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Editorial: Istanbul bombing
Jun 22, 2010
Earlier this week, following the attack in eastern Turkey by Kurdish PKK militants in which 12 Turkish soldiers were killed, this newspaper warned that the upsurge in fighting between the Turkish Army and the PKK represented a serious setback for the efforts of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to end a conflict that has lasted 26 years and caused the deaths of over 40,000 people.
We also restated the firm conviction that the conflict is unwinnable by either side and that it would be ended only by negotiation and compromise, a policy the Erdogan government has in effect pursued since coming to power.
Tuesday’s deadly bomb attack on a bus in Istanbul — presumably in response to Turkish military reprisals following Saturday’s attack — is cause for even greater concern. The cycle of violence is speeding up. Despite being hit by the Turkish Army time and again, the PKK can clearly still do serious harm to Turkey. Saudi Arabia and Turkey are not only good friends but increasingly close ones as well. The principled stand taken by the Erdogan government against Israel’s oppressive and vindictive policies against the Palestinians and, in particular, its efforts to break the siege of Gaza are highly appreciated. But even if there were no growing friendship, Saudis would anyway feel nothing but the strongest revulsion at this latest act of barbarism by the PKK. Saudi Arabia has suffered from terrorism as well. It knows its evil ways.
Despite the efforts by the Erdogan government to reach out to the Kurdish community and address its concerns and grievances, the PKK has shown with all the ruthlessness that it can muster that it is the terrorist organization that Turkey as well as the US and the EU claim it to be. It is indissolubly wedded to terrorism and has no desire to make political compromise that is the only solution to the problem.
Quite apart from solidarity with Turkey in the face of the terrorist attack, there is the additional concern over regional stability. If the Turkish military has its way, this latest outrage is highly likely to trigger a fresh Turkish invasion of northern Iraq — with all the dangers that could unleash. The last time Turkey mounted a full-scale invasion to try and cripple the PKK in northern Iraqi bases was in February 2008. Baghdad did nothing at the time other than protest but the Iraqi Army has since rearmed and would be unlikely to take such a passive approach a second time round. All the more reason for a settlement.
Inevitably though, given the Erdogan government’s stand on the Palestinians and its distancing of itself from Turkey’s longstanding alliance with Israel, people here and elsewhere in the Middle East are bound to ask whether there is a link between this and the escalating violence. The question ”Who gains?” is bound to be heard and there will be many who will see an Israeli hand behind the PKK’s attacks, intent on destabilizing an increasingly unfriendly government. Although it does not fit with the continuing strong ties between Israel and the Turkish military, it will be believed by many — in Turkey as well as outside.
http://arabnews.com/opinion/editorial/article71383.ece