Naturally, there is not a consensus on whether or not 2007 was a successful year for Turkey. Yet, looking at the big picture, it is possible to say that it has been a valuable year for Turkey on many issues, from the fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to the efforts to consolidate democracy. Zaman columnist Abdülhamit Bilici, making a general assessment of the year 2007, thinks that Turkey successfully handled three of the most difficult problems, which he cites as the Armenian resolution in the US Congress, a referendum on the status of the oil-rich and ethnically volatile Iraqi city of Kirkuk and the threat posed by the existence of the outlawed PKK in northern Iraq. He notes that Turkey successfully fended off the passage of the Armenian resolution in the full House of the US Congress after the resolution was approved in a House committee, which he thinks became possible through effective and determined policies pursued by Turkey. On the Kirkuk referendum, which was to be held by the end of 2007 according to the Iraqi constitution, he says the referendum was postponed due to Turkey’s opposition, eliminating the possibility of the city’s annexation to the northern Iraqi administration. As for the PKK threat, he says by preparing the diplomatic groundwork for a cross-border operation into northern Iraq first, Turkey managed to get the support of the international community for its cause and then launched the military offensive. “Getting such results in a year which felt the impact of gangs, elections, murders and a military memorandum shows Turkey’s greatness and the success of its foreign policy makers. We should be proud of this picture without forgetting the fact that these three issues may recur and the important thing is to find permanent solutions to them,” he comments.
Akşam’s İsmail Küçükkaya terms the year 2007 the “year of elections and fierce political fights,” which he thinks delayed the realization of many important reforms. “Since both the parliamentary and presidential elections were held in the same year, it has been a lost year with respect to structural reforms and consolidation of an economic transformation program. There was much more that we could have achieved. Actually, Turkey has derailed from its EU membership route. The atmosphere in Brussels has turned against Turkey. Moreover, the government has lost its enthusiasm over the issue,” he states, voicing his dissatisfaction over the lack of progress toward Turkey’s goal of EU membership.
Sabah’s Hasan Bülent Kahraman states that the year 2007 was a landmark year in Turkey for two reasons. “First, the public came to the foreground as the main component giving a direction to the course of politics,” he remarks, in an apparent reference to the role the public played in the settlement of the presidential crisis by making its choice in the July 22 elections. “This is a remarkable development because the deadlock over the presidential elections which erupted due to the conflict between the state brass and politicians was defused by the public,” he notes. For the second most important development of the year 2007 he cites the parliamentary composition following the July 22 elections with the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Republican People’s Party (CHP), Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP). “The important thing here is the legitimization of the PKK through the DTP’s presence in Parliament. No other developments in the last quarter century in Turkey were more important than this. This is a very important development that should not be wasted,” he says.
