In the past, it was not even possible in Turkey to accept the existence of a Kurdish problem due to authoritarian state policies which were based on the denial of the Kurdish identity. Now Turkey is talking about granting more rights to Kurds and admitting that this problem is an equality problem in essence, keeping in mind the challenges the solution process poses. Looking at the picture which has emerged today, Radikal's Oral Çalışlar says it is possible to talk about a cautious optimism about a solution without forgetting the disappointments which we have experienced so far. “It would be an illusion to think that such a deep-rooted problem, which has claimed the lives of thousands of people and caused billions of dollars worth of material damage, will be resolved tomorrow. If you ask me, I can say today the circumstances are more appropriate for a solution. I hope this opportunity will not be missed again. Everybody has a responsibility,” says Çalışlar.
Sabah's Erdal Şafak voices his discomfort about the increasing demands from Kurdish circles since Atalay's announcement of the government's democratization initiative and warns that coming up with unrealistic and radical demands will be like playing with fire for Kurds. “A Kurdish politician comes up and says a solution which will not be approved of by outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan will not be approved by the Kurdish grass roots and that a solution which does not foresee the release of Öcalan from jail will not be accepted. Another one says Kurds have the potential to derail Turkey's EU journey, hence Turkey should pay a big price to Kurds to achieve its EU bid. Another who took the parliamentary oath says there has been no winner or loser in the 25-year-long conflict, hence the solution should be arranged as a peace agreement. In brief, everyone is commenting without seeing what the government has in its solution package,” says Şafak. In his view, Turkey has two options: It will either use Northern Ireland or Sri Lanka as a model. The Northern Ireland model was based on disarming the separatist Irish Republican Army (IRA) first and then finding solutions to the political, social and economic problems of the Catholics in Northern Ireland, and the IRA accepted this, explains Şafak. As for the second model, he says despite many democratic steps, the Tamil Tigers, an armed organization, persisted in waging an armed struggle in Sri Lanka, leaving no other option than their elimination. “Before any democratic step is taken in Turkey, the PKK must lay down its arms. No, I do not mean to threaten anybody, I'm just stating the simple facts,” says Şafak.
According to Star's Mehmet Metiner, the PKK and the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) should read new Turkey accurately and get rid of the clichéd statements and understandings of the past. Referring to Öcalan's remarks when he said, “I am not the old me, the state is not the old state,” Metiner says these remarks show that Öcalan is able to correctly read the process even though he is in jail. As for the DTP, he says it needs to pave the way to a solution instead of acting as an obstacle to the solution process. “Those attempts to build a lost future out of the ashes of our lost past will have betrayed both the Turks and Kurds of this country. Those who continue to live in the past cannot build a new future. New things need to be said for the new day,” suggests Metiner.
