BY OKAN MUDERRISOGLU
SABAH - The National Security Council (NSC) will hold a critical meeting and face the Kurdish issue again in a different atmosphere. Actually the process of explaining the opportunity which has allegedly emerged on the path to solve the Kurdish issue and filling in the framework which is supported by the strong political will is underway. Today, roots of the process which is considered staggering by different segments of society are based on military and diplomatic relations which caused Turkey's red lines in northern Iraq to be erased.
So many things have already changed for Turkey both due to the support provided by Kurds to the allied powers during the invasion of Iraq and the US' strategy of controlling the oil. Obviously, it was impossible to carry out a cross-border operation in Iraq as part of the fight against terrorism as much comfortably as in the past. The regional administration with ethnic base was already established and Ankara's emphasis upon northern Iraq was replaced by Iraq's north. Just at this point, the Justice and Development (AK) Party staff and particularly the deputies with Kurdish origin prepared the infrastructure of the new initiative by considering the balances which have dramatically changed after Turkey's rejection of US troop deployment in Iraq in March 1, 2003.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made his famous speech in Diyarbakir in August 2005 by predicting the future and this speech was the signal of today's opening. Similarly, the change of weather in the country's administration has started to be reflected on the NSC declarations. Furthermore, there were the clues of structural changes in the point of view about Iraq during the NSC meeting held in February 2008. It was agreed in principle to contact all actors in Iraq, encourage commerce and investment and provide almost an economic integration. When the Washington administration gave the green light for a cross-border operation as a result of Turkey's insistence during the same period, it has already planned to show what wouldn't be a solution from now on. When Turkish military authorities said that Iraq's north wasn't a safe field for the terrorist organization, both the US side and the Iraqi Regional Kurdish Administration succeeded in getting the thesis of 'now you can solve the problem among yourselves' accepted.
Today it seems there are four critical factors about solving the Kurdish issue:
It's internationally accepted that terrorism can't be a method of seeking justice and a solution can't be reached through this method. As the PKK's identity as a terrorist organization is registered, its staff is also directed by foreign support.
It's argued that steps are taken so that soldiers don't die and reactive masses are made accustomed to new conditions.
As US President Barack Obama will withdraw American soldiers despite the headquarters which will control Iraq strategically, he doesn't want an Arab-Kurdish conflict to occur in this country. He even envisages that rich oil sources in Kirkuk-Mosul are marketed via Turkey. The southeastern Anatolian region should be cleaned from the atmosphere of conflict towards this end. While telling the PKK that laying down the arms is the only remedy, Turkey is advised to take certain steps which would consist of a general amnesty, justify the decentralization and guaranteeing the cultural and democratic rights under constitutionally.
And of course the government is willing to carry out a new radical transformation in economy, politics, media, commerce and its relations with the US and neighboring countries and turn a historical opportunity into a historical success by solving the terrorism issue in the political field, which has been continuing for the last 25 years. The people living in the region who are tired of terrorism, the families whose soldier son has died due to terrorism and the businessmen and security forces who seek peace support similar steps. Obviously, the ideal of ending the terrorism, solving the Kurdish issue and increasing democratic standards provides the ruling AK Party with advantages in the ballot box.