Ruling party’s mind very confused
Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin delivered such a speech the other day so that many people had goose bumps. Take a look at the response from columnists of different views and you will immediately notice to what extent this speech has been regarded as strange.
The odd part is, while two important members of the government Arınç and Atalay were giving signals that positive steps were going to be taken as part of the anti-terror campaign, Şahin emerged with a stance as sharp as a needle. He mentioned the utilization of two practices from the 1990s that had backfired:
Şahin used such a grave and derogatory tone regarding the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) so that it looked as if he had forgotten they had received 3 million votes. “We are not talking about an innocent political party,” Şahin said, presenting the BDP as if it was “out of politics.”
“We are not doing anything against a political party founded through legal means,” he said. “They are picking on us. We cannot possibly keep quiet. We will reveal their real faces. We will say they are not innocent, that they are the legal extension of an illegal body. We are not saying this, their executives are saying it.
“The PKK means Apo, the KCK means BDP; [saying this] is nothing more than the disclosure of the secret of a nesting, of togetherness. They are talking about freedom: You are not free yourself. Then speak the language of peace and freedom. Is there a freer place than the speech podium of the Turkish Parliament? We have a structure that tolerates this. If you have a view, come say it.”
If the ruling party actually plans to close the BDP, it would make the biggest mistake of all. The AK Parti should best know closing political parties gets you nowhere and should not fall into this trap.
The next part of Şahin’s speech was even more horrific. The interior minister pointed to those who were “supporting terror,” saying that “maybe they are reflecting it by painting on canvas. Or reflecting it through poetry by writing poems, or they write or draw some things daily as articles, columns. Unable to slow down, they directly make the military, the police serving for anti-terror causes the subject of their art, their studies in order to demoralize them. They are somehow fighting with those who are fighting terror. Those activities that terror performs in the backyard are everywhere…”
This really is a creepy approach. What are Arınç and Atalay talking about, and what is Şahin talking about?
There are three possibilities. First, Şahin is not aware of the new initiative. Second is Arınç and Atalay are flapping their gums and the “deep state” is actually preparing different scenarios. At this point, it can be considered İdris Naim Şahin should be close to the “deep state” as interior minister, but as you can imagine this is impossible.
The third is the government’s mind is confused and has not yet determined a basic strategy on fighting terror. I guess this is the only rational possibility.
In the name of fighting terror security forces the government is arresting Kurdish politicians (KCK) on the one hand and journalists and intellectuals on grounds that they are PKK sympathizers on the other.
This approach has not stopped terror anywhere in the world. On the contrary, it has inflicted deeper wounds. We do not learn at all from the mistakes of others either.
