BY CUNEYT ULSEVER
HURRIYET- Firstly, let me go through some thoughts and questions on my mind:
1. The most concrete result of the recent meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President George W. Bush was quick intelligence sharing. So the US will tell Turkey, and we will strike. The meeting about a limited operation came to nothing. What's more, according to the chief of General Staff, this intelligence sharing hasn't started yet. It can be seen as a mark of friendship, but it could also be seen as meaning, `You can strike to the extent that I allow you.' As I wrote earlier, one could also question why our ally didn't share intelligence up to now about our `common enemy.'
2. The PKK is our `common enemy,' but the US is acting together with the PKK-connected PJAK in Iran, and certain terrorists who work on PJAK's behalf are of Turkish origin. How will the US be able to distinguish between members of the PKK and PJAK, who live on the same mountains and in the same camps?
3. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) suddenly started to produce softer, reasonable suggestions on the Iraq issue. Also it's not putting pressure on the government for a cross-border operation. Is it mere coincidence that this sudden change of heart came right after the Bush meeting?
4. Is it also a coincidence that following the Erdogan-Bush meeting, the Democratic Society Party (DTP) left behind its role as PKK sympathizer and turned into the PKK's bona fide political wing, all but officially, by clearly defending the PKK's policies? Do you remember any other period in which Kurdish elements argued so fearlessly for a federation on official platforms?
Some reporters think that considering the DTP's toughened stance and official/unofficial reactions to it, convicted PKK terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan is working to get the DTP closed, because he doesn't want the PKK to become a political group. This is possible, but another scenario occurs to me:
1. How Turkey will be able to politically digest PKK politicization and debate over a `democratic republic consisting of two separate elements' will be tested. If it can stomach it enough, PKK elements controlled by the US will give up terrorism.
2. PKK elements which the US has lost control over and which are now even under the control of other countries will be hit jointly.
3. The government will show a warm new stance on northern Iraq with the support of the opposition. The US will finally reach a position where it can entrust northern Iraq to Turkey.
In sum, the more the PKK can politicize its own separatist policies, the further it will move away from terrorism!
Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas yesterday shook hands in Ankara and showed the entire world that they stand with Turkey and the US on solving the Israeli-Palestinian issue. But Turkey's stances on issues like Hamas and Iran are still murky, and so it can't please the US or Israel. It seems to me that Turkey is expected to be able to stomach PKK politicization and take a clear stand next to the US on the Iran issue, so that the above deal can go through.
We'll soon see what kind of a stance our government will take on the Iranian issue and how far it can sell these deals with the US to the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK)!"