The opportunity lost 10 years ago

This news was extremely hard to believe. Can you imagine, in the proceeding 10 years 30,000 Kurdish and Turkish people died and thousands were wounded or crippled?

The PKK had forced its way especially into rural areas of the Southeast enabling it to take control over it during the night and almost issued a visa for anybody coming to the area. Events and bloody incursions took place everyday.

Turkey was shattered into pieces.

The worst part was that the PKK was not perceived as a terror organization by some parts of society. It was perceived as a stand by the Kurdish community whose basic rights were taken away and externally it was treated as an "Armed Civil Community Organization" that struggles for human rights.

Politicians leading the country were cutting corners by labeling the PKK a complete terror organization, forgetting the Kurdish issue and delegating all events to the military.

The military does not comprehend politics. The military is trained for armed intervention. Thus the Turkish Armed Forces, or TSK, declared war against the PKK at the cost of its blood and life. Politicians began to watch this fight from a tribune.

This horrible scene went on until 1999.

Until that famous announcement was made by Ecevit.

Öcalan was a gift presented to Turkey by former U.S. President Clinton.

Washington in return had three wishes from Ankara:

No killing on the street.A fair trial. Steps to be taken for the solution of the Kurdish issue.

Turkey abided by two of the three expectations. But it did not do anything to dry out the swamp (Kurdish issue) on which the PKK feeds.

Öcalan’s trial was fair. And the capital punishment was conforming to existing laws at that time.

The coalition administration took an extremely brave step according to current conditions at that time and found a suitable opportunity for not executing Öcalan by hanging. It postponed his punishment.

Hanging Öcalan would have meant a blood bath in the Southeast worse than before and provoke at least some part of citizens of Kurdish origin.

Most interestingly, this decision was taken with the vote of the majority of society and the National Movement Party, or MHP, in coalition with the military, shutting its eyes.

The Turkish people neither went on the streets nor protested. It showed incredible common sense.

And Öcalan in return asked the PKK to cease fire, put down its arms and abandon Turkey.

And the organization really obeyed his orders, retreated into the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq and started to wait.

We also started to wait. Years passed.

No shots were to be heard, investment increased and people started to become rich.

What was expected was action by Turkish politicians to help Kurdish citizens to meet their needs. Conditions from a political point of view were good. The PKK retreated, Turkey won the war, terror subsided and the leader of the organization was jailed. An action could have been very easily taken.

Now such an opportunity was openly missed in this convenient environment that will not arise again anytime soon.

Despite new laws that passed in view of reforms for the European Union, not enough care was taken in respect to the Kurdish issue as a result of the 2001 economic crisis, internal political fights, the scattering of the coalition, the coming to power of the AKP administration in general elections in 2003 followed by an U.S. invasion of Iraq. This issue has simply been forgotten.

Isn’t it always like this with us?

We start something with enthusiasm. But this enthusiasm ends and we forget about our goals.

This was the case with the Kurdish issue. We thought that with Öcalan in jail and PKK’s retreat into Qandil we got rid of the Kurdish issue.

If we could only have reached the point we are at today back in 1999-2006, if we could only have taken those steps on the Kurdish issue back then, we would have been able to still keep the PKK in Qandil. For during that period PKK leaders were trying to save their own heads.

You’ll also remember that during that period a plan was suggested that originated from the United States. According to this plan Turkey would partly discharge PKK militants who did not commit murder, and even more importantly, allow PKK leaders to leave for various capital cities in Europe. This was a plan to dissolve the PKK.

Ankara could not make up its mind.

First coalition partners could not agree and later when the military objected the plan also failed.

The Turkish government which in the 1990s said, "If we take a step in the Kurdish issue before the terror ends they will say we were forced to submit, we should not make any concessions," brought about the revival of the PKK with its carefree attitude since the conviction of Öcalan.

When we reached 2006 the PKK had two choices. Either it was to dissolve in the mountains of Qandil or take up arms again and start terror again. They started to lose people while remaining in Qandil.

In 2006 first bullets were fired.

Since 2007 we have slowly returned to old times.

Today, if we draw a balance sheet of the distance we’ve moved forward since the 1980s in respect to steps taken in the Kurdish issue what kind of picture do we face? Does the danger of the much feared "split" or "internal war" still persist?

I will look for answers to these issues in my article tomorrow.