BY MURAT YETKIN
RADIKAL- Clearly, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit's remarks weren't limited to his opening speech. After his comments on the theme of `dark war and the fascist PKK,' he wasn't surprised to see reporters during the first coffee break. The initial questions were about his meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Dolmabahce Palace early last month. Buyukanit, just like Erdogan, described this as a `meeting between two offices.' He wasn't supposed to say everything. He said that there was a proper place and time to say something. Obviously, Buyukanit wanted to talk about the presence of the terrorist PKK in Iraq and what should be done about it. He also said something interesting about a remark he made during an April press conference saying that a cross-border operation would be beneficial and Erdogan's statement on TV that he would authorize one, if the military asked. Gen. Buyukanit said that he spoke about the military necessity during that press conference. But every military operation, he said, should have a political goal, referring to Clausewitz's famous formulation. What was this political goal? He said that the government should give a political goal, in other words, a political directive to the General Staff. This was how the planning should be done, because not only the PKK, but also Massoud Barzani's peshmerga and US forces are present on the Iraq side of the border. In sum, Buyukanit implied that you are the political authority and we would get ready in line with your requests of us.
Actually, there's no great desire for a cross-border operation, and they are aware of its pros and cons. On the other hand, criticism of the support the PKK enjoys on the Iraq side is rising. It was clear that when Buyukanit said during the opening speech of the international symposium at the War Academy that those who help terrorists should be considered terrorists as well, he also meant Barzani, the leader of the Iraqi Kurds. Buyukanit declined to answer questions about current political issues, but they were important. One of them was about Erdogan's remarks that there are certain disagreements between himself and Buyukanit. Buyukanit said that he hadn't said any such thing. The second issue was about the presidential election. When asked his views about possible popular election of the president, he declined to answer, saying that this was a political issue. Yesterday was the final round of voting on popular election of the president. The measure got 366 votes, in other words, one vote less than a two-thirds majority, and the Republican People's Party's (CHP) Ali Topuz said that this was a good reason to bring the issue to the Constitutional Court. Will they hold a referendum to determine whether the president should be elected by the people? Towards this end, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer shouldn't approve the constitutional amendment, and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) should propose shortening the process of preparing for a referendum. The CHP's application to the Constitutional Court will make this process more complex and deepen the debate. Two more notes from yesterday: Firstly, it seems that Buyukanit isn't taking the issue of US planes' airspace violation beyond the dimension of a `disturbance.' Maybe this should be considered a political issue. Secondly, Erdogan once again didn't attend his normal weekly meeting with Sezer. Explaining this, last week he said that they would meet in Izmir, and this week his reason was the vote in Parliament. However, this situation has raised suspicions. This summer will be unusually hot.