Won’t you ever feel ashamed?

Ekrem Dumanlı

Those who have been bargaining with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorist organization since the initial meeting in Oslo, Norway…

Those who play deaf in the face of the hair-raising allegations about these negotiations…

Those who have sacrificed the country's soldiers and police officers in the company of foreign observers and guarantors, and who have conducted purges and made certain promises…

Those who have conducted the settlement process with only a handful of people having knowledge of the subject of private discussions and who have helped the terrorist organization emerge as an international actor…

Those who have turned a deaf ear to all well-meaning warnings about the settlement process, but opted to sing the praises of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is currently serving his life sentence on İmralı Island off the coast of İstanbul…

Those who have treated as traitors those who said: "You should negotiate also with other representatives of Kurds as part of the settlement process and this issue should be resolved with a parliamentary review and by ensuring the support of the whole country"…

Those who have deceived everyone by making the promise "The PKK will lay down its arms" on the first day and who ignored the local administrators' warning that "the PKK continues to pile up weapons and militants"…

Those who have mismanaged the settlement process with the false belief that they could solve the matter with inefficacious security bureaucrats and who have made everyone think like that…

Those who have released the jailed members of the PKK-affiliated Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) and then started to look for ways to discredit the KCK…

Those who boastfully described how they negotiated with the political party that they referred to as the "PKK's offshoot" in the past and who now try to identify it with the PKK in an effort to manipulate social perceptions…

Those who have sent delegations to Öcalan, glorified him, legitimized the PKK leaders in the PKK camps located in the Kandil Mountains of northern Iraq and strengthened the PKK…

Those who have been turning a blind eye to the PKK's waylaying, setting up ID checkpoints, running local courts, collecting taxes and declaring autonomy for three years and who now hypocritically move to deal with the problem…

Those who today confess on TV that the PKK became stronger during the settlement process, having now reached the peak of its power in terms of weapons and militants, but who in the past prevented the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the police department from taking action…

Should I go on with this list? The government circles and mouthpieces who currently make harsh remarks about the PKK are blaming innocent people although they should confess their mistakes and sins, and apologize to Turkey. How can they accuse other people shamelessly despite the fact that they have been collaborating with Öcalan for three years and taking refuge in Kandil while treating the most sincere warnings as treason?

They have shamelessly argued that the Gülen (Hizmet) movement is linked to the PKK. Everyone knows that if they had not lost 10 percent of their electoral support in the parliamentary election of June 7, the settlement process would be maintained as if nothing had happened. You wouldn't refer to the PKK as a bloodthirsty organization and you wouldn't treat the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) as the PKK's abettor. The June 7 election made it clear that you cannot introduce the presidential system and this triggered a U-turn in all of your policies. Do you think that the people aren't aware of this?

The sad truth is that after June 7 someone's hands are bloodstained. Unresolved murders have made a comeback. The country's atmosphere is now reminiscent of the 1990s. Many soldiers and police officers have been martyred. Why did all this happen after the June 7 election? What sort of atmosphere do they intend to create with dozens of murders and brutal acts of terrorism? A more straightforward question: Who benefits from terrorism? Who insidiously makes terrorism plans behind closed doors? Whose love for their political career is satisfied with this ignoble social engineering?

The true criminals should stop running away from justice. Bloodthirsty social engineers should refrain from futile efforts. Society has witnessed everything that has occurred during the last three years. Those who are at the helm of the country have used the extremely critical settlement process to further their personal and party interests. Those who terminated the negotiation process when their expectations weren't fulfilled -- both in the ranks of the government and the organization -- must be held accountable for their actions.

Given this, those who try to develop new scenarios based on the oft-parroted “parallel structure” paranoia just intend to cover up their crimes. It was you who managed the process and it is you who are supposed to account for your actions. Stop hurling slanders and be ashamed of what you did. Of course, this applies if your face is still capable of flushing.

Looking for terrorists in the wrong place

More than 40 people were martyred in the 40 days following the June 7 election. Every day a valiant solider or police officer died, making their relatives and the entire country cry for them. Every new day comes with news of new martyrs.

What does the government -- which had resigned after being overthrown by the voters in the election and which is now temporarily taking care of governmental affairs -- do in this turmoil? It raids schools and prep schools. Police officers come in front of nurseries, prep schools and schools, posturing with their arms. The country is swimming in bloodshed and terrorists raid military outposts, but some security bureaucrats send police officers to raid educational institutions although they are supposed to resign from office. And the public witnesses all of these terrible atrocities. The police department, including the provincial and district police units, are under such overwhelming political pressure that they cannot send police officers to fight terrorists, but instead deploy them to nurseries, schools and prep schools to intimidate children, students and their parents. The intelligence officers at the police department and the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) have made dozens of mistakes that proved deadly for soldiers and police officers. Who will answer for this entire calamity? People will question: Terrorists raided military outposts while you were busy with school raids; how can you be so cruel and inept?

Published on Today's Zaman, 17 August 2015, Monday