BY YILMAZ OZTUNA
TURKIYE- Land Forces Commander Gen. Ilker Basbug Basbug said that Ankara expects action, not more words, from Washington, on the terrorist PKK. He spoke forthrightly. The next day, two of our soldiers lost their lives.
The motion we rejected in March 2003, on the eve of the Iraq war, cost us dearly. After opening our ports, airports, and border areas to US soldiers by accepting one motion, we rejected a second. Actually, more deputies voted for the motion than against, but a qualified majority was needed for its passage. So in effect, Parliament rejected the motion. We celebrated the decision.
It's certain that the National Security Council (NSC) - and especially its head, the president - bears a great responsibility for this. The just-elected deputies of that time made mistakes. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) acted irresponsibly.
If the second motion had been accepted like the first, then we wouldn't have seen the funerals of so many fallen soldiers, our people traveling to northern Iraq wouldn't have lost their lives, and Turkmen wouldn't have been killed. Moreover, autonomy for Kurdistan would have been out of the question, and Kirkuk wouldn't be a contested region.
Who will pay this price for this horror? How about those who, when we were invited for European Union membership talks along with Greece asked the EU for 10 years? Did those who missed opportunities on Cyprus give an account for what they did?
I mention only three major mistakes. Their impact led to pain and suffering and physical injury in Turkey. The biggest effect is that we had to postpone indefinitely our goal to raise our level of civilization. Some people are pleased with this. As for me, I see a different picture."