Need to take bold steps

Those two reports were stressing that "officials" told them that the three-phased plan was meant to be implemented with the autonomous Kurdish administration in northern Iraq. Furthermore, these reports were claiming that over the last three months, Turkey has been discussing anti-PKK efforts with both the government in Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government and that the plan was drafted by Ankara's special envoy Murat Özçelik as a product of the dialogue with neighboring Iraq.

While diplomatic correspondents were trying to dig out from the Foreign Ministry some further details about the alleged Turkish-Iraqi plan to terminate the PKK presence in northern Iraq, CNNTürk’s Osman Sert travelled to Baghdad and last week ran an interview with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani - also a Kurdish factional leader. It was an excellent interview for which Sert must be appreciated.

In that interview, Talabani was providing some details of the plan and thus we realize that this was not a plan devised by Özçelik, but rather one suggested by the Iraqi president to Turkey at contacts with Özçelik.

Accordingly the first phase would be to restrict mobility of the PKK in northern Iraq; isolate it on the mountains; cut its food and other supplies; and stop Iraq territories be used in attacks by the gang on neighboring countries...

Accordingly, the local northern Iraqi administration led by Massoud Barzanşi would declare PKK as an "outlawed" organization - we were told that Talabani opposes the PKK being declared as a terrorist organization because if PKK is declared a terrorist gang, contacts with it would not be possible.

The next step would be to declare that the PKK has become a threat to the Kurdish population and the gang would be asked to declare a ceasefire and lay arms.

What’s next?
According to what Talabani told the CNN-Türk, the Iraqi president was of the opinion that the era of "armed struggle" must come to an end and instead dialogue and diplomacy must be given a chance.

Those members of the PKK who give up arms would be convinced to return Turkey. But, Talabani stressed that no one should expect them accept to return Turkey to spend years in Turkish prisons. Turkey must make arrangements allowing the terrorists who lay arms return to their homes without even being questioned. Then, we learn that this issue was indeed discussed when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Baghdad recently and will be on the agenda of President Abdullah Gül - who postponed a trip this month because of a problem in his ears that forced his doctors to temporarily prohibit him air travel - when he travels to Iraq around Jan. 20.

Since the 1984 start of PKK’s violent separatist campaign the issue of amnesty has been coming on the agenda of the country from time to time but due to the immense social trauma the nation has been suffering because of the separatist terrorism-related violence no political administration dared to take such a step and instead resources of the country were wasted with "repentance" or "return home" laws - which were all semi amnesties - that produced no concrete result. If Turkey declares now a new "repentance" or "return home law" it will not serve the purpose of bringing down the terrorists from the mountains of Turkey or northern Iraq.

A full-fledged amnesty, on the other hand, cannot be undertaken as long as violence continues and the Turkish society through methods of public diplomacy was convinced that an amnesty is in the best national interest. However, it must be seen by everyone as well that at one point Turkey must declare an amnesty and indulge into a comprehensive program - which should go further than a Kurdish TV channel - to eliminate the root causes of the complaşints of the Kurdish population on the one hand and eradicate the scars of the social trauma this nation has been suffering from since 1984 on the other. PKK stopping its attacks would help. Government taking some real reform steps would help. And perhaps gradually, but with some bold moves we can overcome the problem and leave behind this sad period.