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Today's Zaman, Turkey
Nov 4 2012
Ã-zal and the Kurdish issue
MARKAR ESAYAN
There have always been controversies about how late President Turgut
Ã-zal died in 1993. A significant portion of the public, including his
family members, believes that he was assassinated. In addition to the
unbelievable incidents that occurred when he had a heart attack in the
Çankaya presidential palace, such as the state of unpreparedness, the
inability to find a physician to respond to the situation and the
strange developments in the hospital he was taken to, the main thing
that gave rise to suspicions was the manner of Ã-zal's statesmanship.
Ã-zal's party had come to power, thanks to high electoral appeal, as
the only civilian alternative to the two pro-tutelary parties backed
by the junta in the first parliamentary elections held in the wake of
the military coup of 1980. In general, our juntas stage coups in the
following manner: They overthrow the government, and in order not to
lose the West's backing, they are forced to say: `We had to stage a
coup as the country was on the brink of a disaster. We are loyal to
democracy. As you see, we leave the administration to civilians at the
earliest opportunity.' And, at the same time, in order to pay lip
service to the act of transferring the administration to civilians,
they appoint `civilian' politicians who would be tied to their apron
strings.
But this didn't happen in 1983. Actually, this had not happened also
in the coups of 1960 and 1970. The public took the advantage of using
the only opportunity allowed by this authoritarian secularist
republic, i.e., the parliamentary elections held every five (now four)
years, and in every election, they opted to elect civilians. One of
these civilians was Ã-zal's Motherland Party (ANAVATAN).
But Ã-zal was not a figure that emerged out of the blue. He was the
architect of the Jan. 24, 1980 decisions that dealt the fatal blow to
the single party administration's favorite closed economy. In other
words, the country had transitioned to liberal free market conditions
through the infrastructure established by Ã-zal.
But Ã-zal did not stop there in 1983. He started to change the
economic/political state-oriented rules that served to isolate Turkey
from the external world. He established and maintained a powerful
administration. He could even remove the chief of General Staff and
Land Forces commander from office when they refused to obey him.
Ã-zal was pursuing an aggressive policy of opening Turkey to the
external world. He had a heterodox approach to the country's long
entrenched problems such as the Kurdish, Armenian and Cyprus issues.
In a sense, Ã-zal was the antithesis of the Kemalist state, at least in
his early years. When he died a suspicious death, everyone believed
that Ã-zal had been assassinated by the deep state.
For long, these suspicions were not investigated. However, when the
ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) lent its support to
bold prosecutors who probed into the dirty affairs of the deep state
in the investigations into Ergenekon -- a clandestine organization
nested within the state trying to overthrow or manipulate the
democratically elected government -- and the Balyoz (Sledgehammer)
coup plan, these suspicions came to be voiced in a more pronounced
manner. No autopsy had been performed on Ã-zal's dead body. His family
believed that he had been assassinated. There were talks between
President Abdullah Gül and Ã-zal's relatives. Mr. Gül put the State
Audit Institution (DDK) to the task. As part of an investigation
launched by the prosecutor's office, Ã-zal's body was exhumed and sent
to the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) for examination. Last week,
in breaking news, we heard that the ATK found traces of poisonous
substances in the body.
The final report will soon be sent to the prosecutor's office. The
truth will hopefully come out. Ã-zal's son Ahmet Ã-zal's following words
were very remarkable. Ahmet Ã-zal said that during his father's final
visit, his father had a special meeting with him and told him:
"Turkey's biggest problem is the Kurdish issue. Upon returning from my
visit, I will take a great risk and return to active politics in order
to solve this problem." Former Labor Minister Ä°mren Aykut confirms
Ahmet Ã-zal's disclosure. Aykut says: "At the time, the Kurdish issue
was not a hot topic. It was not a problem that was challenging the
state. And I was surprised to see him attach such great importance to
this issue."
Obviously, Ã-zal was very far-sighted, and he had realized that the
Kurdish issue had the potential to snowball into a major problem for
the country. If Ã-zal was assassinated, I think, the main reason was
because of his determination to solve this problem.
