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Kurds amp up battle, tactically trying to
split Turkey's army
7.8.2012
By Fikret Bila - Al-Monitor |
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Fighting between PKK and
Turkish army, a Turkish military helicopter in the
southeastern Kurdish town of Semdinli, Turkey's
Kurdish region.
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas,
the party also demanded an end to
ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, ranting them full
political freedoms.
Photo: TRT Haber
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PKK is trying to split the
Turkish army, don’t look at Aleppo, look at Hakkari
August 7, 2012
With a large-scale operation still ongoing at
Semdinli, the PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party] is
expanding its area of battle by attacking three
outposts in Cukurca area two days ago. By persisting
at Semdinli for two weeks now, PKK is trying to
split the Turkish army.
With its new operations, the PKK hopes to relieve
the pressure it faces at Semdinli. The developments
come a time when Turkey is intensifying its support
for the Syrian opposition against President Bashar
al-Assad and deploying large forces along the Syrian
border. Turkey declared that it will not allow the
PKK and PYD [the PKK's Syrian affiliate, the
Democratic Union Party] to control northern Syria.
The PKK wants Turkey to once again be preoccupied
with the terror on its territory.
Don’t look at Aleppo, look
at Hakkari
With the new attacks, the message to Turkey is
“Never mind Aleppo, look at your own city of Hakkari.”
The idea is to shift the attention of the Turkish
army from northern Syria back to its own soil. The
PKK command in the Qandil Mountains announced they
were going to launch large-scale, violent operations
with the hope of transferring the Syrian uprising to
Turkey.
As the PKK and PYD take over some towns in northern
Syria, we are now being told that the same is
possible in Turkey as the Semdinli battles clearly
indicate. The PKK’s infiltration of Semdinli town,
their deployment into houses with the hope of
initiating street battles and deployment of heavy
weapons very close to the town are all signs of
intention of creating a “liberated zone.” The PKK
would very much like to show the world that just as
in Aleppo, security forces are battling the
residents in the streets of Semdinli, too.
Dominating terrain
The PKK’s goal of dominating the terrain is
illustrated by determination of terrorists to stand
their ground and fight instead of classic
hit-and-run attacks. If nothing, the PKK hopes to at
least show that government forces are incapable of
controlling the terrain.
By transferring the Arab Spring process and the
sights of Tahrir Square to Diyarbakir, the PKK
aspires to ignite a Kurdish Spring that could well
entail slicing off a part of Turkey. They want to
show that Ankara doesn’t control the Hakkari region
and that PKK has the authority and upper hand in
combat in that area.
Barzani and Zara
Ankara has been working with [Iraqi Kurdistan
president Massoud] Barzani to bring the PKK down
from the Qandil Mountains while trying to send new
feelers through independent Kurdish parliamentarian
Leyla Zana. But the battles in Semdinli and the
attacks at Cukurca show neither Barzani nor Zana
have a say in getting PKK to give up its arms. A big
question here is whether Ankara has adequately
tested whether Barzani intends to get involved. In
this context, launching of new operations
immediately after the meeting between Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu with Barzani is meaningful.
Pressure on Ankara
The PKK, by altering the scope and goals of its
attacks, wants to put pressure on Ankara. By
announcing that it will escalate its attacks, Kandil
command is actually trying to impose conditions to
resume negotiations. As reasons for its attacks
Kandil points to isolation of their imprisoned
leader Ocalan, lack of progress on Kurdish
education, heavy Turkish pressure on urban
operations wing KCK and Ankara’s threats to Syria’s
PYD. This is PKK’s way of claiming that as an armed
force they have achieved “strategic balance” with
Turkey and it is time to show the world its military
capacity.
Goal of Greater Kurdistan
PKK-PYD thinks by declaring the area Assad abandoned
in northern Syria as “West Kurdistan” they have
taken an important step toward the supreme goal of
Greater Kurdistan. The PKK and PYD,www.ekurd.net
who are focused on a quasi-state in northern Syria
as in northern Iraq, believe that that slicing off
southeast Turkey would be the major step toward
establishment of Greater Kurdistan.
We have to be told what is happening
Nothing official has been said about the Semdinli
battles that have been raging for two weeks.
Relevant ministers are not saying anything to the
public. To journalists who ask, the ministers say,
“Security authorities will tell you.” But the
military command is also keeping silent. Even the
opposition parties are kept in the dark.
This blackout by Ankara is feeding the rumor mill
and nourishing the very atmosphere that the PKK is
toiling to create.
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