Due to the absence of a fully functioning democracy, however, nobody has been allowed to openly discuss the reasons behind the ongoing violence taking place primarily in the terrorism-stricken, Kurdish-dominated eastern and southeastern regions of Turkey. The absence of an open-minded, rational discussion on the Kurdish problem in general has only furthered violence that stands as the biggest obstacle to Turkey's prosperity.There has been an ongoing war of words between Turkey's politically powerful military and the political leadership over the methods to be used in the fight against terrorism. Professor Fuat Keyman has said that this power struggle -- which emerged once again when Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt several months ago rebuked the political leadership for not giving a political directive to the military for a cross-border operation into northern Iraq to crack down on PKK terrorists hiding in the region -- should come to an end and that Turkey should act with one voice against terrorism (NTV news channel, Oct. 9, 2007).
The attack that killed 15 Turkish soldiers this past weekend in the Gabar Mountains engulfed the Turkish people in deep sorrow, as other attacks in the past have done. It has prompted the government to send a decree to Parliament -- perhaps next week -- after the country's religious holiday, authorizing the military to send troops to northern Iraq.
However, it is highly unlikely that the Turkish military will be allowed to perform a cross-border operation any time soon, even if the decree is accepted by Parliament. The decree may be used initially to persuade both the US and the Iraqi government, as well as the Iraqi Kurds, to take action themselves to cut the PKK's lifeline in northern Iraq.
The recent deaths of Turkish soldiers has frustrated the Turkish state and given a sense of urgency to the prospect of a cross-border operation. However, if Turkey were to stage such an operation it would have long-term political and economic consequences. Such a military action would harm both Turkey's economy and its international standing, in addition to provoking an increase in PKK violence.
Given these likely results, it is unfortunate that we are still talking about a possible invasion of a neighboring country as if it would solve the PKK problem. I wonder how Turkey can attempt to justify this act to liberal-minded Turks and to the world when it has been neglecting the fragile eastern and southeastern regions of the country for centuries.
It is high time for Turkish decision makers to mobilize all available economic means to address the immediate problems of the region, which is still striving for a decent life. A majority of people in these areas are at a serious level of poverty and have waited for far too long for the state to extend its hand to them.
A while ago I quoted in my column a recent report on the state of the eastern and southeastern regions that revealed how Turkey was hijacked by a security-first approach instead of addressing the grievances of those regions. It is worth repeating some excerpts from that report. For example, one-third of Turkey's 2006 fiscal year budget was allocated for expenditures on security and defense in the eastern and the southeastern regions, according to a report prepared by economist Mustafa Sönmez titled "Increased poverty in the East and the Southeast and Solutions: Peace" (ANKA news agency, Oct. 1, 2007).
In the eastern and southeastern regions 18 percent of expenses are earmarked to ensure public order and security, and 11 percent for defense, combining to make a total of 29 percent, while this combined rate stands at around 13 percent in the other parts of Turkey, said the report.
Thus an important portion of the resources allocated to both regions are diverted to defense and security instead of boosting local development and welfare. In the same report Sönmez urgently suggests a change this balance in favor of helping the regions' development and welfare.
Yet decisions published at the end of the meeting of the Higher Counterterrorism Board (TMYK), headed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and held last Tuesday, reflected again a security-first policy rather than declaring in parallel serious economic package that could have raised hopes that the state's hands are going to be fully extended to the region.
At the end of the day Turkey's core problems hindering prosperity can only be addressed in a society where all views can be discussed freely, relieved of the fear that has been imposed on us for centuries.
