Özçer says democratization should go on even if PKK attacks continue

“If the PKK is not going to support a democratic process in Turkey, it is possible that they will employ the ETAs' tactics and continue terrorist attacks. But the democratization process should continue. … Spain achieved it in the 1970s. … But Turkey employs the tactics of Franco times in fighting terrorism,” Özçer told Monday Talk.

He also said Turkey needs a democratization process in order to find a solution to its long-standing Kurdish problem, referring to the conflict that has taken the lives of about 40,000 people since 1984 and resulted in more than 17,000 unsolved murders in addition to billions of dollars in military expenditure.

Özçer blamed the opposition Republican People's Party [CHP] and Nationalist Movement Party [MHP] for the lack of rapid progress in the democratization process and said the ruling Justice and Development Party [AK Party] needs more support.

Do you think the Kurdish opening will be a hot item on Turkey's agenda for a long time compared to past experiences in which it was put on the backburner after some heated debates?

This time it seems like it will remain in the agenda as a hotly debated item because the AK Party seems to be determined to solve it, but it is a difficult task.

Why?

Because of the opposition's resistance. But when we talk about the opposition, we cannot say that all opinions are represented in Parliament because there is that high -- 10 percent -- threshold preventing fair representation. The MHP was presenting itself as a central right party, but with the start of the debate on this democratic opening, it has shown that it is on the far right. When you look at the CHP, it is not a democratic party. Its views on the European Union are almost the same as the MHP, which is against the Copenhagen political criteria. Therefore, Turkey needs this democratization process to be a fit candidate for membership in the EU.

There are views that the Kurdish opening is being forced on Turkey by some foreign forces. How reasonable are those views?

They don't have much credibility. We cannot talk about the Kurdish issue with Cold War rhetoric. We are talking about Kurdish citizens of Turkey and their integration into the country. The current Constitution of Turkey does not recognize Kurds as a nation. But there are personal rights and freedoms that Turkey needs to provide to its citizens, and these are also a requirement under the Copenhagen criteria. Education in mother tongues is a personal right that can be used collectively. I suggest the French constitutional model in that regard. The French Constitutional Court states that placing bans based on differences among citizens is against the first article of the French Constitution [Institution of Community], which says that the community shall be based on the equality and solidarity of the peoples composing it, in other words, citizens should be equals without any discrimination.

Akın Özçer, writer, educator and retired diplomat As a former diplomat who served in Somalia, Iran, France (2001-2005 Lyon consul general), Spain and the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, he was also the first department head of the European Union General Directorate in Ankara, formed to prepare Turkey to meet the Copenhagen political criteria. He entered the Foreign Ministry in 1978 and retired in 2006. He currently holds European Union seminars, teaching doctoral students at Marmara University. His first book, on the history of Basque nationalism, was published in two volumes in 1999. His second book, which was published in 2007, elaborates on the pluralist Spanish constitutional system, which has been effective in fighting separatist terrorism. He is a regular columnist for Newsweek Türkiye.

‘Spanish did not release terrorists’

You also give the example of the Spanish constitution-making process, which is based on a broad consensus -- what Turkey seems to be lacking. How did they achieve it?

Firstly, the Spanish Constitution is based on a broad consensus. Secondly, it is democratic. And thirdly, it recognizes the existence of nationalities and regions. After the death of [dictator Francisco] Franco in 1975, a general election was held in 1977. King Juan Carlos had a big role in establishing the foundations of a democratic state. There was also a political amnesty, but it did not provide freedom to terrorists as [CHP deputy chairman Onur] Öymen has been insistently claiming. Then there was the process of legalization of all banned parties, including the socialist and communist parties, which were the worst enemies of the Franco regime. Some political leaders from the far-right side of politics would even say that a “red Spain is better than a divided Spain.” So legalization of all parties took some time.

What about the ETA [Basque Homeland and Freedom]?

At that time, the ETAs -- since 1974 there have been two ETAs; one, ETApm, is a Marxist organization that attacked mostly businessmen, and the other one, ETAm, attacked mostly military targets -- were consulted by Spain for the purpose of having them lay down arms and engage in legal ways of politics. Spain tried to integrate them into the process, but the ETAs did not accept it. The reform process also involved the establishment of a Senate and a House of Representatives in the Parliament. The Constitution was approved on [Oct. 31] 1978 by Parliament and by the Spanish people in a referendum [on Dec. 6]. It was a speedy process once the Constitution was drafted.

What were the ETAs’ positions then?

‘The key is laying down arms’ If the PKK lays down arms, then the DTP can join the consensus. This should be done to raise Turkey's status to the democratic standards of the EU, not just to have the PKK lay down arms. Then if Kurds want more rights, such as autonomy, they should definitely lay down arms. For that, Turkey would need to rehabilitate PKK people who did not shed blood, without mentioning past laws regarding “repentance.” That's how Spain did it; with the 1988 Pact of Ajuria Enea, armed groups laid down arms for the right to enter politics. And such people can participate in the constitution-making process, which is going to probably be a medium-term project. Right now, we are so far from those discussions, and the reason is that two main parties in Parliament are opposing this. The key is laying down arms to strengthen the AK Party government. The PKK leadership must be making some analysis in that regard as well. The AK Party government cannot establish direct dialogue with the PKK leadership, but there are possibly intelligence agencies that should be doing this like what was done in Spain.

