First debilitate then negotiate

This order of events leads to more news of deaths in the media, devastating all of Turkey. While some people criticize the ongoing military operations against the PKK, many others offer the argument that it is necessary in order to end the long-standing terrorism problem.

Bugün’s Adem Yavuz Arslan says the terrorist organization will further escalate attacks until it can force Turkey to sit down at the negotiating table. The PKK’s belief is that the more deaths it causes, the more of its demands will be met, and it won’t stop until jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan is released from prison and becomes the ruler of a Kurdistan that is founded on Leninist principles.

He goes on to say that even if Turkey were to sit at the negotiating table with the PKK, the two parties would not be able to come to an agreement that would allow for Kurdish secession from Turkey. The solution to the PKK problem is neither “give it what it wants to get rid of the problem,” nor is it “destroy it and get rid of the problem.” After all the PKK is a terrorist organization that enjoys shedding blood. Moreover, these days it is receiving the support of some countries that want to damage Turkey. For this reason, we should first weaken it with more effective operations and then try to launch a dialogue with it. As for more effective operations, Arslan suggests that the fact that Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel is leading the operations himself might be a turning point in Turkey’s fight against terrorists. Arslan says he is sure that if more effective operations are planned and executed, the PKK will raise the white flag.

“There is no law, principle or rule the PKK abides by when it is committing its acts of violence. It is as if it is competing with itself for how many more people and how brutally it can kill. It kills even the most defenseless civilians so that those deaths can serve as propaganda. This way, the terrorists aim to show the extent of its violence and intimidate Kurds. This way, it takes the Kurdish people hostage. The PKK has no strategy built with the aim of freeing Kurds or restoring their rights. It needs “the people” to maintain its raison d’être. It doesn’t care that “the people” do not want it or fear it. And as long as those people are forced to remain silent about PKK violence, the state’s struggle against terrorists will be ineffective,” Yasin Aktay from the Yeni Şafak daily writes.