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| Europe |
| Is the PKK Still a Threat to the United States and Turkey? |
| 2005-01-11 |
| Summary of long article via Counter Terrorism Blog (CTB) Soner Cagaptay and Emrullah Uslu On December 31, 2004, terrorists belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a group on the U.S. State Department's Foreign Terror Organizations (FTO) list, ambushed Turkish security officers in the Sirnak province in southeastern Turkey, near the Iraqi border. Although the PKK declared a unilateral ceasefire after Turkey captured its leader Abdullah Ocalan in February 1999, in June 2004 the organization renounced its ceasefire. The PKK, which caused over 35,000 casualties between 1984 and 1999, has once again come to the foreground. Today, the organization has an estimated 1,850-1,950 terrorists in Turkey and another 5,500-5,800 in areas of northern Iraq controlled by two Iraqi Kurdish parties, the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Since the U.S. military and the Iraqi government exercise nominal rule over these parts of Iraq, continued PKK activity in northern Iraq constitutes a threat to Turkish-Iraqi/Kurdish as well as Turkish-U.S. relations, and therefore bears the potential of undermining U.S. interests. The question is: will the PKK, which has been moving between violent and peaceful facades, be able to maintain its campaign against Turkey? And if so, what should be done against this organization in the global war on terror? ... Why Should the United States Act against the PKK? An increase in PKK-led violence in Turkey, creating political chaos that would stop the country's EU accession process, would be a serious threat to Turkey's stability. Besides, since the PKK's main bases are in northern Iraq, most Turks would blame the United States and the Iraqi Kurds for any PKK-led violence. (As was the case after the killing of five Turkish diplomatic security officers near Mosul on December 18, 2004, an incident which, though clearly a doing of the Iraqi insurgents, was initially blamed on the United States, the PKK, and the Iraqi Kurds in the Turkish media.) Washington's reluctance in taking action against the PKK has already created much distrust toward the United States among Turkish policymakers, especially the security elite (see PolicyWatch no. 839). Action against the PKK, such as capturing the organization's remaining captains (see PolicyWatch no. 877), would help the United States establish bridges with Turkey's military security elite, with whom relations have been hampered since the Iraq war. Such a step would also allow Washington to establish a more positive image within the Turkish public, among whom anti-Americanism has become a potent force since 2002. Action against the PKK would be a first and necessary step in rebuilding U.S.-Turkish relations in the post-Iraq war environment. Soner Cagaptay is a senior fellow and director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute. Emrullah Uslu, a Turkish counterterrorism intelligence expert, is a visiting fellow at the Institute. Looks like the Turks are figuring out that "War on Terror" is a mis-nomer, as has the IRA and the ETA. It sounds like the whole reason for the US to squash the PKK is to keep the Turks as friends even though they double cross us. The Turks have been drinking too much French Kool-Aid. We don't need friends like that. |
| Posted by:Mrs. Davis |
| #3 and US citizens would care becaaause....???? Because the Turks control the world market in taffy and towels? Ok, not exactly Strategic Materials. At the risk of being called for piling on, let me add another Me Too! I don't think the world realizes how far the attitudes described in the VDH article have spread throughout the US. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2005-01-11 2:47:38 PM |
| #2 What comes after ditto...tritto? Victor Davis Hanson has a wonderful article in NRO about exactly 2b's attitude. I'll post it on page 2 as well. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-01-11 11:29:52 AM |
| #1 most Turks would blame the United States and the Iraqi Kurds for any PKK-led violence. and US citizens would care becaaause....???? Ditto what Mrs. D. said. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-01-11 10:37:03 AM |