Turkiye and PKK (Kurdish) terrorism

[oderman]

Kurdistan - Turkey

Article taken from Global Security. org

At least 15 percent of Turkey's population consists of ethnic and religious minorities. Turkey's Constitution provides a single nationality designation for all Turks and thus does not recognize ethnic groups as national, racial, or ethnic minorities. Citizens of Kurdish origin constituted a large ethnic and linguistic group. Millions of the country's citizens identified themselves as Kurds and spoke Kurdish. Kurds who publicly or politically asserted their Kurdish identity or publicly espoused using Kurdish in the public domain risked public censure, harassment, or prosecution. However, Kurds who were long-term residents in industrialized cities in the west were in many cases assimilated into the political, economic, and social life of the nation, and much intermarriage has occurred over many generations. Kurds migrating westward (including those displaced by the conflict in the southeast) brought with them their culture and village identity, but often little education and few skills.

The Kurds are the minority group with the greatest impact on national politics. Because of the size of the Kurdish population, the Kurds are perceived as the only minority that could pose a threat to Turkish national unity. Indeed, there has been an active Kurdish separatist movement in southeastern Turkey since 1984. In Turkey, the Kurdish national movement dates back at least to 1925, when Atatürk ruthlessly suppressed a revolt against the new Turkish republic motivated by the regime's renunciation of Muslim religious practices. Uprisings in the 1930s and 1940s prompted by opposition to the modernizing and centralizing reforms of the Turkish government in Ankara also were put down by the Turkish army. Kurdish opposition to the government's emphasis on linguistic homogeneity was spurred in the 1960s and 1970s by agitation in neighboring Iran and Iraq on behalf of an autonomous Kurdistan, to include Kurds from Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. The majority of Kurds, however, continued to participate in Turkish political parties and to assimilate into Turkish society.

Since the 1930s, Kurds have resisted government efforts to assimilate them forcibly, including an official ban on speaking or writing Kurdish. Since 1984 Kurdish resistance to Turkification has encompassed both a peaceful political struggle to obtain basic civil rights for Kurds within Turkey and a violent armed struggle to obtain a separate Kurdish state. The leaders of the nonviolent struggle have worked within the political system for the recognition of Kurdish cultural rights, including the right to speak Kurdish in public and to read, write, and publish in Kurdish. Prior to 1991, these Kurds operated within the national political parties, in particular the SHP, the party most sympathetic to their goal of full equality for all citizens of Turkey. (1) President Özal's 1991 call for a more liberal policy toward Kurds and for the repeal of the ban on speaking Kurdish raised the hopes of Kurdish politicians. Following the parliamentary elections of October 1991, several Kurdish deputies, including Hatip Dicle, Feridun Yazar, and Leyla Zayna, formed the HEP, a party with the explicit goal of campaigning within the National Assembly for laws guaranteeing equal rights for the Kurds. (2)

The government's main strategy for assimilating (3) the Kurds has been language suppression. Yet, despite official attempts over several decades to spread Turkish among them, most Kurds have retained their native language. In Turkey two major Kurdish dialects are spoken: Kermanji, which is used by the majority of Kurds, as well as by some of the Kurds in Iran and Iraq; and Zaza, spoken mainly in a triangular region in southeastern Turkey between Diyarbakir, Ezurum, and Sivas, as well as in parts of Iran. Literate Kurds in Turkey have used Kermanji as the written form of Kurdish since the seventeenth century. However, almost all literary development of the language since 1924 has occurred outside Turkey. In 1932 Kurds in exile developed a Latin script for Kermanji, and this alphabet continued to be used in the mid-1990s. (4)

Prior to the 1980 military coup, government authorities considered Kurdish one of the unnamed languages banned by law. Use of Kurdish was strictly prohibited in all government institutions, including the courts and schools. Nevertheless, during the 1960s and again in the mid-1970s, Kurdish intellectuals attempted to start Kurdish-language journals and newspapers. None of these publications survived for more than a few issues because state prosecutors inevitably found legal pretexts for closing them down. Between 1980 and 1983, the military government (5) passed several laws expressly banning the use of Kurdish and the possession of written or audio materials in Kurdish.

