Turkey’s test with fire

Turkey is facing its biggest threat since after World War I.

Some might think this is a too ambitious statement. But it is not. 

There was a similar picture when the war was lost and Anatolia and Thrace were to be shared in pieces.

At that time in history, thanks to the struggle of this people and the contribution of several external factors, we succeeded in living together without being dissolved and we had our state.

Yes, we did have problems with this state. We have lived in a country where Alevis, Kurds, Socialists and Muslims have been oppressed.

Most of us were not even aware of it, as we have a notorious saying that goes “Long live the snake that does not touch me.”

But let’s not forget that we have not lived through an internal war in this country.

We did suffer pains and we had to bow down but we did not kill each other; we did not burn houses, we were not subjected to mass ethnic cleansing.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is after self-governance.

Those living in Bodrum should govern Bodrum themselves. So should the ones living in Antalya or Cizre or Diyarbakır. And let’s not forget those in Yozgat, Rize and Trabzon.

Several “self-governaning” regions can be set up.

If we have faith in local governance and if we agree that this is real democracy, then it can happen.
But the “self-governance” the PKK is talking about is different than that.

If we know for this geography and those living in this geography, there will be only one solution to that: ethnic or sectarian cleansing.

A country of freedoms would never come out of that.

While part of the country will suffer under the PKK’S Stalin/Qaddafi-style administration, the other half will be under a heavy fascism.

Are we sliding into a cliff?

Who is a Kurd, a Bosnian, a Arab or a Circassian in this country? The only result of ethnic nationalism in such a country would be fascism and a lot of suffering.

Our problem is all the same: living in a civilized, democratic country.

Debate and conflict conducted over faith and ethnic roots won’t create a free society.

Syrian warfare spirals into Turkey

An agreement has been reached through the United Nations to lift the siege on the Syrian village of Zabadani. According to the agreement, anti-Assad militants and civilians have started to be evacuated. Militants from al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham will be brought to Turkey via Lebanon.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 129 civilians and militants will be evacuated from Zabadani.

I have screened the news but there is no information about how many of those 129 persons are civilians or militants.

We are talking about militants that are members of organizations affiliated with al-Qaeda!

The other day, a Syrian journalist was murdered. The Syrian war is spilling over to Turkey. This is the result of President Erdoğan and Prime Minister Davutoğlu’s “neo-Ottoman” dreams.

Former President Abdullah Gül spoke at the anniversary of a foundation and said, “I believe that time has come to review everything in our foreign policy by taking into account historical facts and real politique.”

When the war started in Syria, it was impossible not to see that Assad wouldn’t go fast and that the country would slide into an internal warfare that would last very long time.

But our “neo-Ottomans” did not see that. Gül was president when all of this started. He could have prevented some of the mistakes. Now he says it is time to review everything.

What I can say is this: “That time is long past.”