International atmosphere changing in favor of Turkey
German Ambassador to Turkey Eckart Cuntz asked something unusual of the General Staff a while ago. The ambassador was seeking permission to attend a funeral ceremony held for one the soldiers killed by the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists.
Previously, Cuntz had attended the funeral ceremony of the Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink. This time, he wanted to share the grief of the families of soldiers killed in the attack, the diplomat said, explaining the reason for the request.
In the aftermath of the PKK’s attack that killed 12 soldiers in the southeastern city of Hakkari last Sunday, Turkish General Staff approved the German ambassador’s wish. Cuntz was invited to the burial service of Noncommissioned Officer Soner Özübek in the Central Anatolian province, Eskişehir.
At the same time, there was a monthly dinner held for the European Union (EU) ambassadors in Ankara. Selected roughly two weeks before the last attack, Democratic Society Party (DTP) leader Ahmet Türk had been invited as this month’s guest of honor.
Cuntz attended the ceremony held in Eskişehir and shared the family’s grief.
All the while in Ankara, EU ambassadors had just finished a 1.5 hour meeting and were preparing to host Türk at a luncheon. The subject discussed in the meeting was evident: the EU term president Portugal’s ambassador made a statement condemning the PKK’s “provocative attack” and offered condolences to the Turkish nation and the families of the soldiers killed.
Portugal Ambassador Jose Manuel de Carvalho Lameiran delivered a similar speech at the luncheon in Ankara. He asked the DTP to condemn the PKK attacks and establish a clear distance between the party and the terrorist organization.
Disappointment with DTP
EU representatives do not hesitate to express disappointment in the DTP. The biggest of all stated that Türk “introduced a pre-condition to condemn the PKK’s acts of terror”.
When we met, Türk explained: “The state neither brings a project of dialogue to the fore nor contributes to the solution. All we asked is to adopt a clear-cut attitude against the PKK. We are expected to make some specific statement of condemnation, but no contributions at all. When we were asked if we have any influence over the PKK, we responded that we don’t have any organic tie with the PKK and that we are not the Harri Batasuna Party of the Spanish Basque region. What we are asked to do aims to invalidate us.”
Events are self-revealing. The EU’s condemnation of the latest PKK attacks and Turkey’s reaction to them prove that the atmosphere in the international community is changing in favor of Turkey.
But this is not limited to Europe only. For instance, Arabs did not buy the efforts of the PKK and Iraqi Kurds, reflecting that a Turkish operation targets Iraq’s sovereignty.
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, in contact with Arab leaders and the Arab League for a week, has a big share in this.
Likewise, a new diplomacy era has begun as the U.S. stopped Turkey from taking a further step and asked for a few days.
That was also the case in Syria in 1998. After all, the aim is not to have a military operation but to eliminate the PKK threat to Turkey. If this is achieved through diplomacy, that will be a good solution for all, except the terrorist organization.
Within this perspective, the promise of a PKK ceasefire given by the President of Iraq Jalal Talabani did not find audience in diplomatic circles. The “unilateral ceasefire” the PKK declares every winter and whenever they are in jeopardy is not persuasive at all.
As for the summary, Turkey’s reaction has changed the international atmosphere in its favor.
In the fight against terror, Ankara is less alone now than it was a week ago, in the pre-bill era.