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Baykal says Kurdish initiative may harm national unity
Speaking during a press conference at CHP headquarters in Ankara, Baykal said: “It has not been one month since this initiative began; however, it has led to deep debates and a blow to national unity.
Everyone has started to be a party in tension. Artists have started to divide into camps. People from all segments of society have been negatively affected by this process.”
According to Baykal, ongoing efforts to solve the Kurdish question would lead to a division similar to that in Iraq or the former Yugoslavia. “At the end of this initiative, we will be faced with what Iraq and former Yugoslavia faced. We will be faced with disappointment. Terrorism cannot divide us, but languages can. … This is a grave project. I have no doubt that this project will totally damage our national unity and the political identity of the Republic of Turkey,” he stated.
Asked a question over whether he was satisfied with the outcome of last week's National Security Council (MGK), the CHP leader said the meeting did not eliminate his party's concerns.
“The emphasis on national unity in the MGK statement is of high importance. However, the meeting did not eliminate our concerns. It is wrong to contribute to this process without knowing what is under way. Does the MGK know the content of the initiative? It is not certain where the process will take the country,” Baykal remarked.
Following a seven-hour-meeting of the MGK last Thursday, a statement it released underscored that it recommends efforts being made under the supervision of the interior minister should continue in order to provide for the happiness, peace and welfare of the society.
Baykal also claimed that recent meetings between Interior Minister Beşir Atalay and civil society groups and business associations to discuss the scope of the Kurdish plan are a strong sign of negotiation over the plan.
“The government is engaged in a negotiation process. We said it at the very beginning that the Democratic Society Party [DTP] would not come up with different demands from İmralı [the island prison where PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan is jailed]. DTP officials keep pointing to İmralı as the interlocutor of the process. There is cooperation between the DTP and İmralı,” he said.
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