BY RAHMI TURAN
HURRIYET- Turkey is going through dark, difficult days. The anger and hatred in our hearts grow worse every day.
It's tough going . It's good to keep our calm, but . We're like a clenched fist and poised bayonet after the deaths of so many soldiers.
We have to avenge our soldiers to gird our spirit and prevent the deaths of any more.
Parliament gave the government authorization to take a cross-border operation. But we're still waiting. Waiting for what? Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet today with US President George W. Bush . For permission.
In this world, the decisions of the powerful hold sway. But the powerless are always blamed!
The focus of the Bush-Erdogan meeting actually won't be on PKK terrorism. Erdogan is planning to bring up the issue . Bush, on the other hand, can't stop thinking about Iran.
To calm the public, Erdogan said last week, `We don't need permission from anyone. We'll do whatever is necessary to protect our nation's security. I'll speak with the Americans in clear, definite terms. I'll tell them about the US weapons in the hands of PKK terrorists.'
But could Erdogan tell Bush this? `I'll order a cross-border operation into northern Iraq. I'm not here to ask for your permission. I propose we do the operation together. If not, I'll act alone.' The situation is so bad that an operation is inevitable.
What will Bush say to Erdogan? Bush's main concern is to ask, `What will Turkey do when the US attacks Iran?' and gets pledges from Turkey on this. He can say a few pleasing words about the PKK terrorism, but . You can't trust the sun in the winter or Bush's smile!
The US is clever as a fox and has thousands of tricks. We should be very careful.
It's such naivete to fall for US' double-faced, delaying tactics.
How can the PKK get such accurate information on the operations of Turkish soldiers and lay traps for them? Or is the CIA playing role? Are the allegations that the CIA gives information to PKK terrorists true? With their satellites, they can even track the movement of insects. Could the US act with such hostility? Why not? The US always only cares about its own interests!
Let's not pay any more mind to what the US says. Let them think about what Turkey says. They also have great need of us. We have to know this and play our cards well. We're not a US satellite and it's time we show it.
Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani laid down a challenge: `We can fight Turkey.' If he didn't depend on the US, how could he dare say that?
Turkish-US relations are beset by errors. And the first one was like a domino, leading to even more.
Things got this way back in March 2002, when our Parliament rejected a motion which would have let US troops deploy in Turkey for the imminent Iraq invasion. Then Former President Suleyman Demirel said, `Turkey shot itself in the foot. The US is vengeful, it won't forget this." And so it didn't.
Now Bush is telling us, `Heads I win, tails you lose!' This is the situation in a nutshell."