Presidential Tour Ignored Reality

In Siirt, the welcome that Abdullah Gül got was lukewarm. One reason for that may be that Siirt was formerly the constituency of charismatic leader Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

There had been no serious preparation for the visit. The official bulletin of the governor's office only ran a few lines and did not say when the President would arrive. As for the loudspeaker announcement of the municipality, it sounded as if the people were being told "you are not the state":

"Our honourable President will come to our city at 10.30 am and meet with NGOs."

No rights activists 

As for the NGOs, there was a distinct lack of democratic, human rights and trade unions organisations. There was the Turkish Aeronautical Association (THK), the Red Crescent and Traders' Associations...

The only banner in the city had been hung up in front of the governor's building. Abdullah Gül did not really visit the city anyway, as he went to the Brigade Gazino a hundred metres away from the governor's building. He left Siirt without looking at the Atatürk memorial in the centre or any other part of the city.

Official departments and municipalities had been called, but had not accepted. The district governors (kaymakam) and mayors who had come, the ceremonial guests and curious citizens - they all looked like extras in a film.

Some families had come with their children in order to talk with the President. The calls of "Turkey is proud of you" sounded less enthusiastic than the slogans at football matches.

The luckiest child was eight-year-old Yusuf Aygan, whose parents had asked for help with his and his five siblings' school expenses. Yusuf's friends were upset that the President had not handed out toys.

Mostly AKP present 

The small crowd was mostly made up of the two Justice and Development Party (AKP) MPs, district and central mayors and other party members. Maybe this lack of interest was a way of saying, "You said you were going to be everyone's President, not just the President of the AKP!"

The presents given to the President were meaningless and lacked seriousness. The "Siirt blanket", which is meant to be made from mohair, was died and synthetic. It was saddening to see that thus this famous handicraft was encouraged in its decline rather than saved.

An opportunity missed... 

What makes us so negative is that there was an opportunity to be seized for Siirt and the country. The conflict in the region was ignored and there was no mention of social peace or constitutional change.

Unfortunately the only thing that Turkey will remember from this tour is not the creation of original projects, but a Muslim President who accidently drank water and thus broke his fast early.

Our only consolation was that Gül could see the founding rector of Siirt University, who has campaigned for the protection of the Botan river from poisonous waste and for employment for the young. (CK/NZ)