Davutoglu’s master plan useless without peace

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) - A former Member of Parliament (MP) in Turkey, Abdurrahman Kurt told K24 on Friday that the 10-point plan suggested by Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, should not wait until the domestic violent conflicts ceases.

"This outlook is not true that first the war should be stopped and then the plan can be applied,"  says Kurt, a former Justice and Development Party (AKP) member. He believes democratic rights should not be withheld until hostilities cease.

Last Friday, during a conference at Artuklu University in the Kurdish city of Mardin, Davutoglu announced a plan to tackle terrorism and resolve the long-lasting Kurdish issue. He said that security, economy, and political measures will be taken into consideration in implementing the 10-point plan.

According to the plan, the government will apply democratic reforms, make economic investment, and offer financial aids to businesses and farmers in the underdeveloped southeastern Turkey.

Ali Bayramoglu, a journalist from Turkey, believes that the recent plan cannot put an end to the Kurdish problem." This plan will not change anything for better because it is full of security measures. The Turkish government used to equate Kurdish problem with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)."

"Tackling political issues through security measures make it difficult to resolve the problems," Bayramoglu continued.

Another journalist from Turkey, Levent Gultekin said, "Future reconstruction of the cities will not bring back the dead people their lives. We need to achieve peace before anything else."

Gultekin expressed his disappointment regarding the Turkish government and Davutoglu's Plan. "If we were in peace, the plan could be effective."
Since 1992, several similar plans have been raised by different Turkish prime ministers including Suleyman Demirel, Tansu Ciller, Necmettin Erbakan, and Mesut Yilmaz, but none of them achieved the desired results in resolving the Kurdish issue.

Reporting by Gulala Khaled
Editing by Benjamin Kweskin and Ava Homa
(Ercan Dag contributed to this report from Istanbul)