Does Turkey need enemies?

Even though the report was denied a short time later, the issue is still alive. Because news agencies constantly report additional martyrs, the issue continues to be a heated one. Furthermore, authorities from the chief of General Staff keep it alive through their statements posted on their official Web site.

Since a probable direct confrontation in the region will cause inevitable security problems for Turkey and inflict damage on our democracy in the wake of the critical general elections, the issue is closely followed inside and outside the country.

Our conversations with the Turks who live in Cape Town, which reminds one of a European city in Africa with its mansions, luxury cars and modernized roads, unavoidably touch upon the latest developments in Turkey. Turkish businessmen who became the largest blanket producers of the African continent, the teachers and administrators of the Turkish school in Cape Town, young people who came here to study at South African universities and all others are following what is going on in Turkey with the greatest concern.

They still do not know whether people or the parliament will elect next president of Turkey this time. They are so mad at the intervention with the democratic process, even some of them are determined to travel to Turkey to cast vote in July 22 elections. An experienced countryman says the latest developments humiliated Turkey and wasted its already limited energy.

There is a great resemblance between Turkey which still lags way behind the developed world despite its geographical situation, huge natural resources and rich human resources and the underdevelopment of African continent despite its wealthy resources. But there is a fundamental difference though: While colonialism and foreigners may be held liable for the underdevelopment of the African continent, Turkey has done the harm to itself.

Strangely enough Turkey does not need a foreign enemy or an imperialist power to harm itself. It does so through the hands of its own elite, who are responsible for the economic crises in every five years, the military interventions that destabilize democratic order and the meaningless tension between the state and the people. Would you take a look at the army which is supposed to be the guardian of our security, independence and liberty to put the government in a difficult position? They prefer speaking through media as if it is not possible to discuss the delicate security issues related to Northern Iraq with the civilian government face to face or at appropriate venues like National Security Council (MGK) meetings. This is the most frequently repeated statement of the Chief of Staff Yaşar Büyükanıt in recent weeks: Political directive is required for a cross-border operation.

In deed, this is essentially true in principle. Of course, only the government and the parliament can decide to send troops abroad in Turkey under normal democratic conditions. However, people inside and outside wonder this: Why do those who do not remember this democratic principle (that their job is just to do what the democratic government asks) during the discussions in regards to who can be entitled to be the president, want to rely on a political directive when it comes to military operation into Iraq? Or is it part of such a plan: the government will be responsible for the chaos that would erupt when it agrees with the unreasonable request to hold a military operation; its relations with the West including both the EU and the U.S., which has expressed its support for democratization, will deteriorate; and as long as it does not allow a military operation, it will have to bear the responsibility for the deaths of the next martyrs. For this reason, international media puts a special emphasis on the domestic element of the issue in their analysis.