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- 1. ThursDAY, december 18, 2014 op脹n脹on10 TODAYS ZAMAN DESIGN: DERYA YILDIRIM Da丹箪stan etinkayadagistancetinkaya@todayszaman.com.trTh箪nk tank cafe Public Relations Contact Information: Publication Type: Periodical, Daily Headquarters: Todays Zaman, 34194 Yenibosna, STANBUL. Phone Number: +90 212 454 1 444 Fax: 0212 454 14 97, Web Address: http://www.todayszaman.com, Printed at: Feza Gazetecilik A.. Tesisleri. Advertisement Phone: +90 212 454 82 47, Fax: +90 212 454 86 33. Ankara Bureau Phone: +90 312 207 42 02 Today's Zaman abides by the rules of press ethics. Publisher Feza Gazetec聴l聴k A.. Chief Executive Officer EKREM DUMANLI Editor-in-Chief BLENT KENE Established on January 16, 2007 NO: 2408 Thursday, December 18, 2014 Brand Marketing Responsible Manager and Representative of the Owner Ankara Representative Design Director Layout Director Business News Editor Culture & Arts Editor Features Editor Web Editor Chief Copy Editor General Manager Chief Advertising Officer Managing Editors 聴BRAH聴M TRKMEN YAKUP 聴MEK CEL聴L SAIR FATMA DEMRELL (Diplomacy) OKAN UDO BASSEY ABDULLAHBOZKURT FEVZ聴 YAZICI mehmet ulga ERG聴N HAVA YASEMNGRKAN PINAR VURUCU ULE KULU HELEN P. BETTS FARUK KARDI MURAT KULA President Recep Tayyip Erdoan has said, Were re- ally not concerned with the Euro- pean Union! No, of course not. After all, youre not concerned with democracy either. Nor with what it means to have a state of law. Nor with the supremacy of jus- tice. Nor with the independence of the justice system. Nor with the separation of powers. Nor with freedom of expres- sion. Nor with an independent me- dia. Nor with a free media. Nor with equality between men and women. Nor with critical thought. Nor with secularism. Nor with freedom of religion. Nor with freedom of belief. Nor with the Alevis. Nor with plurality. Nor with respect for different kinds of lifestyles. So, after all, how could a person like you, so unencumbered by con- cerns about all these things, possibly be concerned with the EU? Pick up the phone, get work done Erdoan said, Were really not concerned with the EU! Of course you arent. You arent concerned with democracy either, nor with the idea of a state of law. After all, its quite natural that a person who orders news broadcast on tele- vision, who picks up the phone to get journalists jobs, who picks up the phone to make sure TV programs are cen- sored, who picks up the phone to get his Ministry of Justice to intervene in the workings of the Supreme Court of Appeals to obtain an ac- quittal for a big businessman, who picks up the phone to tell the Council of State which mem- ber should become president, who picks up the phone to give a huge state tender from one busi- nessman to another, who picks up the phone to pes- ter one media boss until he cries, who picks up the phone to over- see the creation of a media pool, who picks up the phone, who picks up the phone, who picks up the phone This is a list of lines that could actually go on forever, this whole picking up the phone thing. It is therefore quite natural that a person who can get all this done with one telephone would not be concerned with the EU. We have no doubt about this. Values linked to democracy and the law are no concern of yours! Every reasonable person is aware of it. For a long time now, all the values that make the West the West, that make the EU the EU, all the values that concern democ- racy, the law, freedom and human rights, for a long time, none of these have concerned you. They are not, in the most re- mote sense, even on your agenda or your horizon. Maybe they never were. Maybe youve actually never changed. Maybe you were telling the truth when you once said, De- mocracy is for me not the goal but a vehicle. Maybe you were being entirely sincere when you said, My entire frame of reference is Islam. Maybe you never said openly, I want not only my private life but public life also to be lived in accordance with Islam; the state and social order in Turkey need to be in accordance with Islam, but perhaps this was always your real belief and desire. Maybe when you once asked, Does Hasan Cemal have the right to change, but not me? you were not being sincere. Maybe you never actually had any intent to change your inner being. Maybe you were hiding the truth when you said you had taken off your National View shirt. The journey is not going to be easy! For a long time now, all the values that make the West the West, that make the EU the EU, all the values that concern democ- racy, the law, freedom and human rights, for a long time, none of these have concerned you. Maybe you never changed at all! Maybe you always shied away from telling the truth. Maybe you were pretending. But now I have no doubts. You are finally, today, telling the truth. Everyone knows that youre not concerned with the EU. Because, of course, someone unencumbered with concern about democracy and the supremacy of law, or about the independence of the justice system and the separa- tion of powers, or about freedom of expression and the existence of a free and independent media -- how could such a person be con- cerned with the EU? Well, happy travels to you then! But you should know this: Its going to be a rockier ride than you had imagined, because every step of the way, youre going to bump into people opposing you, waving the flags of democracy, the law and freedom. *Hasan Cemal is a journalist writing for T24.com.tr. This piece was originally pub- lished on the site in Turkish on Dec. 17. Maybe you were pretend脹ng all along! Hasan Cemal* Regardless of bitterness at home, Turkey has united in one voice to join Pakistan in mourning its loss of 148 innocent ci- vilians, including 134 schoolgoers as young as 12 years old. The attack was so gruesome and spectacular that the steel-hardened nerves of the Pakistani nation were wrecked. As the terror- ists climbed the graveyard facing the rear wall of the school and entered the campus, all hell broke loose. They knew exactly where to head. Their first target was the auditorium where students were taking pre-winter vacation exams. Before anyone realized it, the bullet pierced through the fore- heads of many, followed by a grenade explosion. Withallsidescoveredbynineinvadingter- rorists, the teachers -- mostly females -- locked the