13 March 2008 | AYŞE KARABAT | ANKARA
The Democratic Society Party (DTP) has, in meetings with President Abdullah Gül and Speaker of Parliament Köksal Toptan, requested that the state take the initiative to find a solution to the Kurdish problem, underlining that a new constitution, currently being drafted, is an opportunity for this.
DTP’s Ahmet Türk (R) was received by Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan.
The DTP also said it no longer regards itself as the sole representative of the Kurds and that the state should work with all relevant political parties as well as civil society. The meetings between the DTP and the government were, on the other hand, criticized by the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which claims the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the DTP are directly linked.
In light of this harsh criticism, DTP requests to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan fell on deaf ears, possibly due to Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) having formed a coalition with the MHP on constitutional amendments that aim to lift a long-standing ban on the headscarf at universities.
In an obvious break with the post-election isolation of the DTP, Ahmet Türk, Emine Ayna, Selahattin Demirtat and Fatma Kurtalan, all DTP deputies in Parliament, met with President Gül on Tuesday night for about an hour. Türk said they spoke about their expectations and the need for democratic process as well as dialogue in order to reach a stable solution to the Kurdish problem. He added that the DTP deputies wanted civilian and democratic solutions to be focused on, but did not give further details.
According to sources well informed about the meeting, the DTP requested that Gül take the initiative for a democratic and civilian solution. The DTP delegation added that the new constitution could also be a new opportunity and that they are not insisting on including Kurds as the “founding element” in the new constitution as long as Turkishness as an ethnicity is not stressed. The DTP’s appeal to the two neutral leaders of the Turkish state, the president and the speaker of Parliament, reveals their mistrust with the political wing of the state, observers claimed.
During the meeting, the DTP also mentioned that the negative attitude towards them and their party had resulted in their messages falling on deaf ears.
“Our proposals for a solution are not well received. We are very sincere about a non-violent solution, but the efforts to make us the other and excluding us make our messages not heard. Bloodshed should be stopped immediately,” was one of the main messages the DTP tried to convey during the meeting. The DTP also underlined that they are not the party that can bring about a solution. It also said that some segments and powers in society think and present the Kurdish question as a very complex and difficult one to solve, but that it does not agree with this understanding as long as there is good will and a desire to solve the problem.
The DTP also raised concerns about its image with Speaker of Parliament Toptan, underlining that a court case has been opened to close the DTP as well as petitions that seek to remove the immunities of some DTP deputies.
The ideas raised by the DTP during the meeting with Gül have been considered a “softening” of the DTP position. In the past, the DTP wanted the Kurds to be included in the new constitution as one of the “founding elements” of the republic. Observers of the DTP underline that there are some deputies still defending these ideas, but that moderates have taken the initiative to meet with Gül and Toptan. This is why they do not want to share the suggestions they made to Gül with the general public.
After listening to the DTP members, Gül said the country needs a process of normalization and that the DTP has a responsibility in this process. “I gave them some advice. The problem -- according to some, the Kurdish problem; according to some, the terror problem; and according to others, the southeastern problem -- is a problem that belongs to Turkey. Parties in Parliament represent not only their constituencies, but the whole country at the same time. It should not be perceived that this problem has only one party to it,” Gül said before his departure for Senegal yesterday.
He added that everyone seeking a solution to this problem should be productive instead of adding to the problem. “I am the president of everyone,” he said, apparently replying to MHP criticism of the meetings.
MHP parliamentary group deputy chairman Oktay Vural said that “the architect of these meetings with the political offspring of the PKK is Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.” Vural underlined that these meetings were held following a Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) cross-border operation into northern Iraq and that this situation shows the meetings are the first steps toward a political solution.
“These are not a coincidence but a part of the game targeting Turkey. The main actor of this game is the prime minister. What kind of bargaining are you engaging in, what are you talking about? They should explain,” Vural said in remarks directed at the prime minister.
But the meetings were supported by AK Party Diyarbakır deputy Kutbeddin Arzu. A Kurd himself, Arzu said that it is very normal for the president to meet with a political party.
“In the past the DTP had chosen a wrong mission for itself. It thought that it was the only representative of the Kurdish population. But now, it has reached a new point. All the parties represent everyone. If we look at the problem from this point of view, we can solve the problem more easily,” he said.
AK Party Batman deputy Mehmet Ali Suçin expressed a similar view. “There are 40 million Kurds in the Middle East, and they do not have only one representative or opinion maker. Those claiming this understand that they were wrong. It could be good if the DTP puts some distance between itself and terror. But nobody has the right to say that the DTP does not represent Kurds. They have supporters, too. Everyone should participate in efforts to find a solution,” Suçin said.
DTP Şırnak deputy Hasip Kaplan has been ordered to pay a fine of YTL 100 after being accused of committing a misdemeanor that prohibits speaking in Kurdish. According to the claim, Kaplan addressed the public in Kurdish before the general elections on June 12 of last year while standing on a balcony of the DTP building. He was fined on March 3.
“There was nothing, no order, demand for defense, invitation, nothing. I am a lawyer of 30 years and I have not seen anything like this. These kinds of punishments, court cases against us, the attitude of the Ministry of Justice, are not acceptable. If speaking in Kurdish is a crime, we will continue to commit this crime,” he said.