The initiation of armed insurrection by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (Partiya Karkere Kurdistan--PKK) (6) in 1984, along with the increasing international media interest in the Kurds of Iraq beginning in the mid-1980s, compelled some members of Turkey's political elite to question government policy toward the country's Kurdish population. Turgut Özal, who became prime minister in 1983 and president in 1989, broke the official taboo on using the term Kurd by referring publicly to the people of eastern Anatolia as Kurds. Subsequently, independent Turkish newspapers began using the term and discussing the political and economic problems in the eleven predominantly Kurdish provinces. In 1991 Özal supported a bill that revoked the ban on the use of Kurdish and possession of materials in Kurdish. However, as of 1995, the use of Kurdish in government institutions such as the courts and schools still was prohibited.

Turkey's other leaders were not as willing as Özal to recognize Kurdish distinctiveness, and only two months after his death in April 1993, the Constitutional Court issued its decision declaring the HEP illegal. In anticipation of this outcome, the Kurdish deputies had resigned from the HEP only days before and formed a new organization, the Democracy Party (Demokrasi Partisi--DEP). The DEP's objective was similar to that of its predecessor: to promote civil rights for all citizens of Turkey. When the DEP was banned in June 1994, Kurdish deputies formed the new People's Democracy Party (Halkin Demokrasi Partisi--HADEP).

The best known and most radical of the Kurdish movements, the PKK, which does not represent the majority of Kurds, sought to establish an independent Marxist state in southeastern Turkey where the Kurdish population predominates.(7) A resurgence of Kurdish attacks attributed to the PKK necessitated the deployment of Turkish army units and elite police forces with the initiation in 1984 by the PKK of armed struggle against the state with attacks on gendarmerie posts in the southeast. Fighting in the mountain terrain favored the insurgents, who could intimidate local Kurdish families and ambush regular troops. The violence has mounted since 1991, with PKK guerrillas from camps in Syria, Iran, and Iraq, as well as from inside Turkey itself, attacking Turkish military and police outposts and targeting civilian community leaders and teachers. In 1993, PKK gunmen sought military targets outside the southeastern region; they also conducted coordinated attacks in many West European cities, particularly in Germany where more than 1 million Kurds live, against Turkish diplomatic installations and Turkish businesses, often operated by Kurds. Such attacks on commercial firms can be seen as efforts at intimidation to gain contributions to PKK fundraising.

The PKK's leader, Abdullah Öcalan, formed the group in the late 1970s while a student in Ankara. Prior to the 1980 coup, Öcalan fled to Lebanon, via Syria, where he continued to maintain his headquarters in 1994. Until October 1992, Öcalan's brother, Osman, had supervised PKK training camps in the mountains separating northern Iraq from Turkey's Hakkari and Mardin provinces. It was from these camps that PKK guerrillas launched their raids into Turkey. [b]The main characteristic of PKK attacks was the use of indiscriminate violence, and PKK guerrillas did not hesitate to kill Kurds whom they considered collaborators.[/B] Targeted in particular were the government's paid militia, known as village guards, and schoolteachers (8) accused of promoting forced assimilation. The extreme violence of the PKK's methods enabled the government to portray the PKK as a terrorist organization and to justify its own policies, which included the destruction of about 850 border villages and the forced removal of their populations to western Turkey. (9)

In March 1993, the PKK dropped its declared objective of creating an independent state of Kurdistan in the southeastern provinces that had Kurdish majorities. Its new goal was to resolve the Kurdish problem within a democratic and federal system. The loss of PKK guerrilla camps in northern Iraq in October 1992, following defeat in a major confrontation with Iraqi Kurdish forces supported by Turkish military intervention, probably influenced this tactical change. At the same time, Öcalan announced a unilateral, albeit temporary, cease-fire in the PKK's war with Turkish security forces. The latter decision may also have reflected the influence of Kurdish civilian leaders, who had been urging an end to the violence in order to test Özal's commitment to equal rights. Whether there were realistic prospects in the spring of 1993 for a political solution to the conflict in southeast Turkey may never be known. Özal suffered a fatal heart attack in April, and his successor, Demirel, did not appear inclined to challenge the military, whose position continued to be that elimination of the PKK was the appropriate way to pacify the region. Fighting between security forces and PKK guerrillas, estimated to number as many as 15,000, resumed by June 1993.

