Laçiner noted that terrorism could not be ended just with the use of guns. “Terrorism is like a swamp, and terrorists are like mosquitoes. No matter how many mosquitoes you kill, the swamp will spawn more of them.” He said a comprehensive policy pursued simultaneously by different state agencies is the only way to solve the problem. He said it would not be possible to finish terrorism off completely without drying out the fields of exploitation for terrorist groups.
“Only if you start social, political and economic reforms and shut down the fields of exploitation can you conduct a successful operation. Eighty, even 90 percent of these measures are non-military measures,” Laçiner said.
Laçiner noted that the number of armed militants the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) commanded at its peak was 15,000, noting that this number was today around 5,000 to 6,000. However, he said that this many people were not even necessary, as terrorist acts can be carried out with 100 or 500 people. He said the government should adopt policies that would break the bonds between terrorists and society.
He noted that by eliminating to a certain extent the difficulties Kurdish-populated areas have to face as a society, the number of new terrorist recruits could be reduced. “But as guns continue to be fired in the region, it never seems to be the right grounds or the time for reforms. This is where the importance of fighting terrorists comes in. Fighting terrorists is not the ultimate end by itself. Done successfully, it can only give you the grounds for reforms to end terrorism.” He said the guns had to be silenced. “We have to slow down the guns before it’s too late and create some room for calm and rationality,” he said.
