Obama's America and the Kurdish Issue

Published in Hurriyet
(Turkey) on 16 November 2008
by Yalcin Dogan (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Garabet Moumdjian. Edited by .
It’s a big book. Like an encyclopedia volume. It may be about 3 to 4 kilograms in weight. It has very bright pages with lots of photos.

It deals with issues concerning the Kurds since the 1850’s. The book always mentions Kurdistan as a country. It has lots of photos, lots of history. Perhaps it’s what awaits us tomorrow…

The book can’t be found everywhere. Those bookstores that carry it are keeping the copies as precious things.

The book can be found at the bookstore of the World Bank. Is this the Word Bank that I know? There is a lot of buzz about Kurds and Kurdistan nowadays in America and in many European countries. Go to any bookstore in these countries and you will find a section about the Kurds. They speak about their history and even the PKK (Kurdish Workers’ Party).

Know this and study it as your lesson for school. It’s obvious--wherever there are books about Kurds, there are writings about the PKK.

American civil society, non-governmental organizations, and now the bureaucracy of the country are asking us Turks the same question: Ok, you beat up the PKK. What are you now going to do regarding the Kurds?

Is there anyone among us who knows the answer to this question? Do those who rule Turkey have a serious and timely answer to this? No, and of course no!

The issue is: Who is asking us this same question now and why is it important to us who this asker is?

It is Obama’s administration and his team who are asking the question.

This is what this means: As soon as he takes over the administration of the United States, Obama will deal very closely with the Kurdish issue. Even though officially America considers the PKK as a terrorist organization, Obama too will start his interrogation from that point of view. But what will happen then? He will then ask us what we are going to do now. Yes, what are we going to do? Do you have a project, a policy, an alternative dossier for this issue?

Instead of sending the message of “stay strong and don’t listen to anybody” to Obama, It would be wiser for Rajap Tayyip Erdogan (Turkey’s Prime Minister) to study the dossier and have some solutions regarding the issue.

Preferred course of action:

For the time being Turkey can only deal with Obama and his administration through unofficial channels.

As soon as he presides over the Administration, Obama’s priority will be the internal economic situation of America.

As for his foreign policy, Iraq will be the top priority. This entails bringing soldiers out of Iraq, dealing with the internal divisions of that country and trying to solve them, Preserving American hegemony there after pulling soldiers out, etc. Obama has already made it clear that these are the priorities of his administration.

But one must not forget that when he says Iraq, this also means the Kurdish issue. And when he says Kurdish issue, it means the PKK; its terror, and the condition of Kurds inside Turkey, and thus his policy toward that issue.

It is possible to assume that in our dealings with Obama he will ask us to come to an agreement regarding these issues. It is also possible to assume that our dealings with Obama will not be limited to intelligence sharing with the American administration.

It is important that we keep strong against his advances, and play the diplomatic game when we sit with him at the negotiating table. What we really have to do is ensure that the Americans are not worried about it. But is this possible with Obama?

So what’s the solution? It is one that would make Turks and Kurds content. Is there such a solution? Please be advised that if Turkey doesn’t have such a solution, one might be formulated for it by the new American administration!


Obama ekibinin bize bir sorusu var


KOCAMAN bir kitap, ansiklopedi boyutunda, neredeyse üç, dört kilo geliyor. Parlak ka??da bas?lm??, bol foto?rafl?.

1850’lerden ba?layarak, Kürtlerin maceras?n?, kitaptaki deyimle, Kürdistan’? anlat?yor. Bol foto?raf, bol tarih, bol bugün ve belki de yar?n?n beklentisi.

Bu kitaptan her yerde yok. Ama, bir yer var ki, bulundu?u kütüphane gerçekten çok dikkat çekiyor.

Bu kitap Dünya Bankas? kütüphanesinde. Dünya Bankas? m??

Amerika’da ve bu arada Avrupa’n?n pek çok ba?kentinde Kürtlere dönük ilgi, her zamankinden daha fazla. Avrupa’da da herhangi bir kitapç?da, art?k Kürt kitaplar? bölümü var. Ama Kürt tarihi, ama PKK.

DERS?N? ÇALI?

Kürt kitab?n?n oldu?u yerde, ister istemez PKK sorular? var.

Amerika’daki sivil toplum örgütleri, onlar?n deyimiyle, dü?ünce kurulu?lar? ve buna ek olarak Amerikan bürokrasisi, görü?tü?ü her Türk’e ayn? soruyu yöneltiyor:

"Haydi, PKK’y? yendiniz, ?imdi Kürtlerle ilgili olarak ne yapacaks?n?z?"

Bu sorunun yan?t?n? bilen var m?? Türkiye’yi yönetenler bu soruya akl? ba??nda, düzgün, olabilirli?i yüksek bir kar??l?k verebiliyor mu? Hay?r.

Ayn? soruyu ?imdi kim soruyor? Bundan sonra bizi as?l ilgilendirecek olan bu. Kim soruyor?

Obama’n?n çevresi, Obama’n?n ekibi.

Bunun anlam? ?u. Ba?kanl?k koltu?una fiilen oturduktan sonra, Obama Kürt sorunu ile yak?ndan ilgilenecek.

Amerikan resmi ideolojisi PKK’y? bir terör örgütü olarak kabul etti?ine göre, Obama da, bu görü?ten yola ç?kacak. Sonra? Sonra bize soracak, siz ?imdi ne yapacaks?n?z, diye. Evet, ne yapacaks?n?z? Var m? bir projeniz, bir politikan?z, alternatifler içeren bir dosyan?z?

Obama’ya, "Dik dur, kimseyle kavga etme" mesajlar? göndermek yerine, Tayyip Erdo?an Kürtlere dönük nas?l bir politika izleyece?i konusunda dersini çal???rsa, sanki çok daha iyi olacak.

ÖNCEL?KLER

Obama ekibinden Türkiye’ye ya da ?imdilik resmi olmayan kanaldan, Türklere, bu yönde soru gelmesinin nedeni var.

Ba?kanl?k koltu?una oturdu?unda Obama’n?n içerdeki önceli?i ekonomi. Ekonomik krizin a??lmas?.

D?? politikada ise, Obama’n?n önceli?i Irak. Irak denilince, oradan asker çekmek, Irak’?n kendi iç sorunlar?n? çözmek, asker çektikten sonra bölgedeki Amerikan varl???n?n niteli?i gibi sorular. Bunlar Amerika’n?n do?rudan kendi politikas?n? ilgilendiriyor.

Ama, Irak denilince, bir yandan da, Kürt sorunu. Kürt sorunu denilince, PKK terörü ve Türkiye’nin Kürt sorununa bak???.

Bu durumda, Obama ile Ankara aras?nda görü? al?? veri?inin eskisinden daha yo?un olabilece?ini tahmin etmek mümkün. Ve o al?? veri?in askeri istihbarat payla??m? ile s?n?rl? kalmayaca?? ?imdiden belli.

O al??veri? s?ras?nda, s?rt s?vazlamak, garip spor esprileri yapmak, dil bilmeden söylenenlere gülümsemeyle kar??l?k vermek, hele de masaya resmen oturuldu?unda, klasik söylemleri dile getirmek, Obama ve ekibini tatmin edecek gibi görünmüyor.

Çare, o önemli soruya, Türkleri ve Kürtleri tatmin edecek yan?t bulmaktan geçiyor. Var m? bir yan?t?n?z? Yoksa, size yan?t? onlar haz?rlar.
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