Increased numbers of security forces were mobilized in 1994 against the Kurds in a government campaign of mounting intensity. One government strategy has been the forced evacuation (9*) and in a number of instances burning (?) some 850 Kurdish villages to prevent them from harboring PKK insurgents. Although militarily successful, the evacuations have caused great hardship to the villagers. The government has been accused of harassment, destruction of villages, and the slaying of Kurds believed to be sympathetic to the PKK. Its tactics have resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties and turned thousands into refugees, who have crowded into major Turkish cities. The insurgents, in turn, have targeted villages known to be sympathetic to the government, murdering state officials, teachers, government collaborators, and paramilitary village guards. In an especially cruel incident in May 1993 that ended a two-month cease-fire announced by the PKK, a PKK unit executed thirty unarmed military recruits after ambushing several buses.

As of early 1994, about 160,000 Turkish troops and gendarmerie had been mobilized for operations against the PKK. Some 40,000 civilians formed a village guard of progovernment Kurds. A new mobile security force of about 10,000 troops was undergoing special training in antiguerrilla operations. The United States Department of State estimated that there were 10,000 to 15,000 full-time PKK guerrillas, 5,000 to 6,000 of whom were in Turkey and the others in Iran, Iraq, and Syria. There were thought to be an additional 60,000 to 75,000 part-time guerrillas. The number of deaths since the war's outbreak in 1984 had risen beyond 12,000 by 1994. According to official figures, more than 1,500 PKK guerrillas were killed and 7,600 captured during the first eleven months of 1993. During the same period, the number of government security personnel killed came to 676. Civilian deaths totaled 1,249, more than double the 1992 total.

The PKK cause was not helped by the Kurds of Iraq, who depended on Turkey to keep their enclave protected from the forces of Iraqi president Saddam Husayn. In October 1992, Iraqi Kurds and the Turkish army carried out a joint offensive against PKK bases in Iraqi Kurdistan, forcing the surrender of more than 1,000 PKK fighters. Turkey also enlisted Syria's cooperation in closing the PKK base in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon. The government's flexibility in seeking a negotiated solution to the conflict was limited by the growing anger of the Turkish public over PKK terrorism and the killing of troops in the southeast and by the military's uncompromising anti-Kurdish stance.

The provinces in southeastern Turkey are Sirnak, Diyarbakir, Van, Siirt, Mus, Mardin, Batman, Bingol, Tunceli, Hakkari, Bitlis, Adana, Adiyaman, Hatay, Elazig, Gaziantep, Kahraman Maras, Kilis, Malatya, Icel, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa. The PKK/KADEK/Kongra Gel retains a residual presence in certain parts of southeastern Turkey. Although the official “State of Emergency” designation has been removed for all provinces of the southeast and no provinces are currently officially designated as sensitive areas, the potential for PKK/KADEK/Kongra Gel activity remains.

Turkish Foreign Minister, Esmail Jem in an interview with CNN on October 12, 2001 said: “Turkey intends to make the best of the post-September atmosphere to demonstrate its own stances toward the issue of terrorism.” The then Turkish Premier, Bulent Ejvit also on September 17, 2001 stated: “As a victim of terrorism, Turkey will fight along side the US to counter this phenomenon.”

Groups such as the DHKP/C, PKK/KADEK/Kongra-Gel, IDBA-C, and others continue to target Turkish officials and various civilian facilities and may use terrorist activity to make political statements, particularly in Istanbul and other urban areas of Turkey. In 2002, 2003, and 2004, civilian venues such as courthouses and Fast food restaurants have been the targets of minor bomb attacks, which have resulted in small numbers of casualties among bystanders. Similar, random bombings are likely to continue. A roadside explosion caused by a remote controlled land mine (10) in Batman province, nearby Gercus, occurred on March 8, 2004. It was the first such explosion since the late 1990’s.

