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PKK military commander: Turkey may become
'Exact Replica of Iraq'
4.3.2008
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March 4, 2008
In a January 31, 2008 interview with the reformist
website www.elaph.com, PKK military wing commander
Dr. Bahoz Erdal warned about a possible escalation
in PKK activity, which would include attacks on
tourists in Turkey.
The following are excerpts from the interview:
Until Now, the PKK Has Been
Using Only 20% of Its Forces
Asked how the PKK would respond to continued Turkish
attacks, Dr. Erdal replied that his movement was
well prepared for such an eventuality, saying:
"...The results will be no different from the
results of previous attacks: We will counter these
continued [attacks] with equal force. |
Dr. Bahoz Erdal, PKK military wing commander |
This means that the
tension will mount and the clashes will intensify,
and it is not inconceivable that the fighting will
reach the centers of Turkey's cities. Continued
attacks will not only cause economic, political, and
social crises, but may adversely affect stability in
Iraq, especially in southern Kurdistan [i.e. Iraqi
Kurdistan]...
"We are not attacking anyone. We are not fighting
without cause, but are defending our national
values, and we show sensitivity - especially when it
comes to civilians. We have never harmed civilians
intentionally, and we will not do so in the future.
"However, if the Turkish state persists in its
policy of denying [the rights of the Kurdish
people], and continues its military attacks on us,
the millions of Kurds living in Turkish cities will
be provoked into responding harshly - as was the
case in the aftermath of the recent aerial attacks
[of December 15, 2007], when Kurdish youths torched
government vehicles in Turkish cities.
"Incidents of this kind may proliferate, and
eventually, this may lead to the outbreak of a
popular uprising in all the Turkish and Kurdish
cities that nobody will be able to suppress or
control..."
In response to another question about the PKK's
reaction to the attacks on it, Dr. Erdal added:
"...We have been compelled to use our special forces
and the fedayeen battalions in battle. So far, we
have been using only about 20% of our forces. We
might reassess our defense policy,www.ekurd.net
and this will tip the
scales, intensify the clashes, and broaden the scope
of the fighting, causing Turkey to become an exact
replica of Iraq. But we do not want to reach that
point..."
Tourists Are Advised to
Stay Out of Turkey
Regarding the potential danger to tourists in
Turkey, Dr. Erdal said: "...So far, we have never
directly targeted tourists, but now there is a war
going on in Turkey. [The Turkish military deployed]
more than 50 planes in a single attack [on the PKK],
and hundreds of thousands of soldiers engage in
daily searches [for PKK operatives]. [The army] also
uses tanks, APCs, and cannon, and there are clashes
everywhere. In other words, there is a war going on
in Turkey, and it adversely affects all areas of
life, including tourism.
"Turkey is not safe for tourists, and we advise them
to stay away from it. Extremist Kurdish
organizations like the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK)
have targeted tourists in the past, and continue to
threaten them in Turkey [today]. We cannot predict
what will happen in the future..."
Turkey and Iran Are Working
Together to "Crush Kurdish Aspirations"
In response to a question about Iranian-Turkish
cooperation against the PKK, Dr. Erdal stated that
the two countries had a joint interest to "crush
Kurdish aspirations."
As for the U.S. policy vis-a-vis the Kurdish
problem, he said: "...[The U.S.] wants to go on
playing the Kurdish card whenever it wants. It knows
that our movement is the main obstacle [preventing
it] from attaining its goals. Our movement... has
its own independent approach and relies on its own
forces. Its policy is to avoid relying on any side,
and it refuses on principle to belong to any bloc.
"Know that the solution to all the region's problems
- including the Kurdish problem - lies in freedom
and in peaceful coexistence of all peoples in the
region, without external intervention. Such
intervention has only exacerbated the crises.
America is troubled by the concept [of peaceful
coexistence without external intervention], and
therefore objects to the existence of an independent
Kurdish force. This is the main reason it wants to
[harm] us."
The PKK Wants to Resolve
the Kurdish Problem through Negotiations
About past attempts at negotiations with the Turks,
Dr. Erdal stated: "...Ever since the ceasefire
expired, on June 1, 2004, we have tried to keep
clashes [with the Turkish military] to a minimum. We
have been careful not to intensify the clashes, in
order to give the political negotiations a chance
and in order to create a climate in which a peaceful
resolution could be reached.
"Over the last four years, we twice initiated a
unilateral ceasefire. We did not do so out of
weakness, or because we were unable to face [the
enemy],www.ekurd.net
or because we had
deteriorated as a military organization, as the
Turks and others tried to claim. Not at all. Our
[policy] was based on our historical responsibility
not to drain [the strength of] our people.
"But the Turkish government did not heed our
initiatives, and took advantage of the ceasefires to
intensify its attacks and its military operations
aimed at destroying us...
"We do not see our struggle as a strictly military
struggle. Our cause is primarily a political one,
and we believe that the real solution will
[likewise] be political, and will be attained
through peaceful negotiations..."
The PKK Is Committed to Kurdish-Arab Brotherhood
Dr. Erdal also referred to the relations between the
Kurds and their Arab neighbors, saying: "...Some
Arab intellectuals see the Kurdish problem from a
narrow perspective based only on the situation in
Iraq. This situation has given them a [false]
impression and has prejudiced them against all
Kurds.
"But not all of Kurdistan is in Iraq; most of the
Kurds live in northern Kurdistan [i.e. in Turkey].
The PKK, which has been leading the just struggle of
the Kurdish people for three decades, is a friend of
the Arabs and is committed to Kurdish-Arab
brotherhood and friendship. The Kurds and the Arabs
are neighbors, and share a common history and
destiny... Since its founding, our party has worked
to cement this friendship, [to consolidate] our
joint struggle, and to build strong bridges between
the Kurdish and Arab peoples."
"The Simplistic and
Over-General View that Sees the Kurds as 'Agents of
America' Is Wrong"
"The Lebanese and the Palestinians are witness [to
our solidarity with them]. The simplistic and
over-general view that sees the Kurds as 'agents of
America' is wrong. There is a group among the Arab
intellectuals that has not yet relinquished Arab
nationalism, and is still under its influence; they
regard all non-Arabs as a threat to the Arabs and as
imperialist agents...
"They [i.e. this group] must remember that any
deepening of the rift between our peoples serves
only our enemies."
Source: memri org
**
Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in
Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
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 over 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.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds, a
large Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media.
The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and
2003
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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