Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Sept 6 2009

Baykal asks for clarity on Kurdish, Armenian moves

Sunday, September 6, 2009
ANKARA ` Hürriyet Daily News

The main opposition party has asked the government to clarify the
motives behind its recent initiatives on the Kurdish issue and
relations with Armenia and repeated that it would not be a part of
such moves.

`Don’t count us in. We are not going to be your fellow travelers; you
have already some other fellows. Bon voyage to you! But I advise you
to return from this journey as soon as possible,’ Deniz Baykal, the
leader of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, said over the
weekend.

Baykal’s words were a response to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
ErdoÄ?an, who has said his party would knock on the CHP’s doors
if it does not consent to meet.

`The government’s move is putting Turkey under the pressure of an
ethnic identity. However, the majority of our citizens of Kurdish
origin have no problem being part of the national identity,’ Baykal
said.

Arguing that as a result of the government’s approach to the issue, a
minority group that is focused on dissociation rather than integration
with the rest of the country has been accepted as speaking for all
Kurds, Baykal said: `This point is disturbing both Kurds and Turks. On
purpose or not, they are doing wrong.’

According to the CHP leader, the government’s Kurdish move has nothing
to do with the democratization of the country. `You cannot stop
terrorism through encouraging dissociation. That, in fact, would
encourage the terror,’ he said, adding that negotiating with those who
seek separation would bring nothing but more problems.

Baykal also argued that the government is, in fact, aware of the road
map produced by Abdullah Ã-calan, the imprisoned leader of the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, but cannot make it public
due to the growing reactions. `With this government’s move, Ã-calan
has become a political figure. The DTP [or pro-Kurdish Democratic
Society Party] says that the real interlocutor is Ã-calan,’ he
said.

Questions on Armenian move

The CHP leader also expressed reservations about the government’s
Armenian move. Noting that the protocols aiming at normalizing
relations between Turkey and Armenia were initialized April 2, just
days before U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Turkey, Baykal said
he had asked President Abdullah Gül whether the two had raised
the issue of protocols during their meeting.

‘I just want to learn. [They were] initialized in April, announced
now. ¦ It has not been written down, but the Americans are in
expectation [of the signing of protocols],’ he said. `The president
will make a statement either to confirm or to deny.’

aykal-asks-clarity-on-kurdish-armenian-moves-2009- 09-06