THE TURKISH PROBLEM
Burak Bekdil

Hurriyet Daily News
Oct 27 2009
Turkey

The Kurdish problem, if hopefully all goes well, may be a problem of
the past. But the Turkish problem may be a problem of the future if
public relations management, probably the most essential ingredient
for the ambitious Kurdish initiative, falters. And one essential
ingredient for that essential ingredient is how Turkey’s Western
friends get involved.

Last week, the Bosphorus Straight commented in these pages: "We
know that there is a temptation among Turkey’s allies in Europe,
in Washington and elsewhere to essentially ignore these issues
(regarding the freedom of the press). As long as Turkey is making
progress with Armenia, being helpful with Iran and Afghanistan,
growing in importance in energy transit…, then, well, what’s to
worry about a few jailed reporters? We reject this logic."

We may reject that logic, even condemn it, or be more pragmatic and
think privately or publicly "what’s a few rights abuses in the name
of better democracy?" Especially when the abused rights are those of
men with the wrong ideology.

We may argue that the reward is so precious that we would even release
Abdullah Ocalan and appoint him the commander of a new paramilitary
unit. We may think that it would be best if someone who publicly
declares he is NOT Kurdish should be prosecuted.

Even further, we may suggest giving the Kurds a homeland, including
part of what is today Turkey. We may campaign for full recognition
of and a national apology for the Armenian genocide, to go, ideally,
with some territory to make it up for the Armenians. We may defend
a complete withdrawal of Turkish troops in Cyprus along with a
unicommunal, unizonal reunification formula in which the Turkish
minority will be just a minority.

All that may not guarantee full membership in the EU, but certainly
numerous pats on the shoulder and a European carte blanche to abuse
the basic rights of a tiny minority who might still dare to oppose the
government. No harm if we twist and bend the law in favor of people
who, until recently, were Kurdish terrorists. Remember, soon not being
Kurdish will be banned anyway. So any smart Ergenekon suspect should
confess he is a terrorist, but a terrorist of the Kurdistan Workers’
Party, or PKK, and then walk out of prosecution right away.

On Sept. 11, this column said "Freedom and a red-carpet welcome to PKK
men and courtroom torment for men with badges of honor for fighting the
PKK men … will be a product too difficult to sell in these lands."

This was exactly the picture of events that took place last week. We
have buried our dead, and the wounded are wounded. But the families
of the dead are angry. And so are the wounded, and millions of Turks
who have neither buried their relatives or friends, nor have been
wounded in war.

The feeling of defeat and betrayal is spreading like a disease among
Turks, often provoking insane ideas in a nation that has not always
been the most predictable of all nations, including bizarre calls
for resorting to violence. Angry Turks turning violent in what would
be the Turkish equivalent of the PKK is too remote a possibility,
but a single shot by an insane man, targeting God knows what "insane
target" may not only kill the whole Kurdish initiative, but make the
Kurds extra resentful, prompting even more violence than there has
been in the last quarter of a century.

All the same, Erdogan is doing the right thing. The Kurdish problem
will not disappear by itself. Nor can it be resolved in such a way
that every Turk and Kurd will be smiling. Inevitably, there will be
bitterness. And success will be the art of creating minimal bitterness
allowing for the minimal risk of an angry, mad Turk taking up his
gun for a cursed mission.

Remember, one single shot could turn Turkey into a bloodbath. The
punch line is, peace with Kurds cannot be won if there are a lot
of angry Turks. That won’t be a peace, but a recipe for even worse
turbulence than the occasional deaths of a few soldiers or PKK men.

We do not want to have a "Turkish problem" after all, do we?

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress