Cengiz Candar says Turkey on the edge of civil war: “We have been pointing out the danger of Turkey “turning into Syria” for so long now that we have run out of spittle in our mouths and ink in our pens.”

My favorite Turk: not good news. Some of us warned of these repercussions in 2011 and especially when Turkey ramped up its support for violent Jihadists.

From the newspaper Radikal September 9.

“Unless and until one of the sides “climbs down” all “pointers” are that we are unfortunately heading for “civil war.”

“…In almost every corner of the country people are talking about this “eventuality” among themselves. Turkey looks not so much like a country that will hold an election a month and a half from now but more like a country “that is laying the paving stones on the road to civil war.”

We have been pointing out the danger of Turkey “turning into Syria” for so long now that we have run out of spittle in our mouths and ink in our pens. Some say that the current state is already one of “civil war” while others are saying this is not a full-on “civil war” but it is heading in that direction.

“…From this moment on the only solution that the state and the nation will accept is the terrorist organization laying down its weapons. The weapons will either be handed over to the state or buried in concrete and made unusable. There is no longer anything else to discuss. Both the state and the nation have shown the necessary patience. It is the terrorist organization that is going to take concrete action. The greatest role to be played in getting the terrorist organization to disarm falls to our people living in the region.”

The long and the short of this opinion, which the president has expressed before and which various government and AKP officials have stated on various occasions is the PKK accepting “surrender.”

“Such a development will without any doubt end the “blood bath” in Turkey. It could well be a very desirable development but is it “realistic”?

“Does the PKK look willing to do what Erdogan wants it to do? Are there any indicators to this effect?

“If there are none, and there are indeed none, and given that it cannot be thought that Tayyip Erdogan cannot see this, seeing that the president is returning to the “rhetoric” that has been used for 40 years to no avail and has taken up this kind of “position” this means he is not hoping for a “positive political outcome” for himself in the near future.”

“…Those people who only yesterday were saying, ‘We will not accept a unilateral ceasefire, they will kneel and there will be war until doomsday’ have no right to complain and moan now.

“Either you will man up and end this war that you initiated, or this war is going to bring you down without any need for doomsday.”

“What are we to understand from those lines?”

“…Both sides in this “slide” have “zero sum” game plans that are wholly incompatible with one another and diametrically opposed. If a “third party” or “parties” were to get involved, this could halt the slide and stop the bloodshed. Failing this, Turkey is going to “rhyme” with Syria.”