While the government strongly denies the allegations and says it would never speak to the leader of a terrorist organization, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) say a recent PKK declaration of a cease-fire came as a result of government efforts to have an uneventful referendum process. This new polemic has turned everyone’s attention from the reforms that will be voted on in the Sept. 12 referendum to the “meeting with the PKK” argument, and analysts complain about hypocrisy and cheap politics behind such allegations.
Bugün’s Gülay Göktürk thinks politicians are being hypocritical by bringing the “meeting with Öcalan” debate to the agenda because even if the government had met with Öcalan, everyone knows this would not be the first time as Öcalan was spoken to many times before, and even while MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli served as deputy prime minister. She thinks the hypocrisy on this issue is not limited to the politicians but extends to the public as well. “Many people say an agreement can even be made with the devil for the solution to the Kurdish problem; however, this should be done appropriately and even though it is out of the question for the government to directly speak to Öcalan, some state actors getting involved would be better. Don’t you think this is a little hypocritical?” Göktürk asks.
According to Göktürk, there is no point in defending this hypocrisy. She says it is either right or it is wrong to meet with the PKK to solve the problem of terrorism. “If it is wrong, either the government should meet with it or some intermediary institutions, but it is still wrong. But if it is right, what is the point in doing something right so secretively?” she asks.
Vatan’s Okay Gönensin says opposition parties that claim the government met with Öcalan need to provide details about their claims and explain where and when such a meeting took place. With regard to an opposition party accusing the government of not seeing the PKK as a terrorist organization, he says: “After all the pain we went through, engaging in politics through such cheap tricks may perhaps bring applause from some fanatical circles, and it may nourish their fanaticism even further. However, it can never produce a solution.”
