3 February 2010 / ALI BAYRAMOĞLU YENİ ŞAFAK,
The first step was taken on a television program that aired on Monday. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “No such thing as [the Protocol on Cooperation for Security and Public Order] EMASYA can exist.”
This promise is of historic importance. The day EMASYA is abolished is the day Turkey will literally remove a dark page from its history. From this perspective, the elimination of EMASYA will be the first major unilateral administrative step toward civilianization. This unilateral step by the ruling power to abolish the protocol will send a loud and clear message to the military authority to “take another step back.” A political decision, a political will and a political move. No one can ignore the significance of any of these. Abolishing EMASYA would mean eliminating the final remains of the Feb. 28 process over the Turkish nation. Of course, these remains do not belong to just Feb. 28; their roots are much deeper, in particular in Sept. 12.
