Post-election no time to think small
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 01, 2009 00:00
In the campaign leading up to Sunday’s elections, the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, embraced a national slogan. "Think big," or in Turkish, "büyük düşün," was the advice the party offered the nation. It is clear the nation took that advice to heart, if not in precisely the way the AKP intended.
It was a good slogan, and good advice. As the prime minister and his entourage now retreat to lick their wounds and ponder next steps, we will hope they continue to, "think big."
The diverging views of this newspaper and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are hardly a secret. We question his commitment to freedom of speech. We have and will continue to criticize his growing intolerance of even mild criticism, let alone that which raises the harsher issue of corruption allegations sweeping about the government.
But the Daily News has a consistent record of support for much of the work that Erdoğan and the AKP have done for Turkey. We have consistently endorsed his support of the European Union accession process. We have supported the outreach by President Gül and the AKP toward reconciliation with Armenia. No newspaper in Turkey Ğ save those that function as AKP party organs Ğ has been as consistent in support of Erdoğan’s policy toward the Caucasus in general and Russia in particular. Despite fits and starts, the initiatives of inclusion toward Turkey’s Alevi community have won our support and will continue to do so. The same is true of the AKP’s steps to bring Turks within the "Lausanne status" of minority into full equality under the law.
And on the long-festering matter of cultural rights and freedom of expression for Turkey’s Kurdish community, we have backed the prime minister at every step. When he became the first Turkish prime minister to use the phrase, "the Kurdish problem," we supported the symbolic importance of that. The steps to further liberalize use of the Kurdish language and its dialects have all been correct. When Erdoğan’s government announced its decision to enable the first televised broadcasting in Kurdish, the launch of "Şeş TV," we were explicit in our praise.
Understandably, we were cautious that some within the AKP saw these moves tactically, as a means to gain further inroads in Diyabakır and the southeast against the strength of the Democratic Society Party, or DTP. It is clear that many voters felt a similar caution. To the degree that such steps were tactical, they were a failure. But they continue to represent the right strategy for the country and the full flowering of democracy.
The post-electoral contemplation in which the AKP is now engaged should not yield to the temptation to, "think small." On the Kurdish issue as with others, we support the AKP’s effort to "think big."
The diverging views of this newspaper and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are hardly a secret. We question his commitment to freedom of speech. We have and will continue to criticize his growing intolerance of even mild criticism, let alone that which raises the harsher issue of corruption allegations sweeping about the government.
But the Daily News has a consistent record of support for much of the work that Erdoğan and the AKP have done for Turkey. We have consistently endorsed his support of the European Union accession process. We have supported the outreach by President Gül and the AKP toward reconciliation with Armenia. No newspaper in Turkey Ğ save those that function as AKP party organs Ğ has been as consistent in support of Erdoğan’s policy toward the Caucasus in general and Russia in particular. Despite fits and starts, the initiatives of inclusion toward Turkey’s Alevi community have won our support and will continue to do so. The same is true of the AKP’s steps to bring Turks within the "Lausanne status" of minority into full equality under the law.
And on the long-festering matter of cultural rights and freedom of expression for Turkey’s Kurdish community, we have backed the prime minister at every step. When he became the first Turkish prime minister to use the phrase, "the Kurdish problem," we supported the symbolic importance of that. The steps to further liberalize use of the Kurdish language and its dialects have all been correct. When Erdoğan’s government announced its decision to enable the first televised broadcasting in Kurdish, the launch of "Şeş TV," we were explicit in our praise.
Understandably, we were cautious that some within the AKP saw these moves tactically, as a means to gain further inroads in Diyabakır and the southeast against the strength of the Democratic Society Party, or DTP. It is clear that many voters felt a similar caution. To the degree that such steps were tactical, they were a failure. But they continue to represent the right strategy for the country and the full flowering of democracy.
The post-electoral contemplation in which the AKP is now engaged should not yield to the temptation to, "think small." On the Kurdish issue as with others, we support the AKP’s effort to "think big."