The assault to Garê and the murders during the assault of 13 soldier, police and civilian individuals, who have been hostage for 5-6 years, have become the main issue of the political agenda.
Asking why nothing had been done for 5-6 years to rescue the hostages; why the initiatives of HRA and the families had not been responded to, the opposition spoke-persons and members of parliament demand to discuss the reasons for the failure of the assault and the “hostage policy.”
Just as it has happened in such situations, the one-man government holds not the position of uncovering the reasons for the failure and determining those who are responsible for the failure of the assault understood as organized to “rescue 13 hostages”, but that of misusing this assault and the reactions it has created for its own aims.
Indeed, for three days now, President Erdogan, Communications Chair Altun, National Defence Minister Akar, Internal Affairs Minister Soylu, and AKP and MHP spoke-persons have distorted the facts in their announcements of 40-yearlong stereotype accusations, in order to keep the aim of the assault and the policy conducted around that aim out of the agenda.
Looking into the arguments during the last three days, and those amongst the rows of announcements, it is understood that the assault has been organized as a “hostage rescue operation” to start on February 10, which Erdogan pre-announced to the public as “Watch out for the day of Wednesday, we will give you a good news.”
In fact, at his party’s Rize Provincial Congress, President Erdogan said that this assault had been organized as a “rescue operation,” but that it failed.
Nevertheless, instead of discussing the Garê assault, the reasons behind the failure of this operation, that there is no end to such similar assaults, the reality that it is related to the policy of “resolving by oppressing” instead of “resolving in peaceful and democratic way” of the Kurdish question, it is understood that, those accountable from top to bottom, they want to cover the facts with cliche accusations, and to manipulate the reactions to form a base to daunt the opposition.
Hence, Presidential Communications Chair, Fahrettin Altun, speaking right after the assault, by saying “HDP means PKK,” he openly targeted HDP, the third largest party in the parliament, by equating HDP to PKK. Right after the claims of Altun and other officials, many people were taken into custody through house raids in many cities, Sirnak, Agri, Diyarbakir, Urfa, Van, Mardin, Siirt, Hakkari, Mersin and Elazig at the head. In the raids conducted in 40 provinces, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that 718 people were placed into custody.
It does not stop with just HDP, one step behind HDP comes the main opposition party CHP, one step after it, IYI party and other opposition parties, intellgencia, democrats, up to those citizens from social media criticising the government and announcing their opinion which the government does not like; everybody is targeted.
In his party’s provincial congress speech, saying “Mr. Kemal, learn these well. We know well who does what and where. You will know well who you are together with. This nation will make you pay for this. This word of mine is directed to those in our country who cannot put any distance between themselves and the terror organizations and their extensions. Those social media areas that have turned into the propaganda vehicles of the terror organizations, you are all accountable for cowardly execution of 13 unarmed innocent humans... After this massacre happened in Gara, not a single country, foundation, organization and person cannot question Turkey’s Iraq and Syria operations anymore,” Erdogan has openly declared that it was aimed at prolonging the failed Garê assault by turning it into an operation to daunt the internal opposition.
Besides, Garê operation would have been used internally as a “military success” to daunt the opposition forces, had it been successful ! Perhaps, with just a difference in wording !
After the announcements openly targeting the opposition, the AKP-MHP alliance started the move to get the parties with a group in the parliament to announce their position in an collective declaration. It is aimed at Soylu and Akar first to engage with the opposition parties, and after that, that they will provide information to the general assembly of TBMM, and then to get the Assembly to issue a collective declaration.
When this assay was written, the deliberations in the Assembly had not yet started.
However, it is expected that the deliberations in the Assembly would take place stridently, taking into account the announcements made by the government and the opposition.
Mind you, considering the position of the opposition on “the democratic resolution of the Kurdish question,” it is a known fact that, despite the parties have some variant originalities, outside HDP, the progressive democrat political parties and streams, the opposition has adopted the strategy of “resolving the Kurdish question by oppression.” Whatever the criticisation directed to AKP-MHP alliance is, just as it is on the external politics, the position of reducing the “democratic resolution of the Kurdish question” to the “struggle against terror” , in this concept, the approach of “distancing themselves from HDP” works as a “soft stomach” for the opposition preventing them to be more or less a real opposition.
For this reason, even in the cases it was cornered most effectively, the AKP-MHP alliance, making use of this “soft stomach” in the name of “national question”, the “struggle against terror,” has been able to get the opposition of capital to back it for “the attempts to daunt the opposition.”
Here, what is important is the question of “Whether the opposition gathered around the Nation alliance has learnt its lesson from what has happened so far, or in the name of “condemning the terror,” once again, they will back the position that was also turned into an operation against themselves.”
Today, or tomorrow, we will observe how the opposition of capital will as well respond to this question.
İhsan Çaralan
Aras Coşkuntuncel
