.
Seydi Fırat, a member of the Peace Assembly, shared the view that there is an opportunity to resolve the issue, but said the means to utilize it must be clarified. "President Gül said there is an important opportunity and that good things could happen," Fırat said. "However, he talked too diplomatically and did not clarify what he meant by ’nice things.’" Back in 2005, when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a speech in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır stressing that the state had also made mistakes in the past, Fırat said, there was no agreement within the government, which took a step backward after this positive initiative. "There were also doubts about the AKP’s intentions within the state," Fırat added, noting that the state institutions now seem to be more in agreement on the issue. Also attracting public attention yesterday was a statement by Interior Minister Beşir Atalay, who told Radikal that measures could be taken to re-allow the use of the original Kurdish names of villages in the Southeast if the public demands it. These kinds of statements are critically important to increase confidence within society, Fırat said.