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| Europe |
| PKK in a leadership fight? |
| 2006-04-20 |
| In earlier commentaries this Feb. 20, March 22, and April 6, we analyzed recent developments in the context of the leadership struggle between the separatist Kurdish movement's political and military wings. After our analyses appeared in this column, a well-known Turkish journalist, with a similar analysis, brought the issue to Turkish readers' attention. Yet it is the first time that the Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) leadership made this competition clear in one of its recent official announcements on their webpage. In this announcement, the terror group clearly challenges and harshly criticizes the political wing of the Kurdish movement. It labels the latter a political party and targets some of the leading figures. It maintains that "while the Turkish military is launching operations against 'our people,' demanding peace would mean annihilation. Under current circumstances neither the Kurdistan People's Congress (Kongra-gel), the new name of the PKK, nor its military wing, the People's Resistance Force (HPG), demands peace; demanding peace means accepting defeat. If carefully reviewed, in our latest calls we asked [the people] to intensify the resistance continuously. Therefore, if anyone, be it a political party [implying the Democratic Society Party, DTP] or any individual [implying Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir], urges a halt to resistance, our people should not listen to them. On this matter you should follow our, the HPG's, statements." This statement clearly shows that the military wing of the Kurdish movement is in charge and in a position to lord over the DTP. The military wing doesn't even leave room for the DTP to pursue a slightly different discourse. In the next paragraph of the announcement, the terror organization signals a strategy shift from rural-based terror tactics to urban warfare. They call on Kurdish youth to take up arms and carry out individual attacks. "The youths should establish full resistance units (armed action units) in every village, town, neighborhood, borough, city and metropolis. When there is a police/military operation, these units should kill the security forces. Under the current circumstances, this type of structuring became an obligation and an immediate duty." The terror organization urges Kurdish youth to "choose civilian targets, tourist destinations, factories." It says "you can set fire to these placesÂ… You can target police, military personnel, bureaucrats who advocate the military operations, as well as Justice and Development (AK) Party and Republican People's Party (CHP) offices in southeastern Turkey, and parties which are hateful toward the Kurdish people [implying Turkish nationalist parties]." With the latest announcement, the organization changed its traditional strategy, according to which terrorists had to follow the chain of command to attack a target. In the latest announcement, the PKK asks youngsters to act individually: "The attacks mentioned aren't difficult to carry out; you can put gasoline on your target and set it on fire. Two or three youths could come together, and even if you lack arms you could stab the enemy when you find them in a quiet place; you could even choke them with wire. This type of new organization and action is an obligation. The only way for resistance against state forces is to organize full resistance units and attack our enemies." This doesn't mean that the PKK will dismantle its terrorist units in the mountains or send them to the urban centers for urban warfare. What the PKK wants is for Kurdish youth in cities to join the fight by organizing small resistance units. The PKK hopes that this new organizational structure will bring it success. The announcement states: "By organizing this way, while our trained activists will continue to do their job on their front, the people will do their job on their front. By acting together and intensifying the resistance together, we can defeat the enemy." The most likely reason why the organization decided to implement such a tactic is that it is losing ground in urban centers and having difficulty recruiting in these centers. Instead of pushing people to join the organization actively and leave their homes, it would be much easier for them to push people into these types of actions; they can take part of the organization's subversive activities where they live. This is a dangerous plan for the Kurdish people; the organization risks jeopardizing the life of the Kurds. Imagine a likely scenario: while walking down the street, a police officer is shot from a building. The response of the security forces in such cases could be harsh, and unfortunately civilian people might suffer if the PKK's plan is implemented. Thus, the Kurdish people should strongly oppose this plan by discouraging their children from joining these units. On the other hand, as a community, the Kurds should disapprove of this plan by organizing big demonstrations against it and openly condemning it. Otherwise no government agency can prevent civilian suffering in either the eastern or western cities of Turkey. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |