Won’t it be too risky a step?

When Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan first raised the probability of lifting the political immunities of Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputies, even those closest to him told us, the journalists, “The prime minister said this to ease the sensitivity in the public. You will see; common sense will prevail.”

Apparently, the prime minister has made up his mind on this.

Lifting of the immunities of the nine BDP deputies who embraced outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members is on the agenda now. If he had wished, he would not have focused on it too much and the files would have been shelved at the Constitution Commission.

No, he insistently held this on the agenda. What concern me are possible developments afterward. The escalation of terror by the PKK, that streets turn into fireballs, that metropolises are shaken by continuous demonstrations.

The expulsion of Kurdish deputies from Parliament and their imprisonment will also reflect very negatively internationally. No matter how much we emphasize that what they did was against the law, it is impossible to explain such a development.

In short, the PKK will have a good propaganda opportunity domestically and abroad.

Also, won’t this step have a negative effect on Justice and Development Party (Ak Party) votes in the local elections ahead? Won’t non-PKK Kurdish votes escape?

Surely, the prime minister is aware of all these drawbacks. Well, why then is he taking this step?

There is certainly a calculation at the back of his head. Is Erdoğan, who monitors every step he takes with opinion polls, preparing a surprise on the Kurdish issue before the 2014 presidential elections?

His close aides have started giving interesting signals. Something is happening.

More curiosity about Dolmabahçe
For a long time, we have been discussing this famous Dolmabahçe meeting. So many conspiracy theories have been generated that we have lost the thread. Remember, at that time, the chief of General Staff of the time, Yaşar Büyükanıt, was harshly criticizing the Ak Party government.

After the Dolmabahçe meeting, though, Büyükanıt, all of a sudden, stopped his criticisms. Then, debate started in the public on why the top commander changed his stance.

Especially when the prime minister after this meeting said he would take what was talked about to his grave, then everybody was curious. As a matter of fact, in a country where nothing stays a secret for long, the Erdoğan-Büyükanıt meeting was never leaked.

There were too many fantastic stories told. In that time, neither Erdoğan nor Büyükanıt denied anything; they kept silent. They only said, “We talked about routine state affairs.”

We expected an explanation from the prime minister in his responses to the Coups and Military Memorandums Commission about the Dolmabahçe talk. It didn’t happen. On the contrary, the prime minister said the debate on the Dolmabahçe talks was exaggerated and accused the media.

I guess if there is a great amount of speculation, then the person behind all this is the prime minister. If he had not said after the meeting that he would take it to his grave, we would not have been so curious, right?