Gul injects hope as CHP offers new package on Kurdish issue

President Abdullah Gül has signaled that Turkey has never been closer to a solution to the Kurdish issue and stressed that a solution should not be left only in the hands of the government, urging contributions from opposition parties.

Although the president shared a glimpse of hope with reporters en route to Syria over the weekend, he refrained from elaborating.

"I am very hopeful [about a solution]," he said. "I have been within the state system for 10 years. Unlike the past, there is full harmonization between civilian, military and all state institutions."

His remarks were interpreted as an olive branch extended to the opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, whose leader, Deniz Baykal, previously criticized the president and the government for disclosing the latest developments on the Kurdish problem.

The president gave the first hint of a resolution to the Kurdish problem while traveling to Iran in March. "Good things will happen on the Kurdish issue," he said, but he declined to provide details. His announcement drew fierce reactions from the opposition parties, including the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, which argued the problem closely concerned Turkey and questioned if there were links to outside interference in the matter.

In his latest remarks, the president said political parties should contribute to a solution. "Dialogue is a must," he said. "A solution to major problems should not be left only to the government because maybe tomorrow the opposition will become the ruling party. This is also its problem."

CHP proposes four-article solution package  
Gül’s calls were reciprocated by the opposition party leader without delay. In a televised interview, Baykal repeated complaints that he was still uninformed about the plans to resolve the problem but announced his party’s four-article solution package.  

"Serious efforts have been exerted on this issue. President Gül has expectations. He wanted to create a positive impression about the Kurdish problem. It is said there is a historic opportunity, but it has not been revealed," said the CHP leader. "If there are plans to bring amnesty onto the agenda, amnesty is not a method in the fight against terrorism. Amnesty can be put on the agenda only if terrorism drops off."

Baykal, who instead offered the CHP’s proposal, said one part of the solution lies in changing the mentality of public institutions, including the judiciary and police. The second article in the CHP-led package involves the creation of equal opportunity in the region in all spheres including education, health and development.

"If we speak about education, there is a need to establish a guarantee system where all the doors of the state will be opened to educated children," he said.  

The third component concerns freedoms, said Baykal, who criticized state interference in Kurdish broadcasts. "Special broadcasts can be made in the region within the regulations of RTÜK [Supreme Board of Radio and Television]. Affirmative action could be taken; tax facilities could be provided; opportunities could be created to help everyone use his own ethnic identity. All of these should be done in an understanding of freedom. A citizen must have the freedom to live his own ethnic identity," Baykal said, adding that the fourth element included economic expansion toward the region.

Deadline is May 26  
In Samsun, a province in the Black Sea region, Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan told reporters that efforts were still under way to find a way to deal with the five deputies from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, who refused to submit their testimonies citing their parliamentary immunity. A court opened a case against the five deputies for their alleged links with terrorism.  

For Toptan, the deadline is May 26, when DTP leader Ahmet Türk must give the first testimony. The parliament speaker said European Court of Human Rights resolutions were being reviewed, adding that otherwise a constitutional amendment would be needed.

Articles 14 and 83 of the Constitution about testimonies regarding the crimes committed before being a deputy could be amended, said Toptan. "If this change is enacted and the exception of Article 14 is removed, the problem will automatically be resolved, but this is a path where political parties will decide by reaching a compromise," he said.

Unions raise their voice
The leaders of some of Turkey’s main professional organizations and trade unions requested to meet with politicians for an urgent solution to the Kurdish issue.

Leaders of the Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions, or DİSK, the Confederation of Public Employees’ Trade Unions, or KESK, the Turkish Chamber of Physicians, or TTB, and the Turkish Union of Engineers’ and Architects’ Chambers, or TMMOB, asked for an appointment with Gül, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the CHP, and the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP.
 
"We are not going to present finished projects for the solution but we are going to articulate our requests for a solution with the internal dynamics of this country and an atmosphere for dialogue," said Professor Gençay Gürsoy, the head of TTB. "We need an atmosphere in Turkey to discuss this issue without any embargo," he said.