40 days have passed since the first ’opportunity,’ but...

Everybody, from the president to the prime minister, from the chief of General Staff to opposition leaders was talking about this opportunity. Even PKK leader Karayılan in Kandil took advantage of this opportunity.

But up to now there has not been a concrete step taken. Or a step was taken but we didn’t understand because it was hidden very well. But it is understood that everybody waits for each other. In the meantime, Abdullah Öcalan will outline the basics for his road map to be announced in August. Everything looks fine but this waiting period should not be too long. As time passes it takes away opportunities.

The second problem in this process is with whom and how will this interchange of opinion take place. Since Turkey cannot meet with the PKK. To be more precise it must talk to someone. At least part of our Kurdish origin citizens are represented by the DTP. But the government does not speak to the DTP.

The prime minister says that the DTP is obviously an extension of the PKK and as long as it does not decline the PKK he won’t accept it as an addressee. Ruşen Çakır recently correctly identified and wrote that there is no logic whatsoever in expecting the DTP to decline the organization and cutt off relations but it would cause a continuation of the insolvability of this issue. He drew attention to the necessity to accept the DTP as is and continue our dialogues with this awarness. This is the right approach. I agree with Ruşen and take a step further believing that the prime minister needs to meet with the DTP especially now. If he can prevent terror, prevent the death of one person, what objection might there be in meeting the DTP?

The prime minister says: "I was about to give the DTP an appointment when we encountered another murder attempt by the PKK." It is understood that he takes the public’s reaction. Whereas, wouldn’t it be better to crack down on the event?

If we wait for the PKK to stop laying land mines before we start this dialogue, we won’t get anywhere.

We need to behave realistically and include the DTP in this process. Only this way can we increase the effectiveness of the DTP. Or else the PKK will maintain its power and continue to view itself as the Kurdish representative.

In summary, the PKK won’t like it if the dialogue with the DTP starts but it will be more suitable for Turkey’s benefit in the long run.

Surely the bridge needs to be fixed but not like this

I’m one of those long-time sufferers because of the bridge. My house is on the Anatolian side of Istanbul and every morning and evening I use the second bridge. And now I try to calculate how I will make it through the 40 days ahead. Though I acknowledge those mending the bridge. Of course they are supposed to mend it. And we are aware of it when passing the bridge. If they did not fix it this year we wouldn’t be able to cross it anymore.

I am just curious about whether it should have been done this way. I don’t know the techniques of this job. But there are bridges all over the world in other countries and they are being mended as well and there is not as bad as a congestion as in our country. Why? I was curious and did some research.

In the United States for example, all mending is almost always done after midnight and in the morning open for traffic. In order not to prolong this type of mending there is a team of 4-5 working. And in general one lane is closed during the mending, all other lanes are open.

We like living a relaxed life. When trapped in traffic we start complaining. But this time tops them all. We never before faced such scenes. I did not understand why we experienced such a disaster this time. It must be because of congestion during the first few days that yesterday the situation was not as bad. Probably people were afraid to take their cars and passed the bridge by other means. I noticed that all of a sudden ferry boats on the Bosporus were discovered and interest in public transportation grew.

Nobody knows what the situation will be like tomorrow. But obviously this repair job will influence our lives until the end of July, which is how long it is supposed to last.

I wonder whether or not the highway authority could increase the size of the repair team and shorten this torture process a little.