BY MURAT YETKIN
RADIKAL- Soon after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was protested by a pro-PKK group in Oslo yesterday, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) head Deniz Baykal told a group meeting of his party that recent discussions on national sovereignty and minority rights had raised tension in the country. Baykal underlined that the terrorist PKK had once again violated Turkey’s understanding of national sovereignty by recently declaring that Kurdish groups in Iraq, Syria and Turkey should unite under a common flag. Two days ago in Oslo, Erdogan explicitly argued that illegal groups trying to divide Turkey are backed by certain European Union circles. Yesterday, asked what he would do to ‘stop the war,’ Erdogan’s reaction was harsh. ‘It’s our security forces’ duty to respond to terrorist activities,’ he said. He seemed angry when responding to questions on such sensitive issues as the ‘Kurdish minority.’
For his part, Baykal found Erdogan’s reaction lacking. He believes that the government has failed to effectively manage and control the public anger which has recently shown itself on the streets. ‘When those who should speak up instead stay silent, then the streets start talking,’ he warned. Looking at Baykal’s readiness to tolerate the recent violent demonstrations by excusing them as ‘rightful public reactions due to a government failure,’ we can easily see how tough are the days we’re facing and how even tougher ones lie ahead.
Baykal yesterday also underlined that he believed the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) would soon rule that terrorist Abdullah Ocalan should be retried. This will definitely be another tension-raising issue. In addition, there is also the so-called Armenian genocide issue. All of these developments could have been predicted by the government. Didn’t it realize that such sensitive issues would be discussed as our EU membership talks are looming? As a matter of fact, in strategy meetings held last year, state officials stressed that the issues of Armenia, Cyprus and Kurds would trouble Ankara in the near future. But what did our government do to head off such problems? Nothing… Our government’s crisis management is deficient. In the age of mass communications, it chooses to stay silent. This is a weak policy to pursue.