BY SEMIH IDIZ
MILLIYET- We survived the hardship of the closure case against the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Now there`s expectation of a great consensus, which means Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and main opposition Republican People`s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal should smile for the cameras and reduce the political tension they caused. Then they are expected to cooperate to implement mandatory and urgent political, social and economic reforms.
Of course we would like Erdogan and Baykal to do this and then aid the emergence of a modern new Turkey squarely on its path to European Union membership. Actually both the AKP and CHP say they favor EU membership, but this seems wishful thinking to us. Similarly, for Baykal, the Constitutional Court didn`t solve anything, but only identified the crisis. The same negative approach holds for Erdogan. He failed to pursue a consensus on the presidential elections, the headscarf issue, and constitutional amendments. He said that his views were clear and so no meetings were necessary, meaning that his own wishes would prevail. There`s no clear sign that he has changed his stance, either.
But if Turkey`s highest court was unable to solve the crisis, as Baykal claimed, then what will happen about it? Reasonable people can see. This problem can be solved if influential people come together and take certain steps based on the country`s objective realities and also embrace the entire nation with the understanding that `Turkey come first.` But we also shouldn`t forget that this is the country of politicians who stubbornly refuse to come together, even if they`re openly inviting a coup. In addition, the role of `wise men` that they want to play now is hardly convincing.
Consequently, we shouldn`t forget that we`re a nation whose culture isn`t based on tolerance and consensus, but on the idea of burning bridges. What`s more, this nation considers this quite honorable. So it seems fights over basic issues will start again soon. By the way, reform requests from the EU will sow more tension. It`s also not hard to guess that these requests will be seen as fresh opportunities to resume old fights, instead of understanding that these requests come from a union that we want to join.
How do I know this? Because the experience of Turkey`s past has always guaranteed its future. Indeed, learning lessons from our history and mistakes and taking positive roads which are shown directly or indirectly by others has always been considered something dishonorable. Of course it`s strange to write such things at a time when positive expectations have risen. Please don`t take offense, but we find it hard to be optimistic, like everybody who more or less knows Turkey. Of course I`d like to be proven wrong, but even this seems like wishful thinking to me. In short, it seems the crisis will continue, as Baykal clearly implied.