Turkey and Parliament will have a critical week ahead in which vital issues will be discussed, including the motion for a military operation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the government’s democratic initiative and a protocol with Armenia.
The Cabinet is ready to handle crucial issues now that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has returned from a lengthy visit to the US, where he attended a series of critical meetings. Parliament will begin a new legislative term on Oct. 1 in which two protocols on normalizing and developing relations with Armenia as well as the government’s democratic initiative, mainly aimed at improving rights for Turkey’s Kurds, will be on the top of the agenda. The government will also discuss plans to extend for one more year a mandate for the military to conduct cross-border operations against the PKK in northern Iraq as a priority.
Prime Minister Erdogan is now expected to share with his ministers more about the content of his talks in the United States. The Cabinet will further discuss the issues and set a roadmap for the implementation of the initiatives. The issues to be discussed in Parliament include the democratization package. Interior Minister Be”ir Atalay will brief the Cabinet on the short, mid and long-term goals of the initiative and hold a press conference on the matter in a week. A report to be prepared with the coordination of the ministry will be deliberated at the Cabinet meeting and subsequently referred to Parliament where its terms and timing will be elaborated on in detail.
Before referring the package to Parliament, the prime minister may hold a meeting with the main opposition leader Deniz Baykal. Erdogan, who will address a letter to Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Baykal, will request a meeting if the CHP leader agrees.
The second issue to be discussed at the Cabinet is the protocol with Armenia.
Furthermore, the Cabinet will introduce additional incentives for the business world, which still suffers from repercussions of the global crisis. The Cabinet is also expected to give the final word in regard to a raise in wages of civil servants.
Motion for cross-border operation The motion for a cross-border operation in northern Iraq will be discussed by the Cabinet and subsequently in Parliament. The General Staff requested last week that the motion allowing for a military operation be extended. The government, which agrees on extending the period of the motion that will expire on Oct. 17, will ask for its discussion in Parliament, which will be back in session on Oct. 1. The motion will be deliberated in Parliament on Oct. 5.
The first plenary session of the new legislative term will be chaired by the newly elected speaker, Mehmet Ali Sahin. President Abdullah Gul will deliver a speech at the session and is expected to give important messages on the democratization package and the Kurdish issue.
Whether the chief of staff will attend the session still remains unclear. Analysts expect that top military officers may attend the session because of recent developments on the government’s initiative despite their resolution not to participate in any parliamentary meetings since July 22, when the
Armenia protocol to be taken up in commission A protocol the government signed with Armenia will be one of the most important topics of debate in the new legislative period. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu spent much of the parliamentary recess period touring political party leaders and sharing information and finding out opinions about the protocol. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) will request a special session in Parliament about the protocol. It is yet unclear if this session will be public or a closed one.
All protocols signed so far with Armenia will be submitted to the Foreign Affairs Commission of Parliament. It is expected that the protocol will stir much debate in Parliament. The protocol is expected to come to the agenda of Parliament on either Oct. 10 or Oct. 11.
A week of congresses As Parliament opens, this week and the weekend will be busy with a difficult agenda, because next week the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the DTP both have congresses. These conventions are of crucial importance to the government’s democratic initiative. The AK Party congress is slated for Oct. 3, while the DTP’s congress is on Oct. 4.
This will be the AK Party’s third usual congress. It will be held at the ASKI Sports Hall in Ankara. The congress will focus on which new faces will gain seniority in the upper organs of the party. Prime Minister Erdogan is expected to make significant changes in the Central Decision and Steering Committee, changing at least
Meanwhile, some of the ministers that were left out of the Cabinet in the latest reshuffle are expected to be appointed to administrative organs of the party.
State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arin,“Employment and Social Security Minister Omer Dincer, Interior Affairs Minister Atalay, Education Minister Husseyin Celik, former Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan, State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek and Ankara deputy Salih Kapusuz are highly likely to gain posts in the administration after this weekend’s congress.
DTP at a junction The DTP congress will be a defining event in the course of developments regarding the government’s democratic initiative. It will be held on Oct. 4 at the Selim Sirri Tarcan Sports Hall and will be the party’s third extraordinary congress. It is unlikely that competition over leadership will take place, but the new administration members will show whether DTP leader Ahmet T“rk, a moderate, or Emine Ayna, known for her uncompromising stance, will gain influence in party leadership. Pundits say the DTP administration’s new makeup might have a strong influence on the fate of the democratic initiative.
The main topic on the DTP congress’ agenda will be the Kurdish initiative. Nearly 400 people, including leaders and senior members of the AK Party, the CHP and others, intellectuals, writers and journalists have been invited to the congress, whose theme will be “A democratic solution for an equal and free union.” The DTP printed invitations both in Kurdish and Turkish, observers note, recalling that no one from the MHP was not invited.
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