Following the latest terrorist attacks, which struck at the heart of all Turks and all Kurds with a conscience, we must ask this question: All of you in Öcalan’s ranks, do you truly, sincerely want a solution to the Kurdish problem?
Why is this a critical question? Because terrorism -- this bloody terrorism that stretches across Turkey, leaving in its aftermath the coffins of fallen soldiers draped in the national flag -- is the biggest obstacle to solving the Kurdish problem. Before the tears of grieving mothers stops, before an atmosphere of healthy thought, discussion, dialogue and trust is established, no one can solve the Kurdish problem.
For the Kurdish problem is no longer the problem of Kurds alone. It is Turkey’s problem and all of our own -- and it’s our biggest problem. There are now Turks in this country who in their hearts feel a sense of injustice for the atrocities and inhumane treatment perpetrated against Kurds for years. There are now conscientious, equitable Turks who share the pain of the Kurds, who feel at least as much pain as the Kurds do over the torture conducted at Diyarbakır Prison; there are Turks saying “enough already,” and their numbers are more than the Kurds themselves. I’ve written it before -- the key to solving the Kurdish problem is this: Turkish consciences will solve the Kurdish problem. And this conscience is saying that we are all people first, and we want to live together again as we had for years.
But we need a healthy environment of trust and dialogue. Bloody acts of terrorism strew dynamite throughout this environment; they plug up communication channels with cement. Spokespeople for the BDP say, “Alright, but Turkish military operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK] should be stopped.” This approach and insisting upon this means nothing but defiance and stubbornness. While the cries of mothers of fallen soldiers are continuing, no government administration, no soldier can make the decision to stop the operations. For no state will or can surrender to a terrorist organization.
In order for Turks’ consciences to get to work, an end to violence is the first and foremost condition. As long as innocent people on buses are being killed by Molotov cocktails, as long as mourners are lining up in rows at mosque courtyards during the funerals of fallen soldiers, these consciences will not take action. Without using a clear language to denounce all forms of violence and all methods that include violence, a solution to the Kurdish problem will never be possible.
Last Ramadan, I was in Diyarbakır on the occasion of a fast-breaking iftar dinner and I met with leading local administrators and political party members. There was a common theme in the comments that they made insistently. “There are no problems between Kurdish and Turkish members of the public,” they said. “The Ergenekon trial and the taking to account of deep structures within the sate is also very important for us.” Now, they should think with a sense of conscience, what else is there that sows seeds of separation between these two publics that are even bigger than the groups of people that turn out for the funerals of fallen soldiers?
Weren’t the Turks caused pain and grief by the loss of their writers and intellectuals and thousands of university students, including leftists and nationalists, in the pre-coup period? Weren’t the Kurds caused pain and grief by the thousands of unsolved murders and tortures? Is it not the self-same bloody and dirty structure that is causing pain to both sides? In that case, what is it that the PKK wants from those wretched sons of Turks and Kurds who go to the borders to perform their mandatory military service that is demanded of them by their citizenship? Are you going to solve the Kurdish problem by causing us pain?
This road is a dead end. If the segment that I’ve mentioned is sincere about a solution, then its first step will be to put an end to PKK terrorism.
And the ongoing Ergenekon trial has also shown that the source of all the problems in this country is the tutelage system that prevents democratization. Terrorism just plays into the hands of the proponents of tutelage. And they are the ones calling for the declaration of emergency rule (OHAL) so that an interim administration can begin operation. Just like the periods proceeding coups d’état in the past, terrorism merely serves to prepare the grounds desired by junta members.
The sole path to a solution of the Kurdish problem is ending the tutelage system -- meaning Turkey’s democratization.