As part of its fight against the PKK, the Government forcibly displaced noncombatants, failed to resolve extrajudicial killings, tortured civilians, and abridged freedom of expression. The PKK committed widespread abuses, including the frequent murder of noncombatants, as part of its terrorism against the Government and civilians, mostly Kurds. Estimates of the total number of villagers forcibly evacuated from their homes since the conflict began vary widely from 330,000 to 2 million. A credible estimate given by a former Member of Parliament from the region is around 560,000.

During the height of the PKK conflict from 1984 to 1990, the Government forcibly displaced a large number of residents from villages in the southeast. Many others left the region on their own. The Government reported that 378,000 residents "migrated" from the southeast during the conflict, with many others departing before the fighting. Various NGOs estimated that there were from 1 to 3 million IDPs. Although the Government lifted the state of emergency in the southeast in 2002, it maintained a heavy security presence in the region, including numerous roadway checkpoints. The Government estimated there were 4,500 to 5,000 armed PKK/KADEK/KHK militants across the border in northern Iraq, and another 1,000 in the southeast of the country.

In July 2003, Parliament adopted a "Reintegration Law" offering reduced prison sentences to combatants belonging to the PKK/KADEK/KHK and other terrorist organizations as identified by the Government who agreed to lay down their weapons and provide information to authorities. The law offered full amnesty to those guilty of providing non-lethal support to terrorist organizations. At year's end, most of those who had applied for benefits under the law were already serving prison sentences; the Government reported that, as of December 19, 2,486 prisoners had applied for benefits under the law and 586 active militants had turned themselves in.

Citing security concerns, southeastern provincial authorities continued to deny some villagers access to their fields and high pastures for grazing, but have allowed other villagers access to their lands. Voluntary and assisted resettlements were ongoing. In some cases, persons could return to their old homes; in other cases, centralized villages have been constructed. Only a fraction of the total number of evacuees has returned. The Government claimed that 94,000 persons returned to the region from June 2000 to October 2003. More than 400 villages and hamlets have reportedly been reopened with government assistance. These figures could not be independently verified.

According to human rights activists, villagers, and some southeast members of Parliament, the Government did not allow some displaced villagers to return unless they signed a document stating that they had left their homes due to PKK terrorism, rather than due to Government actions, and that they would not seek Government assistance in returning. Village guards have occupied homes abandoned by IDPs, and have attacked or intimidated IDPs attempting to return to their homes with official permission.

Foreign governments and national and international human rights organizations continued to criticize the Government's return efforts as secretive and inadequate. Francis M. Deng, the U.N. Special Representative for IDPs, visited the region in June 2002 and acknowledged a more open approach to returns on the part of the Government. Deng called on the Government to formulate a clear and transparent returns policy, establish focal points in the Government on IDPs, improve coordination within the Government and between the Government and the international community, and convene an international forum to develop return programs and strategies. In December 2003, government officials discussed the IDP issue with representatives of U.N. agencies and the EU.

In October 2003, an Adana court acquitted 14 members of the Migration and Humanitarian Aid Foundation (GIYAV)-–a Mersin-based group whose declared purpose was to provide assistance to displaced persons--on charges of aiding and abetting an illegal organization. The court transferred the cases of seven co-defendants to a Mersin court. Prosecutors continued to seek to disband GIYAV on separate charges that the organization established relationships with foreign associations without seeking the required approval of the interior and foreign ministries. (11)

Turkey has enacted cultural rights for the 12 million Kurds as part of efforts to join the European Union. The Government maintains some restrictions on religious minorities and on some forms of religious expression. At times, the Government restricts freedom of movement. The Government restricts the activities of some political parties and leaders, closed the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HADEP), and has sought to close the closely related Democratic People's Party (DEHAP). The Government continues to harass, indict, and imprison human rights monitors, journalists, and lawyers for the views they expressed in public. (12)

There were numerous reports during 2003 of citizens of Kurdish origin being prevented from registering their newborn children with Kurdish names. In some cases, charges were filed against the parents. In August, authorities in Mersin reportedly refused to allow Ali Aksan to register his children with the names "Mihrivan," "Zozan," and "Berivan." In September, authorities in Istanbul reportedly prevented Sevket Gasgar from naming his son "Deral."

