A recent terrorist attack against a group of security forces patrolling a rural area in the Reşadiye district of central Tokat which killed seven soldiers on Monday, has been called similar to another attack in eastern Bingöl province in 1993, when 33 soldiers were killed. The soldiers were unarmed, and were summarily executed on the Bingöl-Elazığ highway as they were traveling to join their military units.
Burkay, exiled in Sweden, said the Reşadiye attack has similarities with the Bingöl one in that the two were both carried out at times when the country was seeking ways to settle the long-standing Kurdish issue. Recalling that the Bingöl tragedy came at a time when then-President Turgut Özal was taking the initiative to settle the issue, Burkay said after the attack he called Abdullah Öcalan to ask why the organization had carried out the attack. “He told me that he was not informed about the attack but that he had to claim responsibility for it. Yet, he did not say who actually killed the soldiers,” Burkay said.
Stating that he knows Öcalan well and he does not think that he did not tell the truth, Burkay said Özal’s efforts to settle the issue halted immediately after the incident. “There was a positive atmosphere in the country regarding a resolution on the issue before the attack. Özal was also a person in support of peace. But this attack, which was obviously a provocation, prevented any resolution. Clashes multiplied and more people died,” Burkay added.
Burkay highlighted that a similar positive atmosphere to the one during Özal’s time has been created in Turkey by the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) Kurdish initiative, but anti-peace circles have been opposing it since it was announced. “However, the government has launched this initiative with good will and it really wants to takes steps to bring peace. It was not surprising that an incident like the Reşadiye attack has occurred at such a time. I forecasted that such an incident would take place and I had serious concern because either a bomb explodes or people are killed whenever such steps are taken. And in the end, the resolution process is obstructed,” he noted.
