BY ULUC GURKAN
STAR- 2003 wasn’t a good year for us. Obviously some people disagree, considering the year to have been positive and full of hope. They think Turkey is taking firm steps on its path to European Union membership and that the economy has improved. It’s true that both inflation and interest rates have fallen. However, these improvements haven’t helped most people and probably won’t anytime soon because the International Monetary Fund’s policies ignore the people. For the IMF, firstly macro economic indicators should be righted, and the people come second. Therefore, often it considers rising unemployment and falling wages to be ‘successes.’
At the beginning of the year, Turkey had ‘red lines’ on Cyprus, the Aegean and Iraq. It has since given up its lines for Cyprus and Iraq, and there are also signs that we might relent on the Aegean. We said that the Greek Cypriot administration couldn’t become an EU member as representative of the island. We wanted UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s plan to provide security for Turkey’s guarantorship and the rights of the Turkish Cypriots. But we gave up on all these. We tried hard to make the TRNC elections boost Annan’s plan and exclude President Rauf Denktas. Now we’re buckling under a solution where we’re reconciled ourselves to the Turkish Cypriots being relegated to minority status. A similar process is coming up for the Aegean as well.
As for Iraq, we were against the establishment of a Kurdish state in the north. We used to say we wouldn’t permit it. But now such a state has been virtually established, but we hold our tongues and only sit and watch developments there. Sometimes we ask the US something about the PKK issue, that’s all. In sum, 2003 was a nightmare for us.