Future of ‘democratization initiative’

The government has different outlooks that designate three separate maturity periods for the democratization initiative as a method. Interior Minister Beşir Atalay, while speaking at a press conference during which he announced the “democratization initiative,” referred to these periods as "short, medium and long" terms. Many things will have changed in Turkey when the government starts to implement the medium-term projects of the negotiation process, which it will conduct with these different perspectives in mind, and when it begins to discuss the long-term projects. In the first instance, there will be a radical change in the state organization. The spectrum of political parties will have changed. The democratic culture and lifestyles of the society will be considerably different from today. In short, Turkey is going through a process of changing not only the existing status of the Kurds, who roughly correspond to 15 percent of the population, but also everything that has made it possible in a radical and profound manner. For this reason, we should not regard these harsh debates and ever-changing political atmosphere as unusual.

What the MHP represents politically

One of the major political changes the democratization initiative will bring about in Turkey concerns the place of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) on the political spectrum. The Kurdish issue has triggered doctrinaire nationalism. With the ongoing bloodshed, the MHP has acquired much popular support. Its performance as a member of the coalition government between 1999 and 2002 has led this voter base to melt away quickly. Political analysts, including pro-MHP ones, agree almost unanimously that the MHP is indebted to the Kurdish issue for its political existence. Kurdish separatism has sparked Turkish nationalism.

If the Kurdish issue is settled by lowering the magnitude of Kurdish separatism, then the raison d'être of the MHP will become controversial. In a Turkey without a Kurdish issue and the terrorism of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the MHP will face an ontological question. In this case, the MHP will either restructure itself with a different identity and different domain of references or it will fade away into oblivion.

It may be this feeling of meaninglessness that causes the MHP to instinctively oppose the initiative process and do everything to undermine its progress. The MHP is a party that feeds on the Kurdish issue. Settling this issue will imply the drying up of the vein providing nourishment to the MHP. The MHP's survival instinct as a political party underlies its harsh opposition to the initiative.

The Kurdish issue can only be settled by mitigating nationalist sentiments. This applies equally to both Kurdish and Turkish nationalism. The current state of affairs shows that the most serious obstacle to the democratization initiative in the short and medium term will come from Turkish and Kurdish nationalism. Overcoming these obstacles will be dependent on the creation of a common identity going beyond the restricted domains of Kurdish and Turkish nationalism.

    Is it a coincidence that messages opposing the democratization initiative always come in the form of the written text of speeches of political party leaders or military chiefs? As elsewhere, important people talk via written texts. The harshest opponent of the initiative, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, always uses written texts in order to express his feelings. However, when military officers use written texts to express their feelings, the atmosphere quickly changes against the initiative.

Several days ago, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ were leaving a handover ceremony held at the Naval Forces Command. Inside, an amiable atmosphere was created by jokes from a retiring naval forces commander, who spoke about three species of living beings: human beings, animals and the marines.

 Gen. Başbuğ swapped aside all bureaucratic protocols and made a very warm move; after saying goodbye, he stopped the prime minister and, referring to reporters, said: "In your presence, I would like to say something to these guys." He wanted the prime minister to hear the following: "Before I came here, I read the latest reports. In July, 14 terrorists surrendered. Ten of them were released by the court; two were released later pending trial and the remaining two have been arrested and will be tried. In other words, the majority of those who surrendered were released." The prime minister also spoke on the same topic and confirmed what the chief of general staff had said.

 Those who seek to find the answer to the question "What is the Turkish Armed Forces' [TSK] actual position on the democratization initiative?" should refer not to the statement made in connection with Victory Week, but to these words said at an event. The contradiction between the threat to continue with counterterrorism "until the last of the terrorists is killed," which the air forces commander read from a text during the handover ceremony, and the chief of general staff's attitude, which opens doors, is like the polarization between the government and the opposition.

What will settle the issue? Killing the last of the terrorists or convincing all terrorists to surrender to the authorities? Repeating the violence-tainted words and hostilities which the experience of the last 25 years has proven serve no purpose or expanding common denominators and drying up the nasty quagmire of terrorism?

State-backed settlement

This gesture by the chief of general staff clearly shows that the “democratization initiative” is a “state-backed settlement” in the most natural way. There is no problem with respect to "harmony among state organs," as noted in a statement issued by the National Security Council (MGK). Moreover, the true initiator of the project has become clearer.

The democratization initiative is not an initiative developed and implemented by the government, but it is a project of the state, one that has the oldest and most established wisdom and experiences in the world and is attempting to settle a major issue. It sees that long-implemented assimilation policies have failed, and instead, it seeks to implement the dynamics of integration. It has decided to cherish the opportunities that the current context and the international environment provide. It paves the way for democratization in order to bring about this voluntary integration. The Turkish Republic's state mind is represented by the president, the government with the responsibility it assumes at the MGK, the TSK and the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), the Foreign Ministry and the Prime Ministry's Undersecretariat as the bureaucracy.

The threat to the democratization initiative comes from the real world of democracy, i.e., political parties. The project itself is naturally used in the competition among parties. It is illogical to entrust this important state-backed project to party democracy or to make the 85 percent settle the problems of the 15 percent. Turkey will solve the Kurdish issue despite the MHP and the Republican People's Party (CHP) and even despite the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) -- but through the agency of the AK Party. How? By placing party interests behind those of the nation.

The state's reason tells us that if Turkey cannot settle the Kurdish issue, it will face immense problems in the international arena and may even be divided. Other parties think that they have a competitive edge over the AK Party, which has assumed the responsibility of this heavy state project. State-backed settlements always cause the ruling party to lose voter support. When a party attempts to settle an issue that concerns only 15 percent, it has to face the risk of opposition from the 85 percent.

The democratization initiative is a state project. For such a risky project to make progress, everyone must face risks. The quickly changing atmosphere is the result of steps taken with difficulty and hesitation. But this is a state project, so it will certainly be implemented.