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Eradicating oddities
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Can we describe it as a "Kurdish reform" or better brand it as a campaign of getting rid of decades-old oddities? According to some "urban legends" floating around in the Turkish capital, even though prominent ethnic Kurdish intellectuals are still demanding the state to undertake some "closed-door" discussions with a group of "wise men" appreciated by the Kurdish population of the country, both President Gül and Prime Minister Erdoğan have the "political will" to start a process with some modest but meaningful steps.
The first and perhaps the most important step the government will undertake in the very near future will be the establishment of a new and powerful Public Order and Security Undersecretariat that Interior Minister Beşir Atalay said would be affiliated with the Interior Ministry; would function separately from the military and civilian intelligence and the police force and would not have operational power but rather serve as an "enforced think tank".
As described by Atalay, the Public Order and Security Undersecretariat perhaps falls short of the government’s original plans to separate the gendarmerie from the military command structure and attach it to this new undersecretariat. Perhaps the military’s irritation to give such vast power to a civilian undersecretary or bring a civilian as the commander of a four-star gendarmerie commander played a role in stripping the new undersecretariat from operational powers and making it a purely "coordination body" that would only "suggest alternative ideas" to battle security challenges. Yet, with its creation for the first time ever, Turkey will have an intelligence coordination body and perhaps capture an opportunity to bring an end to the "influence war" between various civilian and military intelligence networks.
Naturally, one would expect that with such an undersecretariat perhaps ideas for a more effective civilian approach to the eradication of national security threats will become possible. There is also a threat of while trying to build a more secure Turkey we may end up having a new police state, far better functioning than the one we already have and want to get rid of. That is the other and dreadful side of the coin.
Still, if the creation of this new undersecretariat is a step toward increasing the civilian role in the fight against security threats, particularly the separatist Kurdish problem, how can one oppose such a move?
What’s in a name?
According to the urban legend, apart from this not so modest step, Erdoğan and Gül are preparing to take some really modest but very meaningful moves as well. One of those steps might be to make a change in the law on the Turkish alphabet and allow usage of "q, w and x," that are not in the current alphabet, in the names of Turkish citizens. Though it sounds odd for someone who does not have an insight to the problem, because of the restriction on those characters that exist in Kurdish but not in Turkish, many people have served long prison terms in the past. Most recently, the DTP was subjected to an investigation because on a local election campaign placard the party wrote the name of Van city in eastern Turkey with a "W."
Another modest move, reportedly, will be to rename the "Turkified" names of some settlements back to their "non-Turkish" original.
Though to what extent the government could undertake it is still a mystery, another claim is that very much like the Turkish language courses provided in some European, particularly German, schools in districts with sizeable Turkish population, Kurdish might be made "optional lessons" at some schools.
Through further enhancing the laws on foundations and associations, wider rights of organizations might be considered. The restrictions on placing announcements or carrying placards in any other language but Turkish might be eased to include local dialects. That would mean allowing Kurdish or other local languages to be used on placards.
The most important development, on the other hand, might be the lifting of the "Turkish subtitle" obligation for private Kurdish TVs through an amendment in the laws covering radio and television broadcasts.
Is this "urban legend" indeed a reality? We shall see that in the weeks and months ahead. What’s for sure, however, if there is really political will to this end, the government will have to be prepared to engage itself in a very difficult battle to achieve these modest but meaningful moves to eradicate these ages-old oddities.
As described by Atalay, the Public Order and Security Undersecretariat perhaps falls short of the government’s original plans to separate the gendarmerie from the military command structure and attach it to this new undersecretariat. Perhaps the military’s irritation to give such vast power to a civilian undersecretary or bring a civilian as the commander of a four-star gendarmerie commander played a role in stripping the new undersecretariat from operational powers and making it a purely "coordination body" that would only "suggest alternative ideas" to battle security challenges. Yet, with its creation for the first time ever, Turkey will have an intelligence coordination body and perhaps capture an opportunity to bring an end to the "influence war" between various civilian and military intelligence networks.
Naturally, one would expect that with such an undersecretariat perhaps ideas for a more effective civilian approach to the eradication of national security threats will become possible. There is also a threat of while trying to build a more secure Turkey we may end up having a new police state, far better functioning than the one we already have and want to get rid of. That is the other and dreadful side of the coin.
Still, if the creation of this new undersecretariat is a step toward increasing the civilian role in the fight against security threats, particularly the separatist Kurdish problem, how can one oppose such a move?
What’s in a name?
According to the urban legend, apart from this not so modest step, Erdoğan and Gül are preparing to take some really modest but very meaningful moves as well. One of those steps might be to make a change in the law on the Turkish alphabet and allow usage of "q, w and x," that are not in the current alphabet, in the names of Turkish citizens. Though it sounds odd for someone who does not have an insight to the problem, because of the restriction on those characters that exist in Kurdish but not in Turkish, many people have served long prison terms in the past. Most recently, the DTP was subjected to an investigation because on a local election campaign placard the party wrote the name of Van city in eastern Turkey with a "W."
Another modest move, reportedly, will be to rename the "Turkified" names of some settlements back to their "non-Turkish" original.
Though to what extent the government could undertake it is still a mystery, another claim is that very much like the Turkish language courses provided in some European, particularly German, schools in districts with sizeable Turkish population, Kurdish might be made "optional lessons" at some schools.
Through further enhancing the laws on foundations and associations, wider rights of organizations might be considered. The restrictions on placing announcements or carrying placards in any other language but Turkish might be eased to include local dialects. That would mean allowing Kurdish or other local languages to be used on placards.
The most important development, on the other hand, might be the lifting of the "Turkish subtitle" obligation for private Kurdish TVs through an amendment in the laws covering radio and television broadcasts.
Is this "urban legend" indeed a reality? We shall see that in the weeks and months ahead. What’s for sure, however, if there is really political will to this end, the government will have to be prepared to engage itself in a very difficult battle to achieve these modest but meaningful moves to eradicate these ages-old oddities.
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