Etiket solution

Niyazi Dalyanci It all started in May when President Abdullah Gul announced that Turkey has an historical opportunity to solve its age-old problem with its Kurdish citizens. “Good things will happen,” Gul added. Then later during a visit to Damascus, chatting with journalists accompanying him, Gul brought a little more clarification to his statement by saying, “there is a consensus between all the sectors of the society, military and civilian, they are all in cooperation and coordination that has never been achieved before. No one now is trying to undermine what the others are doing.” The euphoria created by Gul’s statements was pushed backstage because of the stormy public debate that a document allegedly written by a colonel at the headquarters of the Turkish General Staff embodied plans to overthrow the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and undermine the Fethullah Gulen movement, an Islamic formation that does not have a legal structure but said to play an increasing political and social role in Turkey. The Kurdish issue came back after the explosive “document” disappeared from the political agenda with no conclusive result. Most recently, Prime Minister Erdogan as he was leaving for an official trip to Damascus and Baghdad announced that there is work underway to solve the Kurdish problem. “A week ago we have initiated work to solve the Kurdish problem with my colleagues at the National Security Council. Then we have assigned the Interior Ministry to contact all the related ministries and departments, like Headquarters of the Chief of Staff, National Intelligence Organization (MIT), etc. They will also contact the parliament members elected from the area. Then they will bring us the results and we will decide on the final steps to be taken,” said Erdogan. “As politicians we are not in […]