BY HASAN CELAL GUZEL
RADIKAL- In modern democratic systems, public opinion is mostly set by the mass media. Actually, this is why the media is called the fourth estate. In politics, if an incident is ignored by the media, it comes to nothing. Politicians know this very well, and so try to use the media for their ends. It's important for a political movement to get media coverage, no matter whether favorable or unfavorable. If it's an issue and people are talking about it, this serves political activists' ends.
The PKK and the Democratic Society Party (DTP) have used this state of affairs to their advantage. One of the most important reasons for the PKK's terrorist attacks is staying on the media radar. The reasons for the DTP's radicalism can be found here as well. In light of this, we can conclude that the most effective way to fight the enemies of Turkey's prosperity and integrity is to starve them of attention.
A bunch of terrorists in a country with a population of more than 70 million, or 20 deputies (3%) of a 550-set-Parliament, should be ignored. Is there really any good reason to show posters of the ugly terrorist leader's face and a so-called flag on TV screens and newspapers for days on end? Of course, we feel deeply sorry for our fallen soldiers, but who benefits from watching sad families for hours in the style of a slapped-together `reality' show? So coverage of the PKK and DTP should be dropped. In short, the PKK/DTP should be subject to political isolation. The current political system and the media should be aware of their great responsibility towards this end.
As I wrote last week, the PKK/DTP want their parties to be closed down and so flout the law for this purpose. This way they hope to halt their attrition and decline and have the opportunity to spread anti-propaganda abroad. Then they will complain that they were excluded from the political system and had to go to the mountains. But officials shouldn't parrot this propaganda as if it were true. Weren't phrases like `bringing the PKK down from the mountains' disproved by the DTP's presence in Parliament? What would happen if officials set aside valid legal provisions and thought like politicians; how would we make up for the degraded understanding of a state of law? In addition, those who see the concessions on these issues will be encouraged to more radicalism, won't they?
Members of the current ruling party, who have experienced the problems of party closing, haven't altered the provisions of the 1982 Constitution or the Law on Political Parties. On the other hand, Article 38 of their new draft Constitution says that political parties will not work against the state's indivisible integrity. It also tells how a political party can be closed. So even if the Constitution is changed this way and the Law on Political Parties is reworked, the end result will be no different. The matter has now been passed on to legal experts, who will do what's necessary. Right now it's not right to speculate on the issue.
The way to blunt the impact of terrorism is to end media coverage of the PKK/DTP and separatist activities. Meanwhile, security forces will do their duty and the ruling party will continue to do all it can to support the people living in the region.