BY NASUHI GUNGOR
STAR- Recent statements by Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal signal new developments. Obviously, he said nothing new. What's more, clearly, the anti-terror package he proposed was prepared a bit hastily. But this start by Baykal, who has been walking the nationalist line for some time, is important. So what will its impact be? This depends on analyzing the problem properly without pursuing other calculations. Clearly, the current Iraqi border (with Turkey) separates a structure which in terms of history, culture and economy could be a whole. The will which drew the border this way calculated that this separation would bring ethnic and strategic problems to Turkey. And so it did. In other words, those who want to take steps to solve this problem should first take a historic perspective. Secondly, they should take bold steps, particularly within themselves. In other words, girls shouldn't have to withdraw from universities and the army shouldn't discriminate between journalists. In addition, Turkey needs an economic program benefiting the entire country. This is the only way we can control the ethnic problem which was created for us and the problem of terrorism.
Both Kurdish rebels and the terrorist PKK which has marked the last 30 years put Turkey's point of view on this huge problem into a security perspective. What's more, this security-centric point of view caused the ethnic problem to escalate. Confessions of commanders, which we found out about via journalist Fikret Bila, show that the Turkish security bureaucracy is far from grasping the seriousness of issues mostly concerning the PKK and other crucial points. When politicians avoid taking responsibility, they are crushed by this burden. Turkey saw developments in northern Iraq, in other words, the Kurdish formation there, as a threat against it and thus it made the problem worse. Both courage and vision require a stance from inside to outside, just like any great country.
Unfortunately, the opposition led by the CHP has been making the public an enemy of formations in this region. It all but branded a few young people who were attending university in northern Iraq traitors to their country. Those who speak of solutions were turned into targets. This perception must be changed in order to fulfill the elements of the weak package presented by Baykal and to make new political and economic moves. If Baykal and his colleagues aren't pursuing short-term gains and are sincere about this new opening, they have to contribute to this process. But things might not be as they seem, because what's happening in Pakistan and Georgia right now evokes strange things. What if somebody is calculating that new openings about northern Iraq should be made not by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), but by the CHP? What if somebody is telling Baykal that Pakistan and Georgia are examples and now it's your turn and you should transform yourself? Don't you think the CHP's past can justify these suspicions?