Who is in control?

It was good that the Interior Ministry’s press section issued a statement and corrected a statement attributed to Interior Minister Efkan Ala that the Turkish state has lost control of the southeastern parts of the country to the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) gang. “Such news doesn’t reflect the reality” the ministry said.

What is the real situation? Who indeed is in control of the southeastern parts of the country? Is it the state or the gang? If some people in khaki uniforms, armed with Kalashnikovs and hand grenades can block roads, highways, stop cars, conduct ID checks and collect ransom, there ought to be some serious problem regarding under whose control is that region. Is it possible for any country to accept roads to some of its towns and scores of villages to be cut off for weeks by some people clad in some sort of khaki uniform, resembling a military force?

Journalist, writer Etyen Mahçupyan must have difficulty accommodating his new job as chief advisor of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu – a duty he said he had no option to turn down. Mahçupyan said his first task as advisor to the premier was to write the text of a propaganda speech for Davutoğlu.

Mahçupyan said the “resolution process” required contributions of both the state and the gang. “If either of the two sides say it is no longer participating in the process, that’s the end of it. The PKK as well has earned a lot in this process. They produced a politician like Selahattin Demirtaş, who is appreciated by everyone. They covered considerable areas as regards achieving legitimacy. They consolidated their power in the region to such an extent that today public order in the region is in the hands of the PKK, not the state. That’s why...