Thus, democratization of the country will never satisfy these parties. On the contrary, a more intelligent, thus just and compassionate Turkish state goes against their interests. Otherwise, they would not be resorting to terrorist attacks just as everybody in Turkey is ready to sit down and tackle the Kurdish issue in a democratic manner. They must be brainless not to see that when they stage terrorist attacks or threaten the country with such violence, the will towards finding a solution using human rights as a basis shifts to using security measures to solve the issue. I think we must now focus all our democratic energies, not on the PKK and its civilian supporters, but on our Kurdish citizens and try to settle the issue as soon as possible.
One of the hawkish PKK leaders, Cemil Bayik, who criticized Abdullah Öcalan publicly for his talks with state officials concerning ways in which to find compromise stated last week that the state was cheating Öcalan and its ultimate aim was to put a stop to the PKK. Well, of course, the state wants to eliminate a terrorist organization. If states are want nothing else in the all, then they should want to limit violence. Thus, we all want an end to the violence of the PKK as soon as possible. I would prefer a peaceful solution so that most of the PKK members who were not directly involved in terrorism are pardoned and its leaders sent into exile in a liberal democratic western state. I would not even object to the Turkish state sending them money so that they can lead comfortable lives. In return, the Kurds in this country will become first class citizens without having to suppress their Kurdish ethnic identity. Then the leaders of the PKK should feel content in exile and see their cause was not all in vain and how the Kurds are now treated as first class citizens of Turkey, if their real intention was to achieve that. But it appears that this is not the case. They do not want to give up their powerful positions, economic gains from illegal activities such as the drug trade and their dream of an independent “Kurdistan.” They must be thinking that if Massoud Barzani has his own Kurdistan in Northern Iraq why they should not have one in southeastern Turkey. Ethnic nationalism is a disease for which no cure has so far been invented. The only thing one can do is to try to prevent from being spread to others. And this is all Turkey now can do. The only way to tackle such violent ethnic nationalism is to recognize the democratic rights of the Kurds. It is unfortunate that we are talking about these rights in the context of tackling terrorism and I wish that Turkey could have recognized the Kurds’ rights well before the terrorist incidents. But it is never too late. Now, society must disregard the PKK and the KCK along with their political representatives -- the BDP -- and ignore what they do and say because they are not real representatives of the Kurds. Instead, we must focus on a new constitution and make sure that ethnicity is mentioned in the constitution and Kurds and all others with different ethnic backgrounds are treated like first class citizens. We must also legislate that the Kurdish language is taught at state schools from elementary to university levels. I would not even object to private schools where the language of instruction is Kurdish, but where learning Turkish is still compulsory given it will still be the official language.In such a climate, the Kurds would hopefully see that it was not just the Kurds who were suppressed by the Kemalists, but also the leftists, Alevis and practicing Muslims. Despite the 9-year-long AK Party rule they continue to suffer, but pious citizens have never resorted to violence and have worked patiently within the democratic system to get their legitimate rights. Kurds could join forces and without the threat of the PKK this would be much easier. The PKK will never be content, but the overwhelming majority of Kurds that support the PKK would hopefully no longer support such terrorism. In the meantime a professional army and special police forces trained to eliminate terrorists in the mountains continue to eradicate the PKK terrorists. There seem to be no other viable options. Now, we must leave the PKK to the specialized security forces under direct and full civilian monitoring and invite everybody in Turkey, including the Kurdish and pro-Kurdish groups, to come up with concrete constitutional packages. After a deliberation process during which ethnic Turks will be convinced by the government that having first class Kurdish citizens (who have the equal rights) is not against the interests of this country and a compromise can be reached, underlining that this may not be the perfect solution for everyone, but the new constitution is not set in stone and it can be amended and fine tuned in the future with a focus on an even more democratic Turkey.
