Elegant moves from the President

President Abdullah Gül is completing the third anniversary of his election with very elegant moves.

Last week he received Hrant Dink's brother in his office and met with him one-on-one. He probably soothed to some extent the pain that had been renewed by the scandalous defense made on behalf of Turkey in the case being heard at the ECtHR, which continues to accuse Hrant, and lightened somewhat the unbearable weight of the negligence that, in the mildest expression, has been displayed on behalf of the state. By expressing, with the dignity and responsibility of being the head of this nation, the shame that falls to each of our shares for everything that befell Hrant on this country's soil, he soothed hearts.

When the subject of meeting with Öcalan, brought out of place into the referendum context on the agenda, had again been made to spoil everything in every respect, he stepped in and delivered a gentle but effective warning that everyone should come to their senses. If the only thing left to do to stop the flowing blood is to meet with Öcalan, what is the point of chasing words uttered with a simple cunning that popped out of the middle of a political fight and getting in the way of meeting with him?

The President's intervention on this matter reminded us that our most urgent problem is peace, that this peace can easily be endangered by petty day-to-day political fights, and that everyone must therefore be very careful on this matter. Indeed, after his statement the course of the debate began to settle somewhat more on the axis of reason.

It was remembered that there is in fact no one left who has not met with Öcalan, but that, to the same extent, these meetings have so far been of no use. Some people have used Öcalan to the hilt up to now, but none of this use was to produce peace, only to feed war, chaos and militarism more. Yet at the point the problem has reached today, not only can no step be taken toward its solution by ignoring Öcalan's person or image, but the Öcalan reality has also come to the point of being able to take its place in the equations of peace as never before. In this situation, as Mr. Gül said, stepping in with excellent timing and weight: "Terrorism is not fought only with arms either. All means are put forward... When the time comes, diplomacy; when the time comes, the TSK steps in."

These words are not things nobody knew, nor do they contain any new information, but it is very important that these ordinary words are said at the right time and by a suitable person. It is important to step in precisely at a stage when serious distances had been covered on the country's peace and these efforts were on the verge of going up in smoke...

These are truly very elegant moves.

To these beautiful moves was added yesterday his meeting at the Tarabya mansion with prominent opinion leaders who are pondering the Kurdish question. Mr. Gül successfully gave the impression that the state's will regarding the part of the democratic opening concerning the Kurdish question or terrorism, which there are deliberate attempts to give the impression has been suspended during the referendum process, continues under his own patronage. In fact, it is worth remembering that a big step in the process was taken on his trip when he addressed Norşin by its name. Thus it had enabled us to identify a paradigm change in the state's stance toward Kurdish identity. Today he shows that he stands behind that change, and that these are not words uttered once, by slip of the tongue, as with previous politicians, but steps based on a real paradigm change

These are truly elegant moves, and what makes them more elegant is that, going beyond being fleeting, they must be forming the thick lines of Gül's model of presidency.

Three years ago today, Mr. Gül's election took place with a rate and style of consensus rarely seen in Turkey. But to the same extent, it also met with a resistance and opposition perhaps not seen in the election of any of his predecessors. Although he is the last representative of the old method of election (election by the TBMM), the election process was an event that involved the public to the maximum degree among those of his predecessors. Meanwhile, none of his predecessors was subjected, when elected, to so many doubts or pressures about "impartiality."

At the end of three years we can say with ease that, to the same extent, he has been more embracing of everyone than any of his predecessors, and he is also the one who has applied the practice of impartiality most authentically. That is why, if a performance evaluation is to be made in this respect at the end of three years, it can be said that he has not misled those who supported his election, and that he has created a perceptible satisfaction among those who opposed his election and who have no ideological fixation.

That Mr. Gül, who has made big differences in many areas during his three-year term, has entered his third year with such a concentration of beautiful moves, like a kind of commemorative event, has also been noteworthy.