Negotiating with Killers is 'Political Degradation'... It is Making the Reputation of the State and the Nation 'Worthless'!..

MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli, a partner in the People's Alliance, set the bar so high by saying, "Let the terrorist leader come to Parliament and speak, let him make the PKK lay down its arms," that the sending of two DEM Party deputies to İmralı to bring a message from the terrorist leader, and even the rumors that he would soon be placed under house arrest, have remained the lesser of two evils.

What is the goal in the MHP-İmralı-Parliament equation that has not been—and cannot be—named? After Bahçeli, Erdoğan also said; "the separatist villains will either bury their weapons as soon as possible or they will be buried in the ground along with their weapons"!..

That is exactly why they have thrown the doors of İmralı wide open.

Bahçeli was also quite pleased with the message that DEM Party members Pervin Buldan and Sırrı Süreyya Önder brought from İmralı.

My dear friends, this meeting has "not only relatively reinforced democracy and the hopes tied to Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood, but has become the momentum for a promising beginning"... The time has come for "a moment of destiny and decision for Turkey," and "to be each other's lifeblood"... But it is said that "neither negotiation nor armistice" will be discussed...

On one hand, you say, "There is no longer any operational or maneuvering space for terrorist ambitions and actions originating from neighboring territories," and then you pin your hopes on İmralı!..

Since you are the one knocking on his door, does your interlocutor do what you want without receiving anything in return, or does he sit down to bargain with you?

Let us break down the message that Buldan and Önder brought from the terrorist leader:

- He spoke of "the Kurdish issue," "all peoples," and "democratic transformation"...

- You sent the envoys to him to call on the PKK to lay down its arms, but he gave tasks to Parliament and all political circles...

- He declared, "I am capable and determined to contribute positively to the new paradigm empowered by Mr. Bahçeli and Mr. Erdoğan"...

In summary, and in the words of Pervin Buldan; he has taken Erdoğan and Bahçeli as his "interlocutors"... He graciously did not present any "conditions" for now... And he did not send a message to the PKK to "lay down its arms."

But according to the claim of a writer trying to "do what is necessary" in his column; "Öcalan's call was not to Turkey, but to the PKK, which he founded." Furthermore, he "constructed and explained the justifications for why they should lay down their arms to the organization he leads"!..

It is like a joke; but the security sources interviewed by İsmail Saymaz also argue that "Öcalan's statement addresses Qandil and contains a message for the organization to 'lay down its arms'"!..

MORTGAGING TURKEY'S DESTINY TO İMRALI

We have grown tired of saying "From where to where" regarding MHP Leader Bahçeli, who initiated the opening of negotiating with the terrorist leader and the DEM Party to make the PKK lay down its arms. Therefore, let us follow a different method and discuss the meaning of what is happening today in a question-and-answer format with the Bahçeli of yesterday.

Question: It is said that the reason for taking this step is regional developments.

Answer: No regional or global concern or project, including Turkey's neighbors, is or should ever be prior to or more important than the security, peace, and unity of the Turkish Nation.

Question: How do you evaluate the meeting with the terrorist leader in İmralı in the name of ensuring the unity of the Turkish Nation and strengthening the internal front?

Answer: This mentality, which exploits nationalists on one side and holds meetings with killers on the other, has clearly shown how far political degradation can reach... The fact that the villain lying in İmralı makes reckless statements as if he were a legitimate actor and showers his gang with instructions from where he lies is the work and tragic result of the AKP's political stance, which borders on negligence... The Turkish state tradition and the centuries-old reputation, respectability, power, and dignity of our nation have been made worthless in the hands of the AKP... What are you trying to solve or achieve by meeting with the villain of İmralı? What will you give to the PKK, what concessions will you promise to make them give up their weapons?.. The villain and his gang are the number one enemy of the Turkish nation.

Question: Is the terrorist leader the leader of our citizens of Kurdish origin?

Answer: The villain of İmralı is not, and will not be, the leader of my citizens of Kurdish origin.

Question: Do the meetings with the terrorist leader not hurt consciences?