In July 2003, Parliament amended an article of the Census Law that had been used to prevent the use of Kurdish names. The amendment removed language that had prohibited the use of names contrary to the "national culture" or "customs and traditions," instead prohibiting names contrary to "moral norms" or names that "offend the public." The revised wording was intended to ease the restrictions; however, human rights advocates claimed local authorities failed to adjust their practices. In September 2003, the Interior Ministry issued a circular notifying local officials of the new regulations. However, the circular prohibited the use of letters used in Kurdish but not found in Turkish. (14) In December 2003, the Diyarbakir Province Jandarma commander asked the Diyarbakir chief prosecutor's office to provide a list of persons who had applied to change their names under the amended law. The prosecutor's office reportedly complied. The Diyarbakir Bar Association protested the request. There were numerous restrictions on free expression in Kurdish and pro-Kurdish political parties.

In May 2003, a Diyarbakir SSC acquitted a juvenile on charges of "inciting hatred and enmity." The juvenile was accused of altering the traditional pledge of allegiance in school and reciting, "Happy is he who calls himself a Kurd." (13)

Implementing regulations for 2002 reform laws allowing broadcasts and private courses in Kurdish and other non-Turkish languages "used by Turkish citizens in their daily lives" created some bureaucratic obstacles. In July 2003, Parliament adopted reforms designed to remove these obstacles. However, no non-Turkish broadcasts or courses were established under these reforms by year's end. Local authorities in Sanliurfa, Batman, and Van provinces withheld permission to open Kurdish language courses on a number of technical issues, including a requirement that the applicants change the names of the institutions.

In July 2003, Parliament revoked Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, which prohibited the dissemination of separatist propaganda. However, the updated laws still restrict non-violent expression, and court cases were still being brought against writers and publishers. Prosecutors in some cases based speech-related charges on laws not included in the scope of the reforms.

The Government showed some signs of greater tolerance for the use of the Kurdish language. Unlike in past years, police in most instances did not interfere during 2003r when HRA put up banners with the motto "Peace at Home, Peace in the World" in both Turkish and Kurdish, although, in December 2003, authorities in Van province did seize the banners. Also for the first time, police did not detain HRA members making statements in Kurdish on World Peace Day in September 2003. In October 2003, Kurdish singer Ciwan Haco spoke and sang in Kurdish during an appearance on a popular Istanbul-based television program.

Several actions, including police harassment, were taken against the pro-Kurdish DEHAP party. In September 2003, police detained DEHAP Chairman Tuncer Bakirhan, singer Haluk Levent, and six others in connection with a concert in Germany during a Kurdish cultural festival. Concert participants reportedly displayed KADEK-related pictures and banners; authorities charged the detainees with separatist propaganda.

According to the military, 12 civilians, 19 members of the security forces, and 71 terrorists died during 2003 as a result of armed clashes. In September 2003, the PKK/KADEK announced an end to its unilateral ceasefire.

Due to the conflict with the PKK/KADEK/KHK, the Government continues to organize, arm, and pay a civil defense force of about 60,000, mostly in the southeast region. This force, known as the village guards, was reputed to be the least disciplined of the security forces and continued to be accused repeatedly of drug trafficking, rape, corruption, theft, and human rights abuses. Inadequate oversight and compensation contributed to this problem, and in some cases Jandarma allegedly protected village guards from prosecution. In addition to the village guards, Jandarma and police "special teams" were viewed as those most responsible for abuses. DEHAP officials claimed that security forces in July 2003 publicly displayed the bodies of two slain PKK/KADEK militants in the town of Baskale in Van Province. (14) However, the incidence of credible allegations of serious abuses by security forces in operations against the PKK/KADEK/KHK was low.

