WHO HAS PACKED THE PACKAGE ? WITH OR WITHOUT APO ?

News of consulting Öcalan on package causes controversy

14 September 2013 /ALİ ASLAN KILIÇ, ANKARA – Zaman – Reports alleging that the government showed a democratization package that it has been working on to the leader of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and discussed its contents with him have caused quite a stir in the capital.

A report published in the HaberTürk daily on Friday claimed that the package, whose contents have not yet been shared with the public except for a few indications as to what it might contain, was shared with PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan on the island of İmralı, where he has been imprisoned since his capture in 1999.  The report said National Intelligence Agency (MİT) officials showed Öcalan the package, convinced him to support the changes regarding Kurdish rights, which, the story asserted, will effectively end the recent crisis between the terrorist group and the Turkish state stemming from the former’s insistence that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government isn’t doing its part in the settlement process.

Turkish officials have been talking to PKK leader Öcalan as part of settlement negotiations to end the Kurdish question. The settlement process was recently blocked by the PKK’s unwillingness to continue withdrawing its militants from Turkey as agreed in the talks. The PKK had insisted that the government was not doing anything to meet Kurdish demands.

Government officials denied there was any truth to HaberTürk’s story but the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) are skeptical. Officials from both parties told Today’s Zaman they believe the reason why the government denied the report is due its fear of a possible public backlash. CHP Deputy Chairman Haluk Koç, shortly after a statement from the Prime Ministry’s press office denied the HaberTürk story, said: “The attempt to drag the state into this illegitimate process is ongoing, as we have been saying all along. Issues that should be discussed openly in front of the nation are unfortunately being dealt with through this process because the prime minister’s short-term interests are the priority [of the government].”

Koç also said the PKK’s larger network, the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), was doing a much better job of understanding the Southeast than the government and that it was using the settlement process to enhance its presence in the region and increase its leverage. “The future of 76 million people cannot be entrusted to talks between İmralı and Ankara,” he said. Koç said Parliament and other legitimate actors should be discussing the Kurdish issue openly and in a transparent manner.

PM office’s statement hardly convincing

MHP Deputy Chairman Mehmet Şandır said: “The newspaper’s claim is a rather serious one. The prime minister or the relevant minister should make a statement that matches the gravity of the situation. The statement released by the press office is far from convincing.” He said a denial is not enough, adding that the public — who he claimed overwhelmingly believes that the democratization package was prepared to satisfy Öcalan — should be convinced that the claim is false.

The secretary-general of the MHP, İsmet Büyükataman, said the government already has a poor track record in terms of the negotiation process. “At this point currently, unfortunately the government has shown complete submission to terrorism. Their compromises are being gradually forced onto the people, spread over a stretch of time so that they are accepted more easily. Not even Parliament knows what the contents [of the reform package] are, but Öcalan has been convinced to accept it. This fits perfectly with the AK Party’s past record. They are calling it democratization, but it is only an attempt to hide the consensus reached with the terrorist organization.”

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-326347-news-of-consulting-ocalan-on-package-causes-controversy.html