They were trying to put obstacles in front of the establishment of a democratic Spain by carrying out terrorist attacks. Regarding Turkey, if the PKK is not going to support a democratic process in Turkey, it is possible that they will employ the ETAs' tactics and continue terrorist attacks. But the democratization process should continue.

Even if the PKK continues its terrorist attacks?

Yes. Spain achieved it in the 1970s. The democratization process should go on despite terrorist attacks. But Turkey employs the tactics of Franco times in fighting terrorism. It has been seen in Turkey that it is not possible to end terrorism by sentencing the members of the organization to 40 years in jail. Turkey employs only militarist tools. Turkey even uses terror organizations -- such as Susurluk, Ergenekon and maybe [the Turkish] Hizbullah -- in that fight, like Spain did even until the 1980s.

‘Ergenekon investigation helped the fight against terrorism’

And Ergenekon terror networks have helped Turkey's fight against terrorism?

Yes, of course, but this has not been understood in Turkey at a widespread level. Even Turkey's intellectuals do not comprehend it well. People adhere to the views of political party leaders as they adhere to soccer clubs. Turkey's political system has been very polarized; and if CHP leader [Deniz] Baykal says Ergenekon [an underground gang charged with murders and plotting to overthrow the government] is a lie produced by the AK Party, people do not question it. Even though I have a deep-rooted background supporting the CHP, I will never vote for them again as long as their anti-democratic approaches continue. Even though there have been procedural mistakes during detentions related to Ergenekon, it is not possible to label this huge process a fabrication. The Ergenekon investigation has also helped us to understand that we have a lot of failures when it comes to a democratic understanding. For example, I know from my Foreign Ministry service that Hurşit Tolon [a retired general and former 1st Army Corps commander] has been making statements against the European Union. This shows that Turkey has had a military guardianship. This is the view from the Foreign Ministry. There are probably more interferences in Turkey's internal affairs by the military.

Do you think the government is handling the democratization process in Turkey well?

The AK Party has made several mistakes. First of all, instead of starting a democratic debate for a wholesale constitutional change, it picked and chose articles of the Constitution to change in order to relax the headscarf ban. In addition, the prime minister made some far-right statements as well, such as “love it or leave it.” When we look at who acts how, we see that the MHP likes the status quo for sure, the CHP is interested in the status quo at least for now and the AK Party is interested in change even though it has made mistakes.

What would you say about the DTP [pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party]?

[DTP leader] Ahmet Türk once said, “Bring the Spanish Constitution, and we will accept it.” Spain created a unique system of regional autonomy. The second article of the Constitution grants the right of self-government to the regions and nationalities that compose the indivisible Spanish nation. There are collective rights recognized. However, the problems still persist in Spain because Basques and Catalans have not been recognized as nations. Spain did not go as far as to grant the Basques and Catalans a status of “nation” and a confederative system even though they have long desired independence.

Do you think Turkey's Kurds' desire for independence is as strong as that of the Basques and Catalans?

No, it is not, at least at the present time.

‘Federalism does not mean confederalism’

In Turkey, even the argument for federalism by Kurds and their pro-democracy supporters has been perceived as a desire for separation.

It is wrongly perceived like that. If you recognize a group as a nation, then the question of confederalism and separation can be discussed. But federalism is not confederalism. Seeking consensus in Turkey for a new understanding in that regard is a tough job because the debate on democratization has been perceived as a desire for separation when it comes to the Kurdish issue. The MHP joining in this consensus would not be possible. If there are CHP supporters with the same view, their votes can be ignored as well because these are not democratic approaches. Democracy has its red lines, too.

How would the DTP be involved in a consensus?

Let's look again at the Spanish example. The ETA's political arm Batasuna was banned in Spain in accordance with the 2002 Political Parties Law, and the decision was approved by the European Court of Human Rights. Batasuna's argument was that they were banned because they talk about independence. However, the PNV [Basque Nationalist Party], the Basque Autonomous Community's oldest nationalist party, has been defending independence for years, and the ETA was founded by nationalists who were once affiliated with the PNV. The PNV is against violence and has about 40 percent of the vote in Basque Country. Batasuna told the European court that Spain is violating freedom of speech and organization with this ban. But the court said “no” because Batasuna had organic ties to the ETA. Now the DTP: it has organic ties to the PKK. If it is banned and goes to the European court, it will say the same thing, that Turkey violates freedom of speech and organization. Then, the European court will examine Turkey's case laws and see that talking about independence in Turkey is a legitimate reason to ban a political party even if that political party does not support violence. So the European court is probably going to tell Turkey that it is not right to ban the DTP. Therefore, if Turkey wants to ban the DTP, it has to be at least as democratic as Spain.