Nevertheless, trying to end terrorism solely with military measures was proven useless once again by a PKK attack on the Aktütün military outpost in the eastern province of Hakkari last Friday that claimed the lives of 17 soldiers. The attack stretched everyone’s patience to the limit and forced them to question the shortcomings in Turkey’s long-standing fight against terrorism. Star’s Mustafa Erdoğan says everyone should understand a very simple reality of these killings: “If these tragic killings continue today, this is because of the indifference of politicians. Young people are losing their lives because our politicians do not or cannot make the decisions to stop these deaths because they do not feel this pain sufficiently. The military officials are like this, too. If they had abandoned their calm in the wake of such deaths, they would be able to see that hitting this or that number of PKK bases in northern Iraq or demanding more authority from Parliament following each martyr’s funeral is not the solution.” In this respect, he does not agree with those who put the blame solely on the PKK. He argues that it is not the PKK that will solve this problem, but the Turkish Republic with its Parliament, government, political parties --including the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) -- and civil initiatives. Erdoğan says it is necessary to stop seeing the issue as a “terror problem” to produce a solution. “Terror is a side issue to the real problem, the Kurdish issue, and even if the Kurdish issue is solved, there is no guarantee that terrorism will end in the short or medium term. Unfortunately, authorities fail to see this and the government does nothing but convene the Higher Counterterrorism Board [TMYK],” Erdoğan laments.
According to Sabah’s Ergun Babahan, Turkey needs a new direction in the fight against terrorism; however, while doing this, it should not neglect its future vision. “It is important to see the goals of the PKK and take measures accordingly. Turkey’s agenda should not be determined by the PKK and its bloody actions, but by Turkey’s choices and privileges,” Babahan writes. In his view, the current gloomy atmosphere in Turkey will disperse in a short time if Turkey can assess its shortcomings and advantages on the fight against terrorism correctly.
“Political, psychological, legal and cultural measures need to be taken in Turkey to settle the terrorism problem, along with the security measures. Unfortunately, we do not have a clear vision on this,” complains Milliyet’s Taha Akyol. He suggests that Turkey take new steps, in the context of the unitary state, to show that it respects the Kurdish identity, giving Kurdish citizens a feeling of belongingness. “Yes, democracy and respect for identity do not eliminate ethnic nationalism, but they make its fire fade away. It is high time that we see these dimensions of the issue,” Akyol adds.
