Vatan, Turkey
Jan 1 2010
The Overtures Have Been Passed on 2010
by Rusen Cakir
There is no doubt that "overture" is the concept that has marked 2009.
First the "Armenian overture" which meant the normalization of the
ties with Armenia was launched. Later, with the first Alevi workshop
that convened on 3 June, the "Alevi overture" was officially launched.
With the "Kurdish workshop" that was held at the Police Academy on 1
August it was revealed that the government is determined to roll up
its sleeves regarding the solution of the Kurdish problem. [As of that
date] every time the word "overture" was uttered, one first thought
about the "Kurdish overture." However after a short time Prime
Minister Erdogan
began to say "the democratic overture," rather than "Kurdish overture"
and finally he changed the name of the process to the "National Unity
Project." And last of all, with the "Gypsy workshop" that convened on
10 December, we also had a "gypsy overture."
The Common Denominators of the Overtures
– Rather than giving priority to preparing a "package," the government
gives – wants to give – priority to initiating an ongoing discussion
process in the overtures.
– All the overtures, with the exception of the Armenian overture, were
launched via "workshops." The Alevi and the gypsy workshops were quite
successful in the representation of different groups and tendencies,
but it was seen that the sectors that oppose the Kurdish overture were
not or could not be included in the discussion process launched for
the Kurdish overture.
– As the discussion process developed, the expectations for a package
or concrete steps further grew. Especially sectors that opposed the
overture for one reason or another began talking about their
opposition by saying: "We do not know what the government is trying to
do yet."
– A different minister is in charge of the coordination of each
overture. Foreign Minister comes forth in the Armenian overture;
Interior Minister Besir Atalay is in charge of the Kurdish overture;
and State Minister Faruk Celik is in charge of the Alevi and the gypsy
overtures. Nonetheless Prime Minister Erdogan says the "last word"
regarding all these issues. On the other hand, President Gul is seen
as the "main sponsor" of the Armenian and the Kurdish overtures. In
fact it is also possible to say that he has launched the Armenian
overture by going to the soccer game in Yerevan and the Kurdish
overture by saying on board the plane to Iran that "a historic
opportunity has been seized."
– Given that the Armenian and the Kurdish overtures have serious
international dimensions, it also closely concerns other countries.
Despite the fact that intensive interest facilitates these two
overtures from time to time, it mainly complicates them.
– The common denominator of all the overtures is that despite the fact
much has been said about them for a year, serious steps have not been
taken and all the overtures have been passed on to 2010.
Why Have the Overtures Failed?
As we approach the end of 2009 we see that the Kurdish overture has
clearly reached a deadlock, while the implementation of the Armenian
overture is being kept waiting. Problems are not seen in the gypsy
overture, but there are ambiguities and doubts about the nature of the
steps that will and can be taken and the manner that they will be
taken in the Alevi overture that has reached certain ripeness with the
workshops that are being held one after the other. There is no doubt
that the first answer to the [question of why] a substantial
achievement has not been seen in the overtures is that we are talking
about problems that have remained unresolved for years. The roots of
some of these problems go back to the era of the Ottoman Empire. Today
efforts are being made to radically resolve these huge problems that
have been frozen, partially resolved, or swept under the carpet with
temporary methods thus far.
The overtures have been not been very successful at least for the time
being due to the following resistance points in the country and due to
the following mistakes and deficiencies in the government’s one-year
performance:
– The government has tried to simultaneously make overtures in many
fields and it has not been to coordinate or to establish balance
between them.
– Evidently it has not made serious preparations regarding the Kurdish
problem in particular and even if it has made certain preparations,
they have not been well directed.
– The CHP [Republican People’s Party] and the MHP [Nationalist Action
Party] and the sectors represented by these parties have looked at the
Armenian and the Kurdish overture with deep suspicion and they have
strongly opposed them. The government has not taken steps that were
able to break their resistance or that could include them in the
process.
– The fact that the government has not been able to include in the
Alevi overture the CHP which is very popular among the Alevi voters or
the MHP which had announced that it is ready to extend all kinds of
support is quite noteworthy.
– The ruling party has not been able to explain the overtures to its
grass roots, either. It is possible to say that the Sunni conservative
grass roots will extend support to the Alevi overture, albeit
hesitantly. However there is no doubt the criticism regarding the
Armenian overture had certain repercussions among the AKP grassroots
as well. Nonetheless the greatest problem is seen in the Kurdish
overture. AKP supporters who are not Kurdish have concerns about the
overture, while the party members in the southeast are uncomfortable
with the fact that progress has not been made in the overture.
– Incidents such as the fact that Alevi flags were not allowed in the
stadium prior to the game in Bursa; the fact that Okkes Sendiller, the
suspect of the Kahramanmaras massacre was invited to the last Alevi
overture; the images in Habur; and the latest operation on the KCK
[Assembly of Communities of Kurdistan] have been seen as "road
accidents" in the overtures. It is seen that each and every one of
these developments which would not have been important under normal
circumstances has caused serious difficulties for the government and
has urged it to retreat.
– The government has made serious mistakes in forming a public
opinion. A serious part of the media extended considerable support to
almost all the overtures and contributed to marginalizing the
opposition, but this support gradually dropped due to the mistakes
that were made and due to the opposition’s propaganda. The overture
process once again showed us how inadequate the media institutions and
the journalists that extend considerable support to the AKP government
were in forming a public opinion.
– The fact that a certain part of the public does not trust the AKP
government constitutes one of the most important factors in the
tripping of the overtures. Certain individuals, institutions, and
circles that under normal circumstances had been expected to support
and even lead these overtures look at them with doubt just because
they have been initiated by the AKP. They seek a "plot" or "deception
[for religious purposes]" behind them. It is impossible to say that
the ruling party has made any efforts for winning these sectors that
look at it with suspicion.
The Future of the Overtures
There is no doubt that we will once again talk about the "overtures"
as of the first days of 2010. Nonetheless 2010 should be the year of
"less words and more work." However we do not see any signs that show
us that in 2010 the government will be able to take more comfortably
the steps that it has not been able to take in 2009 regarding the
overtures. For example, it appears that the Armenian overture will not
be able to easily rescue itself from the pressure of the nonsolution
of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. As for the Alevi overture, there are
uncertainties about how a threshold that is more critical than it
appears to be such as whether the community houses will be accepted as
worship houses will be crossed. The CHP and the MHP strongly oppose
the overture for the time being. As for the members of the former DTP
[Democratic Society Party] and the new BDP [Peace and Democracy
Party], they are considerably depressed due to the legal operations
(the banning of the DTP, the arrests of the KCK members, the
expression crisis) that the government approves or at least keeps
silent about and they are gradually intensifying their opposition to
the AKP.
It appears that only the "gypsy overture" remains.