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US in contact with anti-Iran Kurds: PKK
23.11.2006 |
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MOUNT QANDIL,
Kurdistan-Iraq ,-- The United States government is
in contact with Kurds struggling against Iran, a top
rebel leader of the anti-Turkish Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) has told AFP.
Cemil "Cuma" Bayik, one of the main leaders and a
founder of the movement that has struggled for
Kurdish self-determination for the past 30 years,
said the US was in touch with the Party for Freedom
in Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) in Iran, but that it was
not helping actively.
Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh revealed
recently in the New Yorker magazine that American
forces were supporting the PJAK movement as part of
their strategy to destabilize the Tehran government.
"I have to say that American authorities want to
have contact with PJAK, and as a matter of fact they
do have contact with PJAK," Bayik said late
Wednesday in an exclusive interview at his
headquarters deep in Iraq's remote Qandil mountains
on the Iranian border.
"But to say that the United States is supporting the
PJAK is not right," he added. "PJAK is until now
continuing their struggle just with the support of
the Kurdish people and the PKK." |
Leading Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) official Cemil
"Cuma" Bayik at his hideout along the Iraq-Iran
border
Photo:AFP |
The allegations of US support for the PJAK sparked
uproar in the Turkish media, forcing the American
ambassador in Ankara to issue a denial.
The PKK, which in September declared a unilateral
ceasefire in its struggle with Turkey, is labeled a
terrorist organization by the US and Europe, which
both refuse to have contact with it.
"If the United States is interested in PJAK, then it
has to be interested in the PKK as well," Bayik
said. "The PKK is the one who formed PJAK, who
established PJAK and supports PJAK."
The PJAK, which reportedly has some 3,000 guerrilla
fighters based in the Mount Qandil area of Iraq, was
founded in the late 1990s and is engaged in a bitter
struggle with Iranian security forces, killing a
reported 120 in 2005.
The party claims tens of thousands of activists
inside Iran itself and describes its agenda as
promoting Kurdish identity, democracy and women's
rights.
Bayik also called on the international powers and
Turkish parties that urged the PKK to announce its
unilateral ceasefire to do more to put pressure on
the Turkish government and military to reciprocate.
Fearing Turkish threats to invade northern Iraq in a
bid to deal with PKK bases, the US and Iraq pushed
the PKK to reinstate its ceasefire in September.
With the Kurdish autonomous region one of the few
peaceful areas in war-torn Iraq, the US does not
want to see it destabilized by a Turkish invasion.
Bayik told AFP that rather than reciprocating,
Turkish forces have increased their attacks on the
PKK in Turkey.
"Since we called the ceasefire, we are at a point of
no war, no peace," he said. "Before we called for a
ceasefire, the forces who asked for the ceasefire
said they would work for the Kurdish question to be
solved peacefully."
Turkey's military has dismissed the ceasefire as a
PKK ploy to cover its traditional cessation of
hostilities during the snow-choked winter months in
mountainous southeast Turkey.
Bayik said the ceasefire would continue until after
Turkish general elections in May, when the PKK would
reevaluate the situation.
"We are very realistic because there are elections,
and we know before elections there is no one to make
steps towards a ceasefire," he said. But he added
that measures such as scaling back military
operations would help create a better atmosphere.
"If these steps are taken, we will be able to
continue our ceasefire and this will start our
dialogue," Bayik said, adding that after the Thrkish
elections, the organization would make a decision.
"I don't want to say it will be the end of the
ceasefire, but when the time comes, say for instance
June, we will look at the situation in the region...
and we will reevaluate the situation."
On Monday, former US diplomat Richard Holbrooke
wrote in the Washington Post that the best way to
deter a Turkish invasion of northern Iraq would be
to deploy NATO troops along the border between the
two countries, a suggestion not welcomed by the PKK.
"We fought against Turkey, and as you know Turkey is
a member of NATO and during this war NATO supported
Turkey and that's how Turkey stood up to us," Bayik
said.
"Because of that, whether NATO forces come here or
not doesn't change anything for us," he added. "If
NATO forces come here and stand against us, this
will increase the tension of the Kurdish people
against NATO."
Ultimately, Bayik said, restarting the guerrilla war
that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in
Turkey would be in no one's interest.
"Realistically, we know very well if clashes start
again this will not benefit Turkey, Iraqi Kurdistan
or the people of the region," the PKK chief said.
AFP
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan"
Southeast Turkey.
Others estimate as many as 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan but
unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag is
banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it is
a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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