BY OKTAY EKSI
HURRIYET- Those who think that Turkey will end the PKK terror by cooperating with the US need not wait in futility any longer. Retired Gen. Edip Baser, who was appointed Turkey's special anti-terror envoy last year, threw in the towel yesterday.
In a recent interview, Baser said that Turkey had come to a point where he was expecting concrete steps from Washington. He further stressed that unless Washington takes such steps, he personally believes that the envoy mechanism should be abandoned.
Baser's remarks show the failure of the envoy mechanism, which has kept the Turkish public waiting for the last nine months.
The appointment of Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Ambassador Rafet Akgunay to replace Baser also shows that the government expects nothing to come from the mechanism.
In short, we're playing a game whose beginning and end are known to all, because there's no possibility Washington will greenlight Turkey conducting a military operation in northern Iraq, and our government lacks the courage and political will to do so on its own.
We aren't talking about if doing an operation would be right or not, but only trying to point out that no progress has been seen, despite Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit saying that a military operation in northern Iraq would be helpful and that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) was ready for one.
Let's consider those who argued conditions for an operation aren't right. If Washington is sincere about fighting terrorism, couldn't it cut off the terrorist PKK's financial and logistical support?
Have we seen a single concrete step from US Special Anti-Terror Envoy Joseph Ralston on the issue except for the raid - possibly made with forewarning - on the Mahmur camp? That raid could have been a beginning, but it wasn't. Then came the reports that hundreds of thousands of weapons from Washington had come into the PKK's possession.
We only heard those who said significant developments would come soon. We're still waiting.