Noting that President Abdullah Gül was carefully monitoring the foundations of peace, Yaman said: “Mr. President analyzed the situation very well. He saw that there was wide participation and compromise in every area.”
Emphasizing the importance of discussing, at the highest level, a solution for an important issue that the ruling party has been delaying since 2005, Yaman said: “Gül took a courageous initiative on a very important problem in Turkey. As the person responsible for ensuring Turkey's unity and the coordination of institutions, he has fulfilled his historic duty. This legal initiative is also a historic opportunity.”
Most segments of society agree that they want peace, he said, adding: “It has been widely accepted that nothing can be achieved with violence. It is a reality of our times that one cannot find justice through violence and those seeking justice cannot be stopped by violence. Those who feed off violence sabotaged the periods when Turkey was close to achieving peace. Today, however, there is such a wide spectrum of people who want peace that no one can obstruct this positive progress. Certainly there are people who still have these intentions, but they don't have the courage to attempt sabotage.”
CHP leader’s stance very important
For Yaman, who has worked in politics for many years and held a post as a deputy governor, the strongest indication that peace can be obtained in Turkey is the positive stance of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). Recalling the “Southeast Report” the CHP prepared between 1989 and 1992, Yaman said it was very important that the main opposition party, which forgot about the Kurdish problem, stands behind the report it prepared 20 years ago.
The DTP deputy highlighted the importance of Baykal's statement that “they will discuss and solve the problem together.” “Baykal's positive approach is the most important advantage in 2009 when compared to earlier hopes of peace because the CHP's proposal for a democratic solution has a major impact on civilian and military bureaucracy. It is for this reason that I attach great importance to Baykal's recent statements. The statements he made on the amnesty issue, the announcement that he will not be an obstacle to solving the Kurdish problem, that anything that's necessary for a solution will be discussed and that they are open to dialogue are very important developments,” Yaman said.
Yaman explained that although he was working in politics during those years, he had close relations with the team that prepared the CHP's 1989-1992 report. “It's significant that we have reached this level after 20 years. Back then, we couldn't even identify the problem. The title of the report was the ‘East and Southeast Anatolia Problem.' With all honestly, the word ‘Kurd' simply was not used. But our president has clearly and distinctly identified the problem as the ‘Kurdish problem and the primary problem.' The main opposition's positive stance gives full meaning to its description as a historic opportunity.”
Pointing out that Baykal had refused to meet with DTP deputies until recently, Yaman said Baykal had changed his stance during the May 19 celebrations. “Baykal's softened stance incited great hopes,” he said. “I think this will have an impact on the defenders of the status quo in the military and bureaucracy and people who are hesitant about solving the problem lest the status quo change.”
Great excitement
Noting that President Gül's description of this era as a “historic opportunity” prompted tremendous hopes of peace, Yaman said: “From the telephone calls I have received, people from within the country and abroad are watching the positive developments with excitement. They are hopeful and believe good days are ahead.”
The opposition's concerns are normal, he said. “The initial statements made by the opposition should not be thought strange. It's normal that they felt the need to make a comment about an effort of which the content and subject was still unclear. It wasn't a reaction but more a response to suspicions about whether there was something else going on, if concessions were being made or if the government was being forced to follow a certain policy and the president was just trying to support the government. But eventually, the debates evolved, and everyone who had concentrated on the issue, including experts and nongovernmental organizations, reached common ground on finding a solution.”
Noting that the performance and attitude of the DTP group in Parliament will also contribute to solving the problem, Yaman said: “The statements of our chairman are out there. The stance of the group is clear. I believe we are ready to make a contribution to this positive consensus being put into practice.”
The reason for the excitement, according to Yaman, is that the issue is no longer just about debates but approaching an actual solution. “With his genuine statements, the president asked everyone to take sincere actions to move forward from debates to actual solutions. The fact that the first response came from the main opposition party made a big impression on people. This is a very positive step, and I think a very important opportunity. Within Gül's ‘historic opportunity' phrase lies the fact that the process has reached this level. My personal opinion is that the level of hope and excitement among society in this optimistic atmosphere is also a historic opportunity,” Yaman said.
Gül luckier than the late President Özal
The late President Turgut Özal took very courageous steps in 1993 to resolve the Kurdish problem, said Yaman, adding that he had shown the kind of courage that no one else could during those times. Yaman recalled that Özal had sought support from People's Labor Party (HEP) deputies back then. “Today we are at a much better point. Much has improved since Özal's time. We congratulate Gül for his courage. We are in a much better position to achieve peace than Özal was,” he said.
He went on to explain that the general consensus for peace has discouraged those seeking to sabotage these initiatives and noted that the concept of having to pay a heavy price for peace is being changed. Warning that there may be people waiting to seize an opportunity to incite chaos as occurred in 1993, Yaman said: “Certainly there is a group of people who are waiting to seize any opportunity. But as a society, we need to get rid of this bias. Anyone who has ever taken a positive step in the Kurdish problem has suffered some kind of pain. But I think we don't have to keep this kind of mentality any longer because I believe Turkey as a whole, including the political, bureaucratic and militaristic front, has reached a consensus and common ground.”
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which searched for a solution through violence for nearly 30 years is finally thinking like the rest of us, he said. “This is clear within the PKK administration. Members that were fighting for the PKK for 25-30 years are now talking about dialogue and holding meetings. The leader at İmralı is voicing the same views,” Yaman explained.
Ergenekon organized everywhere
DTP Muş deputy Yaman underlined that the positive developments in Turkey frustrate those who support chaos and conflict in the country and said documents exposed by the Ergenekon investigation also prove this. Pointing out that the Ergenekon gang infiltrated not only state institutions but other organizations as well, Yaman said: “When we assess the documents and statements revealed in the Ergenekon investigation, it seems as though the structure and organization has been around for a very long time. I believe they indicate that it has survived until recently since NATO's Gladio organization [was established] in 1955. That kind of organization not only existed within civil, military, bureaucracy and other institutions but also in organizations comprising different factions that were also searching for their rights. In other words, the PKK was not the only organization back then. There were other organizations within the Kurdish social movement. There were many factions within the leftist movement as well. There were also radical Muslims and nationalist waves. Each segment had different organizations within them. The documents from the Ergenekon investigation reveal that such an organization not only resided within state institutions but that it also had members in illegal and legal political parties as well.”
Noting that the hopes of peace in 1993 ended with the killing of 33 soldiers in Bingöl, Yaman said there were many mistakes made in sending unarmed soldiers from Malatya and Elazığ to Bingöl. Referring to Ergenekon's link to the killing of the soldiers, Yaman said, “The fact that certain people from the Elaziğ corps command immediately arrived at the scene after the event and that those people worked in the intelligence and corps command military units raises suspicions about Ergenekon's possible role in it.”
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