‘Vultures’ of the resolution process

I found the term I have been looking for almost for 15 years in Ruşen Çakır’s column the other day at daily Vatan.

“When it is the question of the Kurdish issue and the resolution process, there are doves on one side who want a solution, right opposite them are the hawks and in between there are ‘vultures.’ These vultures do not come out frequently. Some of them are known as if they are supporting the solution, some are not. Again, some among them stay as if they are close to the government, some to the Kurdish political movement and the rest to the opposition parties. However, whenever the process starts failing, we see them abandon their positions and declare, with much enthusiasm, the death of the process, in short, all of them becoming vultures.”

Not only in the resolution process, but it is also possible to see these vultures in all of our chronic issues, such as the European Union, democratization and the Cyprus issue.

This is the natural outcome of conducting politics, adopting a political stance not through principles, ideas, ideologies and ideals but through egos and feelings. But this should not be underestimated because this political class called “vultures” has, from time to time, a huge power of influence because they are a much larger group than we assume.

The major project coined the resolution process is maybe as important as the founding project of our republic, something that would put our republic on a sustainable normalization track. For this reason, it is very difficult to be impartial before the resolution process.

You may see the resolution process as one that has not been worked on thoroughly, the intellectual foundation of which has not been formed and one that does not have internal consistency. All these criticisms are quite correct. The sentence, “What kind of a freedom can a government which gasses people in Gezi offer to the Kurds?” is not a wrong question.

However, just to be content with only this sentence and turning your back on everything is political nihilism. This is a collective learning and saturation process. It is a process where frequent backtracking will be experienced, where road accidents happen and one that will only achieve success with the true internalization of the subject of freedoms and equality.  

For me, it is a much more consistent and respectable political attitude to be against the resolution. But I have no respect for the “vultures” who rejoice when blood is shed at Lice and that the flag is lowered from its mast.

Controlled tensions?

Reviewing the statements after the Lice incidents, the Air Force said the flag removal was provocation and if they had prevented it, the incidents would have exploded. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan insisted that the person removing the flag should have been “downed,” implying he should have been shot. He added, “Are we going to allow road blocks just so the process is not harmed? No, we will not.”
The Kurdish media regarded these as the PM’s “Plan B and C,” calling for action. Abdullah Öcalan, from İmralı, issued statements to calm the environment, but Duran Kalkan from Kandil Mountain said, “We do not believe the HDP and BDP mediators. We have to contact Öcalan directly and take instructions directly.”

All of these seem to me like the re-declaration of the negotiating positions of the sides. If the tension we are experiencing is a planned, programmed one aimed at reinforcing the negotiating positions and in this sense if they are controlled, then it is our duty to see it and to show it.  

Politics over human life may not be a new thing, but it is not acceptable that it is still resorted to during the “resolution process.”