PEOPLE SIGH DEEPLY WITH RELIEF By Mehmet Ali Birand's From "Turkish Daily News" 06.11.02 An extremely strange mood prevails in Turkey. You should see the comments made by the people in the streets when they heard about the party leaders resigning one another. They said: - Oh, this gives me such relief! - They have been taught a lesson! - The bickering is over... People seem to be watching with glee the way the leaders get punished, the leaders whom they had applauded and carried around on their shoulders until recently. They feel that they have "taught a lesson" to those persons whom they see as the real culprits responsible for their impoverishment. This is an unprecedented act of "collective liquidation" directed against the political cadres. In the 1999 election, Republican People's Party (CHP) had been punished. Masses of people, who did not want harshness or a bad temper, had pushed that party out of the Parliament. This time they have pushed the others as well, Ciller included, out of the Parliament. I do not want this to be misunderstood. People are not dreaming. They do not think that the AK Party will solve all the problems. They view the situation in an extremely realistic manner. People have brought AK Party to power not for the sake of religion but in order to get rid of the "old methods". People do not want fights or tension. All they want is improvement of their daily lives, solutions to their problems. If, today, there is a certain relief in the markets and if the dollar price and the interest rates are declining, this shows that people have confidence in the current parliamentary picture, one that features the AK party and the CHP. This is an indication of people's desire to see a single-party kind of administration that would work without any fighting, that is, in peace an quiet, an administration that would give priority to economy rather than to the headscarf issue. People want to be at ease, to have some relief. New leaders too are aware of the situation If you pay attention you will see that Tayyip Erdogan and Deniz Baykal too are aware of this mood. On Monday evening they appeared on almost all TV channels. The questions posed to them were almost alike. When they replied to the questions the most important element they underlined was "a new approach and a fight-free administration". The mood was even calmer the last time the two leaders appeared on CNN TURK. They both took care to avoid making the kind of statements that would create tension. They have acted wisely. And they obtained the results of that soon enough. The markets perked up. The dollar price and the interest rates declined. Hopes have grown. Will all these expectations be fulfilled? It would be wise not to be overoptimistic. One day things would definitely revert to the old system. The Parliament may stop looking like a rose garden. There will come a time when issues such as the headscarf, Iraq and Cyprus, will be debated. Then, the scene will be different. However, there is still the hope that there will not be a total regression into the old climate of turmoil. We are entering a new period with all its advantages and disadvantages. So let us enjoy the current climate. Let us make the best of the honeymoon period.