BY ISMET BERKAN
RADIKAL- I've been on a few TV programs over the last few weeks and on all of them I found myself at discussing the idea that there's no Kurdish issue, but a terrorism issue. I'm writing this just as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is about to leave his hotel to meet with US President George W. Bush. Of course, I don't have any inside information on the content of the meeting or its possible consequences, but maybe I don't need any: I know that the Kurdish issue and the issue of separatist terrorism which has caused Turkey so much trouble are very complicated and so can't be solved in a single meeting. But I also know that the terrorist PKK is indirectly under US control. This has been the case maybe for years. The PKK falls silent when the US asks it to and delivers captured soldiers when the US asks it to. But I'm not so naïve as to think that the Kurdish issue and the issue of separatist terrorism can be ended if the US wants it. In addition, I don't support conspiracy theories that underestimate the power and potential of my country.
Columnist Fikret Bila has recently been giving us the words of retired commanders who fought the terrorist PKK in the field and were instrumental in policy-making. From what they said we can conclude that even if the Kurdish issue and the terrorism issue are interwoven, they are actually separate issues. Both former Land Forces Commander Gen. Aytac Yalman and former Chief of General Staff Gen. Dogan Gures have expressed this. When you still say there's no Kurdish issue, but one of terrorism, you suggest going back to the beginning. In my opinion, when a genuine effort to solve the Kurdish issue is made, we can erect an infrastructure to end separatist terrorism once and for all. Otherwise our prime ministers will visit the US and our soldiers will organize more operations for a long time to come. From what I can tell, a (cross-border) military operation (into Iraq) will be organized. Actually, if any, the only issue is the Turkish army not hitting the Iraqi administration, but the terrorist PKK.
As long as we don't cross this thin line, if Turkey carries out operations along our Iraqi border, particularly in the mountainous region, or keeps soldiers there permanently, this won't lead to serious failures. I accept that this operation, and even a permanent military structure which might be established, will hold back the issue of terrorism for a certain period of time. Even if we ignore the threat of the terrorist PKK in cities, the issue of terrorism in the mountains won't end completely. The only way to end or marginalize terrorism is to make our Kurds feel that they're also first-class citizens. As long as we don't do this, there will be pressure for a federation, separation, etc. So maybe we can buy some time to solve the Kurdish issue by defusing the issue of terrorism. In other words, an operation might not be completely unnecessary and disadvantageous, so long as we use the time that we have lost to our benefit."