Turkey’s Premier, Rajab Tayyeb Erdogan strongly criticized US policies toward the Kurd groups in southeastern Turkey fighting the central government. In an interview published on 03 September 2004, Erdogan reiterated: “The Turkish government is gradually loosing patience as America continues avoiding taking military actions against the Kurd rebels in Turkey who are presently based in Northern Iraq.” He said the recent remarks of US National Security Advisor, Condoleeza Rice on the issue were not convincing. Rice had earlier said the US is trying to contain the Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK through non-military means.

This unusual tone of Erdogan and his criticism of Washington have been the harshest by Turkish statesmen as regards the US over the past years. One of the factors behind Ankara’s dissatisfaction with Washington is the United States’ attitude toward the PKK. Erdogan’s administration believes that the PKK , by restoring to armed struggle, is seeking separatist objectives and thus it is considered a terrorist group. Turkey hoped that under conditions when the US has apparently put its self-styled campaign against terrorism top on its agenda, it should adopt measures against the PKK within the same framework. For many Turkish officials the US dual policy toward the issue of terrorism is not justifiable under any circumstances.

After the passage of three years since the start of the US campaign against international terrorism, these questions are raised as how much the Turkish government was successful in winning the support of the US in the fight against the PKK and, who is really behind Kurdistan Workers Party?




(1) - (14)+ my comments will come as a reply soon...

[oderman]

Just before my comments on this globalsecurity.org article , for further articles on PKK terrorism visit globalsecurity.org, PKK articles

[oderman]

Turkish prime minister warns PKK rebels role in Iraq causing anti-Americanism in Turkey

By GEORGE GEDDA
Associated Press
October 2, 2006

WASHINGTON (AP) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday after a meeting with President George W. Bush that anti-American sentiment is accelerating in Turkey because American-made weapons are being smuggled into Turkey from Iraq by rebels from the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK).
Erdogan said Bush acknowledged the point and "underlined his determination" to end use of Iraq by the PKK as a springboard for attacks into Turkey.
He said Bush told him that he has expressed concerns about PKK activities in northern Iraq to the Iraqi president and prime minister.
"It's important to resolve this issue," Erdogan said, speaking to reporters after an hour and 45-minute with Bush at the White House.
In brief remarks after their discussion Bush said, "We talked about our determined efforts to fight terror and extremism. We talked about our common efforts to bring stability to the Middle East. "
Bush made no direct reference to the PKK in his remarks. Erdogan, questioned by a reporter, said he had no objection to the omission and he pointed out that he himself seldom refers to the group by name.
"Their goal is to get us to use their name," Erdogan said, referring to the PKK. He said he came out of the meeting more hopeful about American support for curbing PKK operations in Iraq than before.
The two countries have recently appointed special envoys to coordinate strategy for dealing with Iraq-based PKK activities.
The president expressed appreciation for the sacrifices Turkey has made to provide assistance to Iraq, pointing out that a number of Turkish truck drivers have lost their lives during these missions, the prime minister said.
Another topic raised at the meeting was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Erdogan said, calling this "the root case of escalating conflicts in the world."
At the White House, Bush reaffirmed his support for Turkey's bid to join the European Union.
They also discussed growing humanitarian tragedy in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, which Erdogan has visited.
Bush said Erdogan offered a "personal account of what he saw, the suffering he saw, the pitiful human condition he personally saw in Darfur.
"He shared with me his government's anxiousness to help the people there. And I assured him I share the same concern. And it's important for the United Nations and the government of Sudan to take forward steps to help to end the suffering."
Erdogan said he expressed to Bush Turkish solidarity with the U.S.-EU position in opposition to nuclear weapons development in Iran and said Turkey has raised with issue with Iranian officials.
An Iran in possession of nuclear weapons "would be a problem for all of us in the Middle East," Erdogan said.
On Cyprus, the prime minister said he urged Bush to play a leadership role in helping to end the continuing stalemate on the island.
Bush indicated support for Turkey's candidate, Dr Tomris Turmen, to head the World Health Organization, Erdogan said. The election is set for next month.