Answer: No lover of Turkey whose heart beats with love for the homeland will be able to remain indifferent to the villain of İmralı being presented as a peace envoy, a democracy volunteer, or a freedom fighter... If the pro-government polling companies had asked direct questions without hiding the real purpose, for example, 'What do you say about the meetings with the villain of İmralı?' or 'Do you accept the meetings with the PKK?', you should know that the published polls would have revealed that our nation completely rejects this disgraceful process... This is, above all else, the height of shamelessness, dishonesty, and fraud against the national will. I ask you; do you find the bargains with the villain of İmralı right? Do you want the pardon of the villain of İmralı?.. The destiny of Turkey and the Turkish nation has been left to the mercy and initiative of a murderer serving a life sentence... Mortgaging Turkey's destiny to İmralı is a complete trauma... The bandit leader who manages terrorism from İmralı has been elevated to a position and status he could never have imagined.

Question: But those who object are accused of profiting from blood and opposing peace.

Answer: The eyes of this cursed chorus have gone blind and their consciences have withered to the point where they can call our party 'those who profit from blood, those who oppose peace, those who do not want terrorism to end.' Do not forget that the collaborative Istanbul government attacked the heroes of the national struggle who tore up the Treaty of Sèvres in the same way... Those who see the noble children of the nation who rejected the Treaty of Sèvres as madmen who shed blood in vain and hinder peace, and those who criticize our stance now, are nothing but the remnants of occupation and traitorous names who have eaten from the same dish of treason, even if in different periods.

Question: Will the PKK lay down its arms, or when will it?

Answer: Claiming that the PKK will lay down its arms, and using this to comfort and stall the nation, is an unconsciousness that cannot be repaired... The PKK will not lay down its arms without taking territory from Turkey. The PKK will not bury its weapons or lower its barrels without fully achieving its treacherous goals. If anyone claims otherwise, they are either without honor or a wretch who has had their mind and logic seized... The PKK will not lay down its arms before the calculations and goals of the Greater Middle East Project (BOP) are achieved, and it will not abandon its bloody trump card and killing tactics without splitting Turkey in two... To hope and expect that the PKK will lay down its arms and part ways with weapons is foolishness and negligence.

Question: Then what needs to be done?

Answer: The well-known terrorist organization, which has become an expert in killing and a brand in breaking, pouring, burning, and destroying, will not put aside its weapons without splitting Turkey or facing the wrath of the state. For this reason, the PKK saying goodbye to weapons is a dream, a lie, a fabricated and baseless propaganda aimed at deceiving the Turkish nation. It is the national and historical responsibility of the Government to search for terrorists in the dens where they hide, find them, bring them out, and deliver them to justice, and to show courage in this axis.

BEING TREATED AS ''STUPID'' AND ''FOOLISH''

Saying, "Yesterday is in the past, my dear, now it is time to say new things," let us leave the floor to the former Special Forces Commander, retired Lieutenant General Engin Alan.

Alan, who was once an MHP deputy and still maintains ties with the party, has argued since Bahçeli's İmralı opening that, "APO is currently a wretch with no value whatsoever... Neither Qandil nor the PKK/YPG under US control will lay down their arms or dissolve themselves at the word of a terrorist leader who is no longer worth a penny."

While repeating his same claims in a statement he made to Saygı Öztürk the other day, Alan defended Bahçeli as follows:

"The path taken by what Mr. Devlet Bahçeli said is not the same. Mr. Devlet said, 'The organization will be dissolved, weapons will be laid down.' Did Mr. Devlet say that there will be bargaining, that we will return to a new solution process, that he will come out, that this will come? He never said anything like that. He said, 'Dissolve the organization, make them lay down their arms'... But now, the issue is not his meeting or that meeting. It seems to me that this is evolving into a new solution process, like the one experienced in 2015. A new solution process, meetings, bargains, etc. But Mr. Devlet did not say such a thing."

He then made the following comment:

"There is reason and logic. Would the YPG/PKK in the northeast of the Euphrates, under US control, lay down their arms just because Abdullah Öcalan said so? Wouldn't one have to be stupid or foolish to believe this? They will not lay down their arms. Even if they wanted to, they couldn't. America is setting up police stations and bases in Al-Bab today. As long as the US is in the northeast of the Euphrates, there will be no security in Syria, nor will there be any for us."

Since the picture is exactly as Engin Alan describes, let us just ask this:

Has the state lost its mind and logic, and does it think that our nation is "stupid" and "foolish" that it expects us to believe that the YPG/PKK will lay down its arms just because the terrorist leader makes a call?!

Müyesser YILDIZ

January 6, 2025