BY DERYA SAZAK
MILLIYET- One of the most important outcomes of the July 22 elections is independent candidates winning seats in Parliament in sufficient numbers to form a group under the Democratic Turkey Party (DTP) banner. It's expected that the DTP will work to find a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue, benefiting from the lessons learned from previous (now defunct) Kurdish-leaning parties in the early `90s. The way to achieve this is ending terrorism in southeastern Turkey. If the terrorist PKK stops shedding blood, normalization will be available to fight the real problems of the people of the region, namely poverty and unemployment.
Unfortunately, tension, conflict and expectations of an operation into northern Iraq have reached a peak.
The recent death of three soldiers in the eastern city of Tunceli signals that this extraordinary situation in the region will continue for a while longer. I had the chance to see the situation in Tunceli before the July 22 elections. Security forces stated after a raid in Tunceli's Pulumur district that there were almost 450 terrorists in the mountains. Groups of three or five who can move easier at night were planting mines. They were hoping to boost cross-border security and prevent the PKK from crossing the northern Iraqi border to render it ineffective.
But the government didn't choose this. The Republican People's Party's (CHP) campaign against northern Iraq's Massoud Barzani (suspected of aiding the PKK) shifted the votes in southeastern Turkey to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) The AKP's boosting its votes to close the gap with the DTP is said to be a result of both the religion factor and the policies of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Believing that a possible CHP-Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) ruling coalition would boost the chances of an operation into northern Iraq, Kurds voted for the AKP.
Then this week a piece by Washington Post columnist Robert Novak exposed a plan for US Special Forces to capture PKK leaders in lieu of an Iraq intervention by Turkey.
It was no accident that this information was leaked to the media after the July 22 elections.
The US wants to stop a new wave coming from a military operation into northern Iraq. The PKK, on the other hand, is fuelling military conflicts in the region due to the vote shift to the AKP and feelings of being besieged in northern Iraq."
Now it's the DTP's turn.
If independent Deputies Ahmet Turk, Aysel Tudluk and their colleagues can follow an effective policy which inspires confidence throughout Turkey, the PKK will see that it can gain nothing. Not leaving the DTP alone is the responsibility of the AKP, CHP and MHP.