Solutions for chaos

Tomorrow will be the second day of the Ergenekon trial, the case against dozens of people who tried to undermine the state and government (about whom I have already written). Monday, the first day, there was total chaos in the court room. Not enough space for the accused, family, lawyers and journalists, too much noise for anybody to make themselves heard. I wonder if the court has found a way to avoid a repetition tomorrow. 

Members of the Ergenekon gang are suspected of trying to create chaos in the country and prepare the public for a military coup to overthrow the AKP government. Some suggest there were even ties between Ergenekon and terrorist organisation PKK. There is still no proof of that, but while Ergenekon is out of action for the time being, the PKK is still quite capable of wreaking havoc. A recent attack on a military outpost resulted in the death of seventeen soldiers, and now rumours have started about PKK leader Öcalan being mistreated in prison, leading to riots in the streets of big Kurdish cities like Diyarbakir and Van. Already one protestor has been shot dead by police. It will not be easy to calm people down. Not only the rumour about Öcalan makes people angry, but that was just the spark needed for people to express their frustrations about the fact that nothing much has changed in the region since the AKP won the elections and didn’t live up to their beautiful promises for the Kurdish region. And now also a verdict in the closure case against pro-Kurdish party DTP is expected any day. If they are closed down – and chances are that they will be – protest in the southeast will grow.

Finding solutions for chaos in the court room should not be too difficult. The chaos in the country however…. I wonder when serious efforts will start to deal with that.