Προβληματισμός στην Τουρκία από έκθεση της Ε.Ε. για το Κουρδικό

Του Σάββα Καλεντερίδη
Προβληματισμός επικρατεί στην Τουρκία από έκθεση του Ινστιτούτου Θεμάτων Διεθνούς Πολιτικής (Institute for Security Studies, ISS) για το Κουρδικό. Να σημειωθεί ότι το ISS είναι η δεξαμενή σκέψης της Ε.Ε. για θέματα εξωτερικής πολιτικής, άμυνας και ασφάλειας.
Σύμφωνα με δημοσιεύματα του τουρκικού τύπου, η έκθεση απηχεί τις απόψεις του ΡΚΚ, γεγονός που έχει ιδιαίτερη πολιτική σημασία, αφού...αυτό στην ουσία συνιστά πολιτική αναβάθμιση του κουρδικού κινήματος, που στο όνομα του ΡΚΚ έχει χαρακτηριστεί ως τρομοκρατική οργάνωση από το Συμβούλιο της Ευρώπης.
Το όλο θέμα ήλθε στην επιφάνεια μετά από σημερινό δημοσίευμα της ΖΑΜΑΝ (ακολουθεί στην αγγλική), ενώ αναδημοσιεύθηκε από το σύνολο σχεδόν των τουρκικών εφημερίδων, αναδεικνύοντας το γεγονός της πολιτικής αναβάθμισης του ΡΚΚ και του Κουρδικού εν γένει στους κόλπους της Ε.Ε., εξέλιξη που συνιστά ήττα για την τουρκική εξωτερική πολιτική, κεντρικός στόχος της οποίας είναι η κατάταξη του κουρδικού κινήματος και του Κουρδικού Ζητήματος, εν γένει, σε ένα θέμα ασφάλειας και τρομοκρατίας.

EU report reveals shocking PKK facts
PKK members inspect damage made to their camp in Kandil Mountains in northern Iraq after a Turkish aerial strike in May 2008.
The chief operative of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Murat Karayılan, has met at least twice with officials from Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MİT), and Iraqi Kurdish leaders are convinced that the terrorist group's leader, Abdullah Öcalan, is being controlled by Turkey.
These are some of the assessments offered by a European Union think tank specializing in security issues, the EU Institute for Security Studies (ISS). In an "institute note," prepared after a visit to northern Iraq in July, the ISS also said that the Iraqi Kurdish administration, which runs northern Iraq, has its own problems with the PKK, despite a widespread Turkish conviction that it tolerates and supports the terrorist group, which launches attacks on Turkey from its bases in northern Iraq. The report comes before a key meeting between Turkey's special envoy for Iraq, Murat Özçelik, and Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani in October.

The study also noted antipathy towards the Democratic Society Party (DTP), the main pro-Kurdish party in Turkey, which has recently had problems with the government. "It was interesting to see how much antipathy there was towards the DTP, which is widely regarded as being under the control of the PKK," said the note. "In the end, some argue, if Turkey acted more benignly and tried to follow a more reasonable policy, the DTP would be integrated into the country's political landscape, just like the ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party [MHP] on the political right," it added.

According to the Kurdish officials, they have good relations with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and MİT but have problems with the Turkish military, which has been conducting regular attacks on PKK targets in northern Iraq since last December.

Kurdish officials meeting with the ISS delegation have stressed five "salient" points regarding their relationship with Turkey and the PKK, the ISS note said and listed them as follows:

“There can be no military solution to the problem but only a negotiated one; the PKK made a fundamental break with its ideology when it abandoned its commitment to separatism; the organization wants peace now in principle and is ready to hand in its arms; in order to achieve this, Turkey must agree to grant a real government amnesty, not a semi-amnesty as is currently the case and to recognition of the Kurdish identity and culture in the country; if, on the other hand, the PKK rejects a genuine offer, it would lose credibility with the Kurdish population and the [northern Iraqi] Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).”

The Kurdish administration has problems with the PKK because it needs to maintain good relations with neighboring Turkey to achieve development in northern Iraq. “The PKK is therefore an irritant which in the KRG’s view only worsens what are already complicated relations,” said the ISS experts. On the other hand, there are others who say the Kurds cannot afford to fight the PKK or that they should not have any responsibility in the shedding of Kurdish blood, as this would ultimately result in widespread protests.

Iraqi Kurds are calling for a peaceful solution and condemn Turkey’s military operations against the PKK in their territory. Convinced that the military option is not a solution, some even doubt that the PKK is really a Kurdish nationalist force at all. The ISS cited comments by Masrur Barzani, son of Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani, who is also the Kurdish intelligence chief. Accordingly, Barzani said the fact that Öcalan is in a prison on İmralı Island near İstanbul led to changes in his statements and made “him sound like a propagandist for Kemalists,” referring to the state establishment of Turkey. Turkey does not want to use its influence over him to improve the situation because “Turkey, or at least the military, has no interest in changing the situation.”

According to the Kurdish officials interviewed by ISS, there are between 3,600 to 6,000 armed PKK terrorists in northern Iraq. But most PKK members are in Turkey in places such as Diyarbakır, Tunceli, Bingöl and Ağrı, as well as in the big cities of İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir, and of course also in Europe. “In Iraq, the PKK is concentrated in the Kandil Mountains [roughly 2,000 fighters], an inaccessible area on the border with Iran.” The study said questions regarding the PKK’s leadership structure went largely unanswered, but the general consensus was that Murat Karayılan was the most important political and military planner.

“Karayılan is clearly the most important figure and the MİT has already met him two or three times at least,” said the ISS note.

According to Kurdish accounts, the PKK controls hundreds of villages and thousands of people in northern Iraq. The Kurdish officials said the PKK has been demanding taxes from and exploit the local population but others, such as representatives from international aid agencies, maintained that the PKK has the backing of the local population “who view them as guests and take pride in them for fighting ‘the Turks’ who oppress their Kurdish brethren.” But the PKK has also lost some sympathy during the last year, said the ISS.

Kurdish officials told the ISS delegation that they have no contact whatsoever with the PKK, having built up a security zone around the area controlled by the PKK. But the ISS experts concluded in the note that “this must have been only half of the picture, for in fact the KRG has at least some idea of the location of the PKK bases, they are also very well-informed about internal developments and PKK strategies. In other words, there must be at least some communication channels open between them.” According to international aid workers, the Kurdish checkpoints are about 300 meters from the PKK checkpoints, and the PKK is quite free to circulate in the mountain range in northern Iraq.

The ISS also said the PKK headquarters in northern Iraq are “very well-equipped with wireless Internet computers and cellphones -- Turkish ones of course.” It said its arms are mostly handguns and that there are some rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and mortars.

“The sophisticated military equipment possessed by the PKK is mostly booty captured from Turkish troops. But the PKK can also rely on smugglers to bring weapons from other parts of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan; however, for ammunition and medical supplies they depend principally on Iran. The money to fund all this of course comes from Europe and to a lesser degree Turkey,” said the ISS. The note also highlighted Iran’s perceived role in providing logistical support: “Logistics come from Iran, and if Iran wanted to, it could easily create serious problems for the PKK, but Iran prefers ‘smuggling and spying.’ It has an interest in keeping the situation as it is, both fighting and supporting the PKK at the same time as long as this state of affairs suits its interest,” it said.

12 November 2008, Wednesday
ALİ İHSAN AYDIN PARIS

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