Chief of General Staff General Yasar Büyükanit spoke at a symposium entitled "Cutting Off Economic and Ideological Support for the PKK/Kongra Gel Terrorist Organisation" on Tuesday (11 December).
He said that the terrorist organisation was both becoming politicised and legitimised. According to the Hürriyet website, when asked by journalists after the symposium what he meant by the latter, he answered: "They are in parliament. They are even making suggestions for constitutional changes."
Büyükanit: Other countries duped
According to the Cnntürk website, Büyükanit said that domestic and foreign support for terrorism influenced each other:
"We have lost values like human rights, democracy and peace. Now terrorists are using them for their own language. This is very important when you consider other countries. When they hear these concepts, they somehow agree with the terrorist organisations."
He added that the security forces had been turned into bodies who were said not to believe in, even hate these concepts: "As a society, we must stay away from encouraging behaviour. Terrorism has become both politicised and legitimised."
Hürriyet's website further quoted Büyükanit as saying, "When we look at the psychological dimensions, we see that we have lost some of the values which humanity holds high since 1984. They were turned on us as weapons. Human rights, democracy and peace. Who is using these concepts now? Are we using them, or is terrorism using them? Human rights have virtually become terrorist rights.
"It is the same with democracy. If you note what they say carefully, there is always democracy. They use the concept of freedom. As for peace, look at the peace mothers [mothers of PKK militants and soldiers who are calling for peace]. Because these concepts have slipped out of our hands, we try to defend ourselves. Against whom? Against terrorists. But the terrorists are talking about freedom, peace and democracy. And some people then think that 'these people want freedom.'"
Deputy Chief of General Staff General Ergin Saygun added that despite positive developments in recent days, some EU countries were still supporting the terrorist organisation.
Türk: Unhelpful discourse increases tension
Ahmet Türk, head of the parliamentary group of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) said that statements which increased tensions should be avoided.
Asked by journalists at the parliament how he evaluated the comments, he said that the party's MPs were people who "believe in democratic politics" and that the people who voted for them had sent them to parliament to take part in democratic politics:
"We are members of parliament. We have an attitude which considers the respectability of parliament. Our aim is to decrease tensions. Statements which increase tensions should be avoided. We expect everyone to talk sensitively."
Uras: Soldiers are civil servants
Ufuk Uras, Istanbul MP for the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP), was more directly critical of Büyükanit's comments. He pointed out that Büyükanit was a civil servant:
"If civil servants have the right to interfere in politics, then this should be the right not only of the civil servant with the gun at his hip, but also the right of the civil servant working in the register office. Let no civil servant consider themselves more privileged than others. The same right should then apply to the civil servants holding pens, watering hoses and broomsticks."
Uras further criticised the media for avidly reporting military statements: "I don't think that anyone is interested in what the military bureaucracy has to say on that issue. I find it wrong that the press gives so much coverage to these bureaucratic statements. If no one listened, then we would progress on the road of democratisation." (NZ/TK/AG)
