Opposition slams president’s stance
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hurriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 13, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - Turkey’s nationalist and social democratic parties have responded with criticism to President Abdullah Gül’s remarks that the current historic opportunity to resolve the Kurdish issue should not be missed. Meanwhile, the pro-Kurdish party has welcomed the statement.
Speaking to journalists last Friday on his way back from a European summit in Prague, Gül said the Kurdish problem remained among Turkey’s top priority issues and needs an urgent solution. He said the historical opportunity shouldn’t be missed and that the only way to resolve the Kurdish issue was through democratization.
Responding to questions from the press about Gül’s statement, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan yesterday said the president demonstrated a good will on the issue and everybody including the opposition parties had to do the same.
"The president was talking about the historical opportunity for the Kurdish issue. What is this historical opportunity? Did the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, take a decision not to see the terror activities as a way to defend their aims," Deniz Baykal, leader of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, said in his address to his party’s group meeting. "But there is no such sign indicating this change. They are talking about putting down weapons temporarily, not permanently."
"With weapons in their hands, their threat of terror continues," Baykal added. He said there are two choices for Turkey: one of them is ethnic discrimination, the other is to find solutions that will bring about an integration that will allow everyone to enjoy living with their identities freely while maintaining the territorial integrity of the country. "Turkey should make its choice. But some tend to propose discriminative ways as the solution for the Kurdish issue. As we said earlier the identity of people is their dignity. The state has no right to discriminate by identity, ethnic origin or language," Baykal said.
Gül and Erdoğan share jobs
Another reaction to Gül’s remarks came from Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP. Bahçeli said Gül and Erdoğan made a job sharing on the Kurdish issue. "It leads to assumptions about job sharing between the two as evidenced by Erdoğan’s struggles to make the Turkish nation psychologically ready [for solutions to the Kurdish issue] behind the scenes while Gül makes visible efforts to give coded messages to Turkish society on the issue," Bahçeli said in his party’s parliamentary group meeting yesterday.
"What is the historical opportunity," he asked, noting that the MHP would not assume a role in a process that will put the national identity in danger. Leader of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, Ahmet Türk, said his party was ready to carry out everything for a solution to the Kurdish problem. He said there were some positive developments recently, with the PKK’s demonstration of belief that the problems could be solved via democratic politics as an important step that should kick off a dialogue process.
"It is the duty of the government to utilize this opportunity," Türk said.
Türk also proposed the Kosovo model for solution of the Kurdish problem. "In Kosovo, Turks speak in Turkish in the parliament and in the region where they live," he said.
Responding to questions from the press about Gül’s statement, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan yesterday said the president demonstrated a good will on the issue and everybody including the opposition parties had to do the same.
"The president was talking about the historical opportunity for the Kurdish issue. What is this historical opportunity? Did the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, take a decision not to see the terror activities as a way to defend their aims," Deniz Baykal, leader of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, said in his address to his party’s group meeting. "But there is no such sign indicating this change. They are talking about putting down weapons temporarily, not permanently."
"With weapons in their hands, their threat of terror continues," Baykal added. He said there are two choices for Turkey: one of them is ethnic discrimination, the other is to find solutions that will bring about an integration that will allow everyone to enjoy living with their identities freely while maintaining the territorial integrity of the country. "Turkey should make its choice. But some tend to propose discriminative ways as the solution for the Kurdish issue. As we said earlier the identity of people is their dignity. The state has no right to discriminate by identity, ethnic origin or language," Baykal said.
Gül and Erdoğan share jobs
Another reaction to Gül’s remarks came from Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP. Bahçeli said Gül and Erdoğan made a job sharing on the Kurdish issue. "It leads to assumptions about job sharing between the two as evidenced by Erdoğan’s struggles to make the Turkish nation psychologically ready [for solutions to the Kurdish issue] behind the scenes while Gül makes visible efforts to give coded messages to Turkish society on the issue," Bahçeli said in his party’s parliamentary group meeting yesterday.
"What is the historical opportunity," he asked, noting that the MHP would not assume a role in a process that will put the national identity in danger. Leader of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, Ahmet Türk, said his party was ready to carry out everything for a solution to the Kurdish problem. He said there were some positive developments recently, with the PKK’s demonstration of belief that the problems could be solved via democratic politics as an important step that should kick off a dialogue process.
"It is the duty of the government to utilize this opportunity," Türk said.
Türk also proposed the Kosovo model for solution of the Kurdish problem. "In Kosovo, Turks speak in Turkish in the parliament and in the region where they live," he said.