BY ISMAIL KUCUKKAYA
AKSAM- In Washington, which I recently visited for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit, I heard interesting things from the Americans. A US group which is close to Turkey and recently visited Ankara met with State Minister Mehmet Simsek. When terrorism and the southeast came up, Simsek said that there were certain misunderstandings which should be dispelled. Simsek added that he is a Turkish citizen of Kurdish origin who was schooled by the state and later became minister responsible for the Treasury, one of the Cabinet's most important posts. Simsek then said thousands of Kurds have had similar successes, and added, `Kurds definitely aren't a minority, but an integral, fundamental element. Please look closely at the Kurdish issue and what's happened over the last seven years and what sort of steps have been taken. Even things no Europeans have done in their countries on similar problems have been done in Turkey. Economic welfare started to rise nationwide in recent years. While all this was happening, wasn't terrorism supposed to fall off or end altogether?'
The Americans, some of whom see the east-southeast issue through a certain lens and are indifferent to the problem of terrorism coming from northern Iraq, confessed that they were very impressed by Simsek's remarks. I also agree that Simsek seized the issue's key points and took an important mission. Simsek made similar statements in Brussels to Europeans as well.
When he was abroad, I told Simsek on the phone what had I heard had happened in Washington. Somewhat abashed, he said it was true and asked if it wasn't normal to say such things. These words meant something to me, and I saw his story extending from Merrill Lynch, London, the world's finance capital, to the Cabinet as a success of Anatolia and the republic.
Actually, Simsek's stand on the issue first got my attention at a conference about three weeks ago. He said that Turkey was ready for a cross-border operation and that our economy can handle this comfortably. Under normal conditions, the minister in charge of the Treasury would take a different stand or at least would use different words. It means that the state's stance and national interests can be considered more important than the economic perspective.
Before he became a Cabinet minister, I also had the opportunity to speak to Simsek. He placed great importance on structural reforms and said energy and social security reforms should be implemented without delay so Turkey's growth can continue and jobs can be created. I told him that priorities were shifting and asked him if reforms were being forgotten. He told me that our positive energy had moved to the issue of terrorism, but that it was also important to remember that nothing can be done without security. `But in hard times, structural reforms should also be done,' he added. `Otherwise, as time passes, we will be unable to implement them. In addition, delayed reforms have a higher price tag.' As far as I could tell, certain reforms will start by year's-end, which will pave the way for investments, encourage the private sector to launch new projects, ensure the safety of energy supplies and bring a rational pricing system. Similarly, social security reform will be implemented speedily. I hope this determination will continue.