One of the critical outcomes of the July 22 general elections was that the Turkish National Assembly produced a result in line with the “justice in representation” principle and contributed to fortification of a democratic parliamentary system. One of the most striking indicators of the “representation capability” the assembly exhibited was the existence of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) in Parliament.
What the DTP is or who they are is not a secret. Inclusion of this self-evident political organism in Parliament is the solid endorsement of a right understanding poured into slogans, “let them do politics on low ground.”
Even if there is no other, just for this reason only, it is needles and pointless to pressurize the DTP to announce that the outlawed “Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is a terrorist organization” or keeping the party subject to similar “impositions.” What makes the DTP “unique” and enabling the party to be “functional” in the upcoming “democratic process” Turkey will go through is that the DTP is a party receiving the votes of its true electors, if the PKK joins elections as a political party.
Therefore, “functionality” of the DTP is stemming from its announcing the PKK as a terrorist organization but its being able to play a role in the “disarmament” of the PKK. Statements the DTP Representative Sırrı Sakık addressed in Parliament three days ago are worth paying attention, even just for this reason only.
Sakık's ‘PKK reality' remark
When Sakık said “The PKK is the reality of this country” at the platform in the general council the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) parliamentary members showed reactions. He was telling the truth. Isn't the PKK real? Although it is an “unpleasant” one, it is still a fact. In fact he continued, “If the prime minister is having a conversation with President George W. Bush in the United States about the PKK, we should talk about it here too. This is our problem. Disarmament of the PKK is our binding duty. We do not defend an armed struggle. If cleansing it from arms and violence is our mission, we will resolve this matter through discussions.”
He is right. In this country the blood-shed for nothing, the rightful revenge of public against the PKK should not set an obstacle to take up this issue and the disarmament of the PKK comprehensively in Parliament where a “production center for politics”. If the parliament is not the place, where should this “fact” to be discussed?
If the Turkish National Assembly will speak up like a “one voice choir”, to talk about “pluralism” and “democracy” is pointless. Some unpleasant or contrary thoughts will certainly be voiced in Parliament. To say “let them do politics on low ground” means the Assembly clearly guarantees different thought being voiced under the same roof.
Sakık was right all along when he cried out posing the question, “Have you ever listen to your conscience; have you ever put yourself in Kurdish shoe? Let's have some empathy here. Empathy in Kurdish means comparing one's self with another. Would it be the end of this world, if a Turkish broadcasting television had a Kurdish broadcast?” after he reminded, the Supreme Board of Radio and Television shut down a radio for airing Kurdish songs.
Sakık was right again while shouting, “The differences Mr. President voiced are not about the differences between two ties yet the differences in culture and language. Mr. Prime Minister remembers on a flight and says the AKP has 75 Kurdish representatives, why don't you remember it here? Why don't Kurdish representatives speak up here?
The AKP's familiar, cliché and traditional state remarks about the “Kurdish issue” cannot be sustained, as they have done so far after winning “representation of Kurds” in the July 22 elections. At the point we reached, such approach evidently gives no fruit yet turns the problem into a case of “gangrene”.
Did Sakık speak for DTP?
One of the difficulties here is that there is no clear-cut answer to what extent Sakık's parliamentary statement reflected the DTP's point of view. Many DTP officials and spokesmen perceive or employ their duty as “PKK propagandist” or “legitimizing the PKK” rather than playing a role in the “disarmament of the PKK”.
The DTP is not a “one voice” structure, so it is seemed. Under these circumstances, what is necessary, or the AKP's responsibility in particular, is to reinforce and legitimize the “approach” of Sakık because today in Turkey nothing is more valuable than prevention of “seeds of hostility” among people and nothing is more important than to stop the blood shed.