Nov 4 2012
Ã-zal and the Kurdish issue
MARKAR ESAYAN
There have always been controversies about how late President Turgut
Ã-zal died in 1993. A significant portion of the public, including his
family members, believes that he was assassinated. In addition to the
unbelievable incidents that occurred when he had a heart attack in the
Çankaya presidential palace, such as the state of unpreparedness, the
inability to find a physician to respond to the situation and the
strange developments in the hospital he was taken to, the main thing
that gave rise to suspicions was the manner of Ã-zal's statesmanship.
Ã-zal's party had come to power, thanks to high electoral appeal, as
the only civilian alternative to the two pro-tutelary parties backed
by the junta in the first parliamentary elections held in the wake of
the military coup of 1980. In general, our juntas stage coups in the
following manner: They overthrow the government, and in order not to
lose the West's backing, they are forced to say: `We had to stage a
coup as the country was on the brink of a disaster. We are loyal to
democracy. As you see, we leave the administration to civilians at the
earliest opportunity.' And, at the same time, in order to pay lip
service to the act of transferring the administration to civilians,
they appoint `civilian' politicians who would be tied to their apron
strings.
But this didn't happen in 1983. Actually, this had not happened also
in the coups of 1960 and 1970. The public took the advantage of using
the only opportunity allowed by this authoritarian secularist
republic, i.e., the parliamentary elections held every five (now four)
years, and in every election, they opted to elect civilians. One of
these civilians was Ã-zal's Motherland Party (ANAVATAN).
But Ã-zal was not a figure that emerged out of the blue. He was the
architect of the Jan. 24, 1980 decisions that dealt the fatal blow to
the single party administration's favorite closed economy. In other
words, the country had transitioned to liberal free market conditions
through the infrastructure established by Ã-zal.
But Ã-zal did not stop there in 1983. He started to change the
economic/political state-oriented rules that served to isolate Turkey
from the external world. He established and maintained a powerful
administration. He could even remove the chief of General Staff and
Land Forces commander from office when they refused to obey him.
Ã-zal was pursuing an aggressive policy of opening Turkey to the
external world. He had a heterodox approach to the country's long
entrenched problems such as the Kurdish, Armenian and Cyprus issues.
In a sense, Ã-zal was the antithesis of the Kemalist state, at least in
his early years. When he died a suspicious death, everyone believed
that Ã-zal had been assassinated by the deep state.
For long, these suspicions were not investigated. However, when the
ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) lent its support to
bold prosecutors who probed into the dirty affairs of the deep state
in the investigations into Ergenekon -- a clandestine organization
nested within the state trying to overthrow or manipulate the
democratically elected government -- and the Balyoz (Sledgehammer)
coup plan, these suspicions came to be voiced in a more pronounced
manner. No autopsy had been performed on Ã-zal's dead body. His family
believed that he had been assassinated. There were talks between
President Abdullah Gül and Ã-zal's relatives. Mr. Gül put the State
Audit Institution (DDK) to the task. As part of an investigation
launched by the prosecutor's office, Ã-zal's body was exhumed and sent
to the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) for examination. Last week,
in breaking news, we heard that the ATK found traces of poisonous
substances in the body.
The final report will soon be sent to the prosecutor's office. The
truth will hopefully come out. Ã-zal's son Ahmet Ã-zal's following words
were very remarkable. Ahmet Ã-zal said that during his father's final
visit, his father had a special meeting with him and told him:
"Turkey's biggest problem is the Kurdish issue. Upon returning from my
visit, I will take a great risk and return to active politics in order
to solve this problem." Former Labor Minister Ä°mren Aykut confirms
Ahmet Ã-zal's disclosure. Aykut says: "At the time, the Kurdish issue
was not a hot topic. It was not a problem that was challenging the
state. And I was surprised to see him attach such great importance to
this issue."
Obviously, Ã-zal was very far-sighted, and he had realized that the
Kurdish issue had the potential to snowball into a major problem for
the country. If Ã-zal was assassinated, I think, the main reason was
because of his determination to solve this problem.