Abortion and Caesarean are debated around the world

The opposition Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has voiced to abortion and Caesarean section in recent speeches has some saying: “Look, do you see? His religionist side has surfaced again.”

I think this is an incorrect assessment. This debate has been going on in almost every part of the world for years. There is an enormous war being fought between liberals and conservatives.

Whether the prime minister’s approach to this subject stems from his conservatism or is a part of the three-child campaign he has been escalating for some time, I don’t know. One thing I do know, though, is that I do not agree with him in his argument that abortion and caesarean births are a big conspiracy.

Abortion is truly a very debatable issue. I wonder if women should give birth knowing that the child has serious medical problems that would make its life incredibly miserable. It is a very tough decision.

Caesarean section is different, though. Having a child born through surgery, instead of going through labor for hours, has become a widespread fashion. Now the surgery is opted for not for medical reasons but in order to avoid labor. And this operation wears on the body, and postpones having another child.

This cannot be prevented by banning it. Instead of believing in conspiracies, the only way is to raise awareness among the public.

As the PKK strikes, Erdoğan gets tougher and peace withdraws
We see things that make it difficult to understand what the PKK [the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party] wants, and what kind of a policy it plans to follow.

Formerly, it was Ankara that had a confused mind. Different voices came from Çankaya and from the General Staff, and the government would say something completely different. Now, the situation has changed. For the first time, there is a unified voice coming from Ankara. Policies are tailored through one source. The only boss is Prime Minister Erdoğan.

Formerly, the PKK had one voice. The only boss was Abdullah Öcalan. Now, there are voices coming from everywhere. Notably, there has been no voice coming from İmralı for 10 months. More precisely, dialogue is banned. There are different voices coming from Kandil [Mountain] and the PKK center in Europe.

Meanwhile, it has become obvious that the PKK does not trust the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). The party is appalled. They are trying, but are unable to produce consistent policies.

In the midst of this chaos, the PKK explodes a bomb, or plants a mine over there and kills people. It makes its youth throw Molotov cocktails. Either they do not know these acts do not affect the public the way they used to, or, worse, they do it just to please their own staff.

When the PKK strikes, the ruling party toughens. The message that there will be no negotiation with terrorists, that there will only be talks with the BDP, is heard more often. Who is winning, and who is losing?

It is clear that the loser is the PKK, because both in Turkey and in the international community, different winds are blowing. The state has the power to stand strong, whereas the PKK is overestimating the cards it holds. I think they are mistaken. Time is working against them. I guess Ankara is evaluating the situation more correctly. For this reason, it is in no rush to find a solution.