Diyarbakır is regarded as the heart of Turkey's Kurdish presence in Turkey. So whatever happens in Diyarbakır also reflects the heart beats of the people of all of the predominantly Kurdish southeastern Anatolia.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan travels all around the country but last weekend he made a point of going to Diyarbakır with an army of journalists and addressing the people of the city that was also a message to the people of all of southeastern Anatolia. He also visited the nearby village where the PKK terrorists set off a huge bomb killing 16 villagers and presented the condolences of the Turkish state to the grieved families.

The visit was geared to sending a message that the Turkish state is in Diyarbakır and the rest of the troubled region permanently and will not abandon these people to the whims of the PKK.

The message was much-needed as people want to trust the Turkish state and trust that it will provide them with security and shelter against the PKK gangs that have been harassing the masses for quite some time.

They want to cooperate with the Turkish state, they want to be a part of the Republic of Turkey yet they also fear and have suspicions that the state will desert them and leave them in the hands of the PKK, which means reprisals and terrorist persecution.

The general atmosphere in Diyarbakır was one of guarded optimism when Erdoğan visited Diyarbakır on Saturday. People respect Erdoğan and believe he is the leader "to deliver" because of their past positive experiences. They feel he is a man of action and a man of his word and they think he can still be a remedy for their hardships. However, there are also those who feel the Turkish state has abandoned them too often in the past and has not made its presence felt strongly at all times thus acting as a deterrent for the PKK.

They are happy that several hot spots have been cleared of the PKK and that the security operations are continuing with great determination and motivation. Yet they also feel that after all this is over, the state will have to show its muscle and prevent the PKK returning to these areas and restarting its activities.

Their negative experiences during the so-called peace and reconciliation process where PKK militants were left uncontrolled in key southeastern cities and towns to build arsenals and prepare for an uprising and how local officials refused to act against them is still fresh in the minds of locals.

All this also means those running the country have to deal with the local administrations and municipalities controlled by pro-PKK sympathizers who provided the separatist terrorist organizations with all kinds of funds and resources to build their power bases in the critical towns and in the districts of major cities like Diyarbakır. These municipalities provided jobs for the PKK people, they provided the machinery to dig up hedges and helped them to even plant bombs. Can any government tolerate this kind of treason?

It is hard to act against elected municipalities but if they have committed terrorist crimes, can anyone hesitate to act against them? Can any government explain its failure to put an end to this mess?

Ankara has to act and has to show to the people of the region that it is in southeastern Anatolia to make its presence felt at all times. It also has to heal the wounds left by the actions of the PKK terrorists.