But according to a common viewpoint, Erdoğan should not exclude the DTP and instead should benefit from it if he wants to end Turkey's long-standing problems. Yeni Şafak's Yasin Aktay says Erdoğan's recent visits and statements in the region reveal his strategy in countering the terrorism threat. Aktay explains Erdoğan strategy as taking over local administrations from the DTP in the March elections and, as a result, saving the public in the region from the influence of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). In other words, if his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) takes the Tunceli and Diyarbakır municipalities from the DTP, Erdoğan is preparing to use this victory to suggest that the PKK is not supported by the public in the region, Aktay explains. But he finds Erdoğan's assumption to be incorrect. "Frankly speaking, it is not a clever or great idea to think that the base that supports terror in the region will spontaneously disappear if the ruling party garners sufficient votes through a discourse of brotherhood and economic investment," Aktay contends. "This argument, which has been used so frequently, only helped strengthen counter-arguments in the region." In his view, what will end the PKK terrorism is not investing in the region; instead, the government should develop a more emphatic and flexible approach to settling the Kurdish problem. "Actually, the backwardness of the southeastern region is no longer a satisfactory explanation for the existence and perpetuation of PKK terrorism," Aktay says.
According to Radikal's Oral Çalışlar, Erdoğan's recent visits to the region show that his real target is the DTP, as he harshly criticized the party during both of his visits. Referring to Erdoğan's call to the DTP in his Tunceli speech, in which he asked it to abandon ethnic politics, Çalışlar acknowledges that the DTP conducts ethnic politics, but he finds it unlikely that the party will abandon this approach. "Seeing the solution of the Kurdish problem as ending the DTP in the region is not only unrealistic but also harmful. As a party that engages in ethnic politics, the DTP is one aspect of the Kurdish problem. You have to settle the problem first in order to eliminate this side. If you attempt to eliminate this aspect before finding a solution to the problem, then you will have to work with other parties who represent the problem," Çalışlar explains, noting that it would be more appropriate for the AK Party to see the DTP not as a rival but as an aid in solving the problem.
Milliyet's Taha Akyol also focuses on the risks of excluding the DTP from the politics of solving the Kurdish problem. In this regard, he suggests that the party, which currently faces closure for being a focal point of separatist activities, should not be closed down. "Closing down the party will ignite feelings of victimization among the party's supporters and strengthen the hands of radicals. The greatest mistake would be to kick the DTP out of Parliament. The PKK already wants to pave the way for political action outside Parliament by urging the DTP to adopt a provocative policy," Akyol says.
