Today, people are wondering if Turkey is at the verge of an all-out military campaign against her neighbour in the South, Syria.
Wondering; because there is still not an evident rationale for why the country would engage in an assault on her neighbour before the larger international community would exhaust all available means of a controlled resolution of Syria’s internal political conflicts.
Wondering, because people cannot grasp what has actually changed since a short year ago when the two neighbours were holding joint cabinet meetings on issues of mutual economic and political interests in Damascus.
Wondering, because a country with close to a thousand-kilometer of land border in the south shall never be secure for a long time to come if the threat, or even the hint of war from the north becomes a standing reality in the region.
Reflections TURKEY, in this issue, is bringing forth a number issues that shed light to politics and give us hope for the future. Among its other distinguished contributors, Umut ORAN, a member of the Turkish parliament and former vice-chairman of CHP, is presenting a refreshing view of social democracy that would offer a new and much needed paradigm for the economy.
Nilden BAYAZIT is drawing our attention to the debate on freedom of expression that has been developing over Fazıl Say, an internationally renown musician, a pianist, who is facing prosecution for his twitter comments in opposition to government policies and seriously considering to continue his professional career abroad.
Last but not the least, Necdet PAMIR is pointing to the bizarre policy contradiction of the present AKP government in attempting to break Turkey’s dependence on Russian natural gas in its energy policy by “going nuclear” in its first nuclear energy project … with the Russians. Aside from the economics and technical complexicities of this issue, the very method by which it was awarded to the Russian without going through a competitive bid and so on seems likely to remain a topic of deep political apprehension for a long time to come.
Reflections TURKEY is and shall remain especially keen on CHP’s proposal to the government to engage in a parliamentary initiative for a political resolution of the Kurdish Issue. Aydın CINGI, in his article, addresses this Proposal as a step in the right direction. The Proposal entails a multi-layered and multi-dimensional social approach that embraces the Ethnic Question. It also offers complementary mechanisms to parliamentary platforms to secure and rally as broad a social support as possible for any solution to be meaningful and lasting. As such, the Propos al signifies the most realistic proposal that has been brought to public on this issue in the recent years.
Wishing you a pleasant summer in peace, at home and abroad…