Sincerity is a must

One of the most pressing needs of this nation is to find a civilian resolution to both the Kurdish problem and the separatist terrorist quagmire that has claimed lives of tens of thousands of our people over the past 30 years. A resolution to problems of such huge dimensions and complexity will not be at all easy, and most probably we will need some time to recover from the trauma that a resolution will as well most likely produce.

The problems at hand are not easy at all. The separatist terrorist problem might be considered as a solely security issue, which unfortunately is not. We might prefer to put the blame on “outside forces” and perhaps make best use of the current situation in Syria and hold Damascus as one of the external supporters of terrorism. Given the fact that Syria has a very bad track record as regards collaboration with terrorists – be it the Hamas, Hezbollah or the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – Turkey might be perfectly right in its assumption. Yet, the same situation was valid when the absolute ruler in Ankara was embracing his “brother Assad” in Damascus, waiving visa requirements in travel between the two states and holding enhanced bilateral cabinet meetings.

Turkey might accuse as well the German government or the German foundations of supporting the separatist gang. It may accuse many European countries of not doing enough in stopping the gang collecting “donations” or failing to take sufficient measures to prevent the gang collecting “taxes” from Turks living in those lands. These are of course legitimate complaints, yet a responsible and respectable government leader should come up with concrete evidence proving such claims rather than talking with some angry and unsubstantiated rhetoric.

Turkey has to understand the outside help or support terrorists might get can only worsen an existing problem or make it difficult for the country to resolve the problem with the least political or economic cost. The problems are our problems, and it is because of our wrong policies, not so wise priorities, applications, ignorance or whatever other problematic attitudes that we have these problems. To resolve these problems we have to first identify what they are.

That is why from the very beginning of its so-called Kurdish opening, not only this writer but many skeptics have been demanding the government to explain primarily how it perceived the problems and with what kind of a roadmap it wants to tackle it. And, because of the failure of the government to provide answers to either of those two questions, there are serious suspicions as regards the sincerity and real intention of the government.

Is it not hypocrisy, for example, to talk about reforms and democracy for Syria, to talk of “advanced democracy” in Turkey but at the same time claim they were in effort to create an “alternate government” to place behind bars elected mayors, executives and members of a (Kurdish) political party, academics, publishers and intellectuals?

While it is a must for the government to come up with a sincere roadmap for a political resolution, Kurdish politicians as well must realize that there can be no civilian politics with guns in hand. It is an absolute necessity for the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) to renounce terrorism, demand the PKK lay down arms and seriously engage in political efforts to resolve the Kurdish problem. For example, with a Sabahat Tuncel shuttling terrorists in her car provided by Parliament, the BDP cannot be a partner for peace. Sincerity, please!