classrooms from the inside, blocking the doors with desks and chairs. As the butchers of death went door to door, they did not bother to even open the locked ones. The doors were no match for AK-47 bullets, claiming dozens of lives inside. Some hid beneath the desk while others made it to the ventilators. A female teacher who provoked their wrath with her angry stare was sprayed with flammable liquid and immolated alive before the horrified teen- agers. A few minutes later, he turned his gun towards them. Some of the innocent childrens bodies were thrown outside, too. When the gory drama unfolded in the heart of Peshawar Cantonment, the militarys rapid response team was swift to reach and engage the terrorists. Meanwhile, the commandos of the Special Services Group took up the mission. While the militants showed no interest in taking hostages, 700 were able escape alive and unin- jured of the schools 1,100 students and teachers. The Pakistani nation watched the images on television in disbelief while parents waited anxiously for their loved ones along the secu- rity cordons. Hospitals were swarmed by dead bodies as well as the injured, over 300 in total. Youth queued up across the country to donate blood. Politicians also got their act together. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and top op- position leader Imran Khan also reached Pe- shawar, where the army chief supervised the clearance operation. Imran postponed his pro- test call while other parties called for political reconciliation. Offering immediate relief to the nation, the government lifted a moratorium on the death sentence, paving the way for the hanging of some 500 convicted terrorists. ThestateofTaliban TheTalibanaresurelyweakened,especiallyafter the new Afghan governments commitment to side with Pakistan and flush out militants from easternAfghanistan.Moreover,theAfghangov- ernment has for the first time handed over a top Pakistani Taliban leader recently. The backlash began with the attack on Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, which failed to achieve any significant gains. Then last month, the Taliban sent a suicide bomber to a border post near India where Pakistanis go every evening to witness a parade and a ceremony for the lowering of the national flag. That indicated a shift in Taliban tactics from strictly strategic to soft targets. Then came the gruesome massacre of Dec. 16 in Peshawar, claiming 148 lives and injuring as many. Overnight, not only has Pakistan stepped up its air strikes and land operation against the militants, but also the United States has stepped up its drone strikes in eastern Afghanistan, where Pakistani Taliban have been hiding out. The top Taliban leader has moved there since the military operation -- Zarb-e-Azm -- which started in June of this year. In a knee-jerk reaction, more schools, parks, bazaars, shopping malls and upscale caf辿s arelikelytargetsintheweeksandmonthstocome. Civil-militaryequation The military is strengthened with such attacks, as civilian politicians are neither prepared to deal with crises nor assertive enough to establish their writ on the armed forces. The incident occurred in the heart of a cantonment with very high security, thus exposing weakness within the military. The attack could not have happened without internal logistical help as well as information. There wont be any accountability or report under the auspices of parliament. The politicians may start fight- ing again after a brief lull, giving away more vital space to the military and intelligence agencies. The post-9/11 situation has significantly weakened democratization in Pakistan, particu- larly civil-military relations in the executive af- fairs and civilian control of security institutions, including the police. Nonetheless, operation Zarb-e-Azm will receive the highest degree of popularity, as a majority of victims are children of military personnel. The army chief, during his unprecedented 18-day official visit to the US in November, gave assurances that there are no favorites or assets in the ranks of the terrorists. So far, Islamabad has overwhelmingly stood by its commitment. Any shortcomings have been overcome by US drone attacks in Pakistani tribal areas, in addition to hits inside Afghanistan on militants fleeing the operation. India,Afghanistanandbeyond The Peshawar attack will create a brief sense of sympathy for Pakistans terror victims, but In- dia wont come closer to even starting talks to resume the composite dialogue process. Indias hard-line premier, Narendra Modi, won on the basis of an agenda of hate. He has so far rejected all overtures from Islamabad and instead ripped apart the longstanding cease-fire along the Line of Control in disputed Jammu and Kashmir. Del- hi is annoyed at the new Afghan government for extending cordialities to Pakistan, in a departure from the hostility of the Karzai regime. The rela- tions will stay frozen until they deteriorate further. Mullah Fazlullah remains in the eye of the storm. Islamabad will exert every ounce of pres- sure on Kabul and Washington to have him arrested and handed over alive. With intensi- fied air raids in eastern Afghanistan and the unprecedented popularity of the anti-Taliban operation, there is little chance for him to hide. The children and women of Pakistan are be- coming increasingly less safe in schools, parks, hospitals and residential plazas. The worst part of the war here is that the militants dont attack an area to take hostages. Like Tuesdays attack on the school, they aim to maximize the death toll. If Pakistan does not improve its security in qualitative terms, there are fears of a repeat of the Peshawar attacks elsewhere in Pakistan. The Dec. 16 attack has exposed the pain and agony of Pakistani people to the world as a first. Despite sacrificing over 60,000 lives, the country was largely stereotyped as sym- pathetic to the barbaric Taliban militia. *Naveed Ahmad is an investigative journalist and academic, with a focus on security, diplomacy and governance. He is the co-founder of the multilingual feature service Silent Heroes, Invisible Bridges and tweets at @naveed360. Pakistans never-ending agony Naveed Ahmad* PHOTOAP,MohammadSajjad Pakistani soldiers inspect the interior of the school in Peshawar that was attacked the day before by Taliban gunmen.