Pleasing things happen in Şırnak. It was quite pleasing to see the EU flag hung on TDA's wall

The day before, on November 24, I was in Şırnak. The weather was nice. The Peak of Cudi Mountain was misty as always. Cudi seemed very magnificent. And Şırnak was not at all like what we are used to hear or read. I had a great time in Şırnak on November 24. This time pleasant things are happening in the Tigris region. The first impression I got was a series of pleasant surprises. So, those willing to hear the impression I got in Mardin-Şırnak, please join me down the article.

The distance between Mardin and Şırnak is approximately 200 kilometers. You take the road in three-three and half hours without any stopovers. The condition of the road is quite bad particularly between Cizre and Şırnak. It is so bad that you can easily expel your kidney stones. But let me avoid exaggerations; the road is not as bad as that between Al Hudaydah and Sana in Yemen, for instance. This August, we took 175 kilometers between Al Hudaydah and Sana approximately in 7.5 hours. So, let me underline that there is nothing much to dramatize.

Nonetheless, I believe that the said issue is related not only with the condition of the highway. It is closely associated with the traffic: there exists heavy highway traffic between Mardin and Şırnak. This was the first pleasant surprise waiting for me in the Tigris region. Everywhere was alive and well; there was civil dynamism. You can say "I should definitely be the commercial traffic in the direction to Iraq. After all, Habur border gate is in Şırnak, is not it?" Yes, it is in Şırnak and the gate as well as the trade with Iraq ongoing through the gate is of great importance for the Tigris region. There is nothing surprising here. However, it was not only the commercial traffic between Mardin and Cizre; traffic was busy also between Cizre and Şırnak. There was a dynamism which had no direct relation with the military shipment. Dynamism was felt both day and night. Witnessing this was the first pleasant surprise for me.

The second surprise came while I was chatting with the business world of the region. The results of the applications to first project introduced by Tigris Development Agency were newly announced. By the way, I am referring to the region as the Tigris region since I mainly talk about the region covered by Tigris Development Agency. The region covers Mardin, Siirt, Şırnak and Batman. The first impression I got about businesspeople and managers was 'a new enthusiasm'. Some were trying why their unselected project was important; some others were explaining how they prepared the winning projects. They were making comparisons among consultant firms. The Development Agency attached importance to selecting projects that prioritizes generating employment for the region. Of course there are complaints as well. However, even those seemed to carry the efforts forward. It is a pleasant innovation for Turkey to emphasized problems on the one hand and discuss on the projects aiming to solve those problems on the other hand. We are accustomed to witness only the former. I tend to associate the hopes blossoming in the region along with the opening process as a whole to the opening process in its own right and I have to admit that I am impressed by what I see. So this was the second pleasant surprise the region gave me.

The third one was the Tigris Development Agency (TDA) itself. It was awesome to see the TDA building with a European Union (EU) flag hung on the wall. So, the conclusion to be extracted here is that the EU accession process is safe and sound in Turkey and is on the job with small projects, including a number of actors and setting good examples for the reinforcement of regional decision making mechanisms. And this is quite pleasing.

I was full of hope on my way back from Şırnak.

This commentary was published in Radikal daily on 26.11.2010