This country sorely needs the AKP to further normalization and democratization. Hence this party has to re-establish its “global legitimacy” in order to open the door to yet another transformative phase. And here is an ideal opportunity that presents itself: a coalition with the CHP.
The current parliamentary arithmetic remains incapable of entertaining the possibility of a non-AKP government. As for an AKP-MHP coalition, yesterday and today it is not actually in front of but behind the AKP-CHP alternative by at least one notch.
At the outset, their policies were in line with my own experience since childhood of living side by side with all our differences. For various reasons this political outlook received one blow after another, while simultaneously another process developed deep inside whereby AKP people gradually came to value their personal interests over their ideals.
The Kurdish political movement cannot help but see that despite his dozens of mistakes, Erdoğan remains its best, indeed single possible partner among all current options. Nevertheless, instead of looking for better ways of collaborating with him, it keeps pursuing an unfortunate policy of trying to dig him deeper into the pro-Army hole where he has currently retreated.
You might react strongly against statements about “the Kurdish question being over and done with” that are intended to appease nationalism. And indeed, we too have been vocally critical on all these points. But for heaven’s sake, let us please also have the decency to admit that claims about “Turkey supporting IS” or “Turkey supporting terrorism” constitute exorbitantly propagandistic falsehoods.