12 October 2009 / ZAMAN MUSTAFA ÜNAL,
Interior Minister Beşir Atalay is also responsible for coordinating the democratic initiative and has held on-site visits before the formal discussions in Parliament.
He toured Diyarbakır, Mardin and Şırnak to take the pulse of the local people. Atalay's failure to pay a visit to the region despite having met with civil society representatives in İstanbul was a flaw in the government's initiative. Now he has taken action to fill the gap. The minister talked to opinion leaders as well as ordinary people on the street. He listened to citizens' complaints, and during the visit Atalay also sought to find out what they think of the democratic initiative; he was pleased with what he heard from the local people. The locals expressed extensive support for the opening. I talked to a number of people; I did not notice anyone who was opposed to the move. Some made concrete recommendations; in short, there is hope on the streets. People maintain that tension and unease has been transformed into poverty and misery in the region. And they are right; the basic rule of the economy is that investment does not arrive where security problems are encountered. The local people are aware of this; they are aware that their economic level will be raised if the initiative succeeds.
