3 octobre 2007 | Ankara
In a speech Monday morning at the İstanbul Military Academy, Gen. Büyükanıt recalled statements from DTP members refusing to acknowledge publicly that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is a terrorist organization, saying: “These statements are grave, and precautions should be taken against them.” Hours later, the head of the DTP’s parliamentary group, Ahmet Türk, responded in a speech at a parliamentary reception, claiming that his party was being made a target.
“We are faced with a mentality that does not call the terrorist organization ‘terrorist,’ that defines members of the terrorist organization as ‘our brothers’ and that refers to the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK] as ‘separatists,’” asserted Büyükanıt. “A solution within the law absolutely has to be found,” the military chief stressed, calling for legal action to be taken against the DTP.
In his reaction later that evening, Türk asserted: “We are being turned into targets for thinking differently. We are the ones who make an effort to put an end to violence and clashes, but they are trying to make us seem like the ones responsible. We have turned into a party that is being made a target, as if we are the reason for all of this [separatist violence].”
Both Türk’s later statement and Büyükanıt’s earlier speech made their mark at the evening reception in Parliament yesterday. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appeared to disagree with the top general. He said he hadn’t seen the complete text of the general’s speech, but added: “Those who are in Parliament have come here through a legal process. They come here by legal, not illegal, means. If there is any situation that is outside the law, then the judiciary will take the necessary action. Has the Supreme Election Board made any negative decision [about the DTP’s participation in Parliament]? No.”
In response to a question about what course of action his party would take in regard to possible moves to lift the legislative immunity of the DTP deputies, Erdoğan said it did not make sense to announce a stance for a still-hypothetical situation. Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli also responded to questions from the press concerning the statements made by the DTP, saying, “These people [DTP members] don’t know what they are saying,” and accusing them of not having remained loyal to their parliamentary oaths.