When a traffic police officer in Eskişehir addressed citizens on the street and made a statement on the ‘Terror Free Turkey Process', it set the agenda of Turkey. After the speech appeared on social media, there were both supporters and critics of the suspension of the traffic police officer in question.
One of the critics was Murat Bakan, CHP's Deputy Chairperson for Internal Affairs.
In a statement posted on his X account, CHP Minister claimed that the dismissal of the traffic police officer was not a disciplinary action, but the suppression of criticism by the state.
Murat Bakan emphasized social consensus in his statement addressed to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. CHP officials frequently refer to “social consensus” in their evaluations of the solution process. Even if this sounds good and gives importance to the people, is social consensus possible in solving such a problem? Let's analyze this for a moment.
Conflict processes cannot be ended based on survey results
Whether we call it terrorism, insurgency or something else, long years of conflict can only end in one of two ways. Either you destroy it completely or you compromise on a certain point.
Turkey has done its best to eradicate the PKK and has achieved significant successes, but can it be said that “the PKK has been completely eradicated”? No! The PKK still exists. Even if some people say, “They can no longer carry out attacks,” Turkey needs to keep tens of thousands of soldiers on the border in order to prevent them from doing so. That is why Turkey is now trying to find a compromise to end this problem completely and direct its energies to other areas. Probably the end goal is a partial amnesty and a process that will allow the PKK to first lay down its arms and then surrender. Time will tell whether this will be achieved or not.
However, if social consensus is sought for such a process, it will never be achieved. Societies look at such problems emotionally, not rationally. Considering the martyrs they have lost, they will never support processes that would bring up options such as amnesty. For this reason, if the public in Turkey were asked a hundred times, “The PKK will surrender completely, but should Öcalan be pardoned?” the answer would always be “No”.
However, conflicts are resolved not by what the majority of the population says, but by the determination of the state. Silencing the guns often requires mutual concessions. If polls were the deciding factor, most of the world's conflicts would never have ended.
Political parties must fulfill their responsibilities despite backlash
For this reason, the CHP should stop putting forward such an unrealizable condition as “social consensus” and prevent the government from using the process for political purposes. Peace processes are difficult and open to reactions, but once they are successful and some time has passed, their value is realized. Yes, the opinion of the majority of the people is important on many issues, but it is even more important for political parties to fulfill their historical responsibilities in a process that will end the deaths, bearing the reactions of the people when necessary. As the party that founded the Republic, the CHP should not refrain from fulfilling this duty.