Davutoğlu's meeting with the Wisemen Committee


Last Sunday while the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Chief Hakan Fidan was meeting with Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the PKK, the Wisemen Committee was having a meeting hosted by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.I would like to relate my impressions before mentioning Davutoğlu's statements. It is obvious that distrust has been provoked on the matter of the reconciliation process after 40 citizens were killed in violent attacks organized by PKK supporters on Oct. 6 and Oct. 7. However, it is also possible to observe that the government has not lost its determination for solving the issue. Davutoğlu and eight other ministers listened to everyone at the meeting carefully by taking notes for 11 hours, which also indicates their determination.In his speech, Davutoğlu said, "If armed groups had left, our approach to Kobani would be different." In other words, if the PKK had withdrawn its militants from Turkey as promised the previous summer, maybe we would now be talking about a Turkey that is providing the PKK with weapons.It was also said that a decision on civil contribution to the Supervision Board might have been issued at the meeting if the incidents on Oct. 6 and Oct. 7 had not broken out. However, taking these steps is now out of question before public order is re-established and the PKK ends its illegal activities such as abductions and racketeering.The government thinks Öcalan is primarily responsible for incidents in early October. The government is concerned over the fact that it was put in charge of terrorist activities that were conducted on the pretext of Kobani resistance and the Turkish public paid the cost of all the damage. However, instead of the "wait and see" method that Öcalan generally used in previous incidents, he needed to stop the violence the very first day this time, which to some people meant that the incidents might have led to a calamitous result he could not have imagined.The statement that marked the meeting was that the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the PKK headquarters in the Qandil Mountains broke their promise while much progress had been achieved in the negotiation process between Sept. 1 and Oct. 1. According to the chronological data that Davutoğlu revealed, Qandil promised to end all its illegal activities in Turkey but it still took the lead in the violence of Oct. 6 and Oct. 7.Moreover, Davutoğlu said he offered the HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş for the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) to help in the fight for Kobani but Demirtaş refused. After that he offered the Free Syrian Army to help in the region but Demirtaş refused that too. Then he offered to let Iraqi peshmerga forces transit through Turkey to join the fight but Demirtaş only demanded weapons for the People's Protection Units (YPG) and refused all other alternatives and suggestions. As it is known, thanks to the article on "foreign soldiers" on the legislation rejected by the HDP, peshmerga forces will pass to Kobani to support YPG forces this week. The Rojava authorities including Democratic Union Party (PYD) Chairman Salih Muslim and İsmet Hesen, the YPG's resident defense chief, also said that they do not favor the inclusion of peshmerga forces, which confirms Demirtaş's negative attitude as Davutoğlu also underlined.Clearly, the PYD, which oppressed the public militarily both in Kobani and Rojava in general, is not so pleased with the planned passage of peshmerga forces through Turkey to Kobani. Thanks to this, the chance to establish pluralism that was ruled out with weapons in Rojava will be recreated.Meanwhile, the Wisemen Committee's most emphasized demand during the meeting was contacting Öcalan through civilian intermediaries. They explained that although some other names were the determiners of the process, conducting a civilian interview was only forbidden with Öcalan and the process needed a civilian approach.If the PKK ends its illegal activities in Turkey, seemingly the Wisemen Committee will also take over some duties in the future.​