Turkish press
April 14 2005
Tough Days
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.