“Say ‘no’ and pave the way for a general amnesty for everyone from east to west and from north to south,” Kılıçdaroğlu said. The general amnesty issue comes to Turkey’s agenda frequently as part of efforts to resolve Turkey’s long-standing Kurdish problem; however, it sounded very strange to many for Kılıçdaroğlu to mention this issue unexpectedly as part of his party’s referendum campaign. Stressing that the general amnesty is a pressing issue that should be mentioned by respecting the sensitivities of all segments of society, some columnists say Kılıçdaroğlu’s amnesty statements may prove costly for the CHP and make it lose its former allies as well as public support.“The general amnesty issue cannot be brought up so openly. I do not think Kılıçdaroğlu was carried away by the enthusiasm of the crowd in Tunceli and made such a statement. What he said is not something that was uttered in Tunceli as a slip of the tongue and will remain there,” says Zaman’s Mustafa Ünal, who thinks Kılıçdaroğlu’s move is one that was thought about before and that his message is not only meant for Tunceli but for all of Turkey. According to Ünal, PKK terrorists come to people’s mind as those who will benefit from a general amnesty because Kılıçdaroğlu says it is for everyone. He says Kılıçdaroğlu’s general amnesty move was so unexpected that even his party members reacted to it, with CHP İzmir deputy Canan Arıtman finding the situation “unacceptable.”
“It is obvious that a general amnesty mentioned by Kılıçdaroğlu will include PKK terrorists. It is no ordinary person who says voting ‘no’ in the referendum will pave the way before a general amnesty, it is CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu. It is a promise of a party leader. I think those who are considering saying ‘no’ to the reforms will think twice now,” Ünal says.
Bugün’s Adem Yavuz Arslan warns that making statements in favor of a general amnesty may be risky for Kılıçdaroğlu because people typically view any general amnesty as including the PKK and its jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan. “If a politician in this country comes up and says he will pardon Öcalan, he will receive a big reaction. So I’m not quite sure whether Kılıçdaroğlu brought this issue to the agenda after thinking about it carefully or not. In the end, this statement may prove costly for the CHP,” he says, adding that the reaction of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, with whom Kılıçdaroğlu has walked hand-in-hand so far, may be followed by others.
Radikal’s Oral Çalışlar says Kılıçdaroğlu may make a U-turn on his general amnesty statements just as he did on so many other occasions after returning to Ankara. In his view, it is not yet possible to say that Kılıçdaroğlu is adopting a new line that will contribute to the solution of the Kurdish problem. “It is a fact that Kılıçdaroğlu’s job is tough. It is not easy to engage in discourse that will appease the different tendencies and sensitivities in society,” Çalışlar suggests.
