Government reaches out to terror victims

The package involves establishing a directorship under the Prime Ministry for veterans and families of security forces killed in the country's fight against terrorism.

Interior Minister Beşir Atalay, coordinating the government's recent initiative to settle the Kurdish question, met last week with a number of family members of soldiers who were killed or injured during fights with terrorists.

The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has for the past several weeks been pondering ways to settle the long-standing Kurdish question, which has resulted in the deaths of around 40,000 citizens since the matter turned violent 25 years ago. The government has not offered details as to the content of the initiative so far, but it has hinted that it would broaden the cultural rights of Kurdish citizens.

Both Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the interior minister have for the past week been having talks with representatives from various nongovernmental organizations and associations to ask for their contribution to the peace process.

Erdoğan called on everyone yesterday to keep watching the government about its efforts to solve Turkey's long-standing Kurdish problem. “Everything is on track. Continue to watch us,” Erdoğan said. His remarks came during a handover ceremony at the Air Forces on Tuesday which was also attended by President Abdullah Gül and Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ. He also said he would make a more detailed statement on the government's Kurdish initiative during his national address, which is to be released on Thursday.

Naval Forces Commander Aydoğan Babaoğlu handed over his post to Hasan Aksay. In a speech he delivered after assuming his new post, Aksay said Turkey's fight against terrorism will continue until the last terrorist is killed, stressing that Turkey should also continue to make economic, cultural and social initiatives to solve its terrorism problem.

In addition, President Gül told the families of members of the security forces killed in the line of duty that their pain will not be ignored and assured them that the state will find the best solution for the settlement of the Kurdish issue at a fast-breaking dinner he hosted on Tuesday.

“I would like to express with all my heart that you are our most valued citizens because you sacrificed your sons, your husbands, your relatives, your loved ones for this country. May they all rest in peace,” Gül said. He also asked families to deliver their demands to him and share their problems with him through representatives who sat with the guests at every table.

Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül had requested previously that there should be a prime ministerial directorship to deal closely with the problems of the veterans and martyrs. The families of the martyrs have long been demanding such a department.

Hamit Köse from the Association of Social Solidarity for Families of Martyrs and Victims of Terror said they would be glad if such a department was established since they have been demanding it.

“We would like to see a father of a martyr and a father of a veteran serving in that department,” he said, adding that Turkey does not have a Kurdish problem but a terrorism problem and that no ethnicity is above another.

“The situation is the creation of foreign powers. Those who say that there is a problem and try to solve it will fail. The government should stop pleasing the terrorist organization and its associates,” he said.

The government is planning to present a bill to Parliament, which will resume on Oct. 1, in regards to establishing a special directorship for the war veterans and families of slain soldiers.

According to a study carried out at the Ministry of Defense, a similar department exists in such countries as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Australia, Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Albania, Syria, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Indonesia and Poland.

So far 5,716 members of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) were lost in the war against terrorism. The number of TSK members who have become war veterans in that fight is 3,616. Previously, in the Korean War, TSK losses amounted to 720 and the number of war veterans to 21,158. In Turkey's intervention in Cyprus in 1974, 346 TSK members were killed and 31,765 became war veterans.

The Turkish government already provides social security not only for war veterans but also for their families and the families of slain soldiers. There are thousands of people who are entitled to a monthly salary but the amount falls even below the minimum wage. A war veteran is paid a monthly salary of TL 327.80.

Aksaray Families of Martyrs Social Solidarity Association head Mehmet Tıpırdamaz said the government gives enough to families of killed soldiers in terms of monetary compensation but that the families also need moral support.

“Money is not everything. Families who have given their sons for the state should be supported morally. That is why we have been demanding that an agency be formed,” he said and added that the interior minister had told them their demand would be evaluated.

Tıpırdamaz also said the 269 separate associations of martyrs' families and war veterans should be brought under an umbrella organization.