It all started when an elite unite of commandos was landed in northern Iraq in an area controlled by Barzani, leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP). Mr. Sakik defected from PKK and sought refuge with Mr. Barzani. Turkish government made an appeal to retain Mr. Sakik, only to be politely rejected, and so they took the matters into their own hands. The operation was a top secret one of which even the prime minister was said to have no knowledge. The operation was successful, and the Turkish Armed Forces prestige was polished once again through the media. At one point, major newspapers passed
such reports that even the Europeans found this incident to be a major victory against the PKK. The only headlines by the European media was, however, that the "Turkish government 'claims' victory" over PKK. The operation was successful but
victory over PKK and victory in resolving the Kurdish problem is still far away.

Mr. Sakik has been giving such information that reflected through the media that seems to have shaken the Turkish public. In fact, Mr. Sakik did not tell anything that the Turkish intelligence and government had not already known. Since it came from the mouth of Mr. Sakik it must have had a greater significance.

It is true that the the position of the armed forces is much better. In the last years they have managed to skim down the size and the effects of PKK attacks and raids to a much smaller margin as opposed to late eighties and early nineties. Some say that this has happened at the expense of human rights. There is   no question that there has been civilian casualties and other incidents in which human rights were trampled under foot. In a guerrilla warfare there is never a clear winner. However both sides will lose if the Turkish government does not start major reforms in legislation and in practice. As the army generals pointed out some time ago, the armed forces has done all that could be done  and will keep doing so, but it is now up to the politicians to go into the root of the problem.

What concerns me with the capture of MR. Sakik is that attention will be shifted from the dynamics of the Kurdish problem. The problem is one of the issue of human rights. In the modern sense Kurds should be won by the Turkish government and the public by granting them what they own: Language, culture, education and so on. Nobody wants to take interest in these matters.  especially the successive Turkish governments are afraid to take action in the fear that they will lose votes since compromising from the national pride is not very popular.While carrying out operations against the PKK, an anti-Kurdish sentiment begins to spread. Turkish public is not made aware and conscious enough to understand the importance and the necessity of these dynamics. With the capture of Mr. Sakik all this seems to be forgotten. What has become most important is the military upperhand and the operational success against the PKK. Nobody asks the right questions. Nobody is made aware about the rights of the Kurdish citizens. The general education level of the ordinary Turk is well below the standards of any society that Turkish society would like to resemble. The ideas of democracy, religion, individual freedom, freedom of speech and press are not understood. Out of all that the right questions are not asked as they go unanswered and military operations against the PKK guerillas continue along with the continuously written heroic myths about the armed forces. Those army troops should not be
there in the first place, those army troops should not die. Those billions of dollars annually should be invested in the development of the Turkish children, women and men altogether. In pursuit of votes politicians fail to bring any reforms and therefore they fail to come up with policies to fight the problem.

Successive Turkish governments always promise to bring reforms to solve human rights problems of Turkey. Mr. Yilmaz, the current prime minister is occupied heavily with other problems. He doesn't seem to have the clout within his party's ranks to bring radical reforms and policies. The last time he was prime minister he said that it would be impossible for the Turkish government  to support Kurdish education and language. It is difficult to believe that Mr. Yilmaz really believes in this notion but otherwise could not be explained to the conservative ranks of his party as well as to his electorate. This is a result of the Turkish public's understanding of democracy and human rights. I hope that sometime soon the public will come to the understanding that   democracy and human rights are not what they would like them to be but an order that is difficult to achieve but yet no alternative exists. I hope that the globalization and the internationalization of social affairs as well as the economic and financial ones work to promote the ideas of democracy and human rights instead of boost the Islamic fundamentalism and ethnic nationalism. I hope that we see less news about military operations (just like the capture of Mr. Sakik) but to see more news about social and political success of Turkey in its every region . Otherwise Turkish attempts to become a member of the European Union and to become a regional power with decent living standards in both economic and political terms will remain as elusive dreams.

BURAK RENDE

29 Nisan 1998

Önceki Yazilar

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