Since the government voiced its desire to solve Turkey's long-standing Kurdish problem, Baykal has approached the initiative with skepticism, criticizing the government for failing to come up with any concrete proposals and describing the initiative as aiming to divide Turkey. While accepting Erdoğan's meeting request, Baykal stipulated that the meeting between Erdoğan and himself should be televised. Many view the Erdoğan-Baykal meeting as a turning point in the Kurdish initiative and say that if Baykal decides to contribute to the solution of this problem, he and his party will benefit greatly.According to Milliyet's Derya Sazak, what the two parties think about the most important problem in Turkey's recent history will be more clearly understood after the Erdoğan-Baykal meeting. He says the CHP will try to understand the goals of the government and will also bring up its own proposals. “It is very important that this meeting will take place beyond any concerns regarding protocol [since the CHP will show no opposition if Erdoğan is accompanied by Interior Minister Beşir Atalay, who is responsible for coordinating the government's Kurdish initiative.] If the government comes with concrete proposals and receives the support of the CHP, hopes will be raised about an eventual solution to the Kurdish problem,” says Sazak.
Although Baykal's reply to Erdoğan includes negative remarks on the government's Kurdish initiative, says Sabah's Mahmut Övür, it is still possible to be hopeful about the Erdoğan-Baykal meeting. Citing a political scientist, Professor Ahmet Özer, who is very interested in both the Kurdish issue and the CHP, Övür says Baykal has two options before him to continue. He quotes Özer, who said: “There are two kinds of structures within the CHP administration. One group is disturbed about their party's opposition to the Kurdish initiative and want to lend their support to the initiative while the other group wants the opposite, to weaken the AK Party and increase the party's votes from 20 to 25 percent.” Övür says that if Baykal sides with the first group, his party will fulfill a historic mission and will gain, not lose, but if he sides with the second group, it is very likely that his party will fail to enter Parliament in the upcoming general elections. “We will eagerly wait and see whether Baykal will make any contribution to the solution of the Kurdish problem,” notes Övür.
Star's Mustafa Karaalioğlu thinks the reason behind Baykal's opposition to the Kurdish initiative so far was not the risks and threats it could pose to the country but because he does not want Erdoğan to go down in history as a politician who initiated the process aimed at solving the country's Kurdish problem. Drawing attention to the fact that Baykal had attached two reports on the Kurdish problem to his reply to Erdoğan, which had been prepared earlier by his party and included democratic proposals, he says this shows that Baykal is still open to negotiation.
