 |
| Popular fervor: Turks, many of whom support a cross-border attack against Kurdish rebels, protested the PKK in Istanbul Tuesday. Murad Sezer/AP |
Why Turkey is wary of Kurdish rebel trap
Turks broadly support a strike into Iraq, but that could play into the hands of the PKK.
from the October 24, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 2
Page 1 | 2
The rebels say they will not be dislodged, but suggested Monday that a diplomatic solution was possible. "If the Turkish state stops its attacks, then increased tensions will be replaced with a combat-free environment," said a PKK statement. "Our movement and people have the strength to defend [but] we prefer to solve the problems by democratic and peaceful ways rather than armed struggle."
The pro-Kurdish Firat news agency quoted a senior PKK commander, Bahoz Erdal, saying that the group held the eight Turkish soldiers as "hostages in the hands of our forces."
Turkish artillery and planes have already been striking northern Iraq, and on Sunday aircraft hit 63 targets in hot pursuit after the raid, according to the military. The purpose of a cross-border operation would be to deny the PKK sanctuary. "We may conduct a joint operation with the US against the PKK in northern Iraq," Erdogan told a Turkish newspaper.
The Chicago Tribune reported that despite previous resistance to the idea, US air or cruise missile strikes are now being considered. "Now the Turks are at the end of their rope, and our risk calculus is changing," the Tribune quoted a US official familiar with Bush's call to Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Monday.
But such a response is not likely to sit well Iraqi Kurds, even though Barzani's peshmerga militia struck a deal with Turkey in the late 1990s to take on the PKK. A further irony, experts say, is how the PKK's tactics have changed as a result of the insurgency in Iraq.
"They have learned, they have adopted very closely the lessons from the Iraqi Sunni insurgents," says Hakura at Chatham House. In the past the PKK staged large attacks with between 200 and 500 fighters against police stations and military installations.
Now "they are using hit-and-run tactics, small cells, mines, ambushes, C-4 explosives, and improvised explosive devices," or IEDs," says Hakura. "Almost half the Turkish military victims this year were killed by mines, rather than in combat."
A closer look at the PKK
What is the PKK?
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was founded in 1974 as a Marxist-Leninist organization calling for a separate Kurdish state. Under the leadership of its founder, Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK sought an independent Kurdish homeland for the region's 30 million Kurds, of whom 14 million live in Turkey. The ethnic Kurdish region includes eastern Turkey, northern Iraq, western Iran, and parts of Syria and Armenia.
What tactics does the PKK use?
The PKK employs guerrilla tactics, usually relying on bombs, suicide bombers, or small, contained attacks. Their attacks are often directed at the Turkish military and police, but the PKK has frequently targeted civilians. Fighting has been in decline since Mr. Ocalan was captured in 1999 and sentenced to death. His sentence was eventually reduced to life imprisonment in October 2002 after Turkey abolished the death penalty. The commutation was followed by a cease-fire, as well as the withdrawal of rebel fighters from Turkey. Ocalan has since apologized, saying that the PKK will "work for a democratic Turkey, where Kurds will enjoy cultural and linguistic rights" through nonviolent means.
How many PKK are there?
The 3,000 PKK fighters estimated to be based in northern Iraq launch attacks on security and civilian targets in Turkey. Several thousand PKK rebels are also believed to be inside Turkey.
Why now?
Cross-border fighting has flared since spring between Kurdish rebels and Turkish targets, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government is under pressure to pursue the PKK into northern Iraq. The Turkish Parliament last week approved military strikes into Iraq against the PKK for anytime this year. The US government is opposed to this retaliation, despite the PKK's designation as a terrorist organization byWashington, the European Union, and NATO.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations, GlobalSecurity.org, The Political Handbook of the World, Reuters
1 | Page 2
RSS feed
