The Kurdish Question in general

During the trip of the delegation it was clear that the main point in Turkey's accession to the EU is and will be the Kurdish question. This was very clearly demonstrated during the visit of two delegation members in the city of Sirnak. There we had the possibility of meeting the governor of the city (leader of the province of Sirnak), the mayor of the city (representing DEHAP) and the leader of the AK Party's Sirnak branch.

The discussions with the governor and the mayor both started from the Kurdish question although the governor was not using the word Kurd as it has used to be a forbidden word. He was speaking about the terrorist problem of the area. The mayor spoke about the importance of solving the Kurdish question as the most important condition for Turkey's EU membership.

The AKP leader did not speak about terrorists nor Kurds, he spoke about development in the area and praised the government for it.

About these discussions it was to be seen that there has been some positive development in the area and concluding from other discussions and information there has been some positive development in the whole country. But the two discussions described above also showed clearly that the attitudes and mentality of the people has to change dramatically.

Mentality is a word which was repeatedly used by several people we discussed with during the trip. Mentality is also a word which is repeatedly used in reports and plans concerning the accession of Turkey to the EU. It usually refers to the need of the Turkish people having to change their mentality, and most often as regards to those in power, government, the military etc.