by Zheng Jinfa, Wenyi
ANKARA, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Under the strong pressure of the Turkish political parties and Turkish nationals, the Turkish government and army is continuing to escalate the campaign against the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) based in the north of Iraq.
PKK guerrillas have hideouts in the high, rugged mountains dividing Turkey from northern Iraq. On Oct. 3, 17 Turkish soldiers were killed when PKK militants based in northern Iraq attacked Aktutun Gendarmerie Border Unit in Semdinli town in the province of Hakkari.
The tension is mounting after the deadliest attack in the year and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the military have pledged to intensify a campaign to crush the PKK, which was blacklisted by Ankara and the United States as a terrorist group.
The Turkish Air Force has conducted a number of airstrikes against PKK targets in northern Iraq since a week-long cross-border incursion into northern Iraq was launched the last incident.
The PKK, established in 1970, is a nationalist Kurdish guerrilla group that since the mid-1980s has been using violence to push for an independent Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey. Some half of Turkey's Kurdish population, 15 percent of Turkey's total of 73 million, is concentrated in the region.
The party is proscribed as a terrorist group in the United Kingdom, the United States and some other countries. In the past 10 years its demands have moderated to autonomy within Turkey. It suffered a major reverse in 1999 when its leader Abdullah Ocalan was captured, but in 2004 the group felt sufficiently strong to resume its campaign of violence. Since the armed struggle began, some 40,000 people have been dead.
JOINT EFFORTS WITH FOREIGN COUNTRIES
In November this year, a statement concerning the decision to establish a joint committee was delivered by Iraqi spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh following a trilateral meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Turkey's visiting Interior Minister Besir Atalay and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker.
The committee is expected to "track the threat represented by the PKK to the security and the stability of Turkey and Iraq," al-Dabbagh was quoted as saying in the brief statement. It will also "enact forceful measures to stop all activities undertaken by this organization inside Iraqi territory or in any region adjacent to the Turkish-Iraqi border," al-Dabbagh added.
"The visit is an important step on the path of our countries' efforts to fight terror," a statement from al-Maliki's office quoted the prime minister as saying. "It will lay down the rules to confront the terrorist PKK," it continued.
"Turkey is an important neighbor, and what harms Turkey harms us," al-Maliki said in the statement. "Our joint efforts will be more active in confronting this terrorist organization."
The United States is cooperating with Turkey by providing intelligence about the PKK in Iraq and allowing Turks to use Iraqi airspace for aerial strikes on PKK targets in the northern part of the country. The Iraqi central administration in Baghdad also condemns the PKK attacks but says it has little power in the Kurdish-run north to curb them.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan has said that the Iraqi Kurds could be part of a three-way mechanism if the Baghdad administration agrees. Babacan also said Ankara was considering tripartite consultations with the United States and Iraq on ways to curb the PKK, as proposed by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul.
The recent three-way meeting of high-level representatives from Turkey, the United States and Iraq, including a Kurdish regional administration representative, could produce more tangible results.
Interior Minister Besir Atalay was reported by the media as declaring immediately afterward that the security agreement had ushered in a new phase of anti-terrorism cooperation, aimed at eradicating the PKK.
TAKE FURTHER STERNLY MEASURES ON PKK
Turkish policy would focus on seven points: a review of the use of northern Iraqi airspace for cross-border operations and intelligence-gathering, with specific attention being paid to PKK activities; the inclusion of the right to hot pursuit in the existing security agreement; official recognition by the Kurdish regional administration of the nature of the PKK as a terrorist organization; the closure of PKK camps and PKK-related support groups, including logistic support in northern Iraq; the handing-over of certain terrorists wanted by Interpol; and improving intelligence-sharing between Turkey and the Kurdish regional administration.
Meanwhile, the assembly of Western European Union (WEU) released a striking report on Dec. 1, elaborating on all dimensions of terrorist activities on the Turkish and Iraqi borders and called on the governments of EU member states to take necessary measures to prevent the banned PKK activity on their territories.
In the report titled "Terrorist Activities on the Turkey-Iraq Border," the assembly noted that the PKK is featured on the EU's list of proscribed terrorist organizations and recognized Turkey's right to protect its population and fight terrorism.
Enumerating bloody attacks perpetrated by the separatist PKK in the last couple of years, assembly members called on the governments of the EU member states to take the necessary measures to prevent all activities connected with the PKK on their territories, in particular illegal activities such as recruitment and money laundering, and to strictly apply the relevant EU Council regulation.
The assembly also called on Turkey, in the context of the negotiations to the EU, to continue its efforts toward modernization and democratization. It decided to invite people of Kurdish ethnicity living in Turkey to take necessary measures to demonstrate to the Turkish population that their quest for cultural identity is not a cover for a separatist agenda and to pursue their claims for cultural identity solely by peaceful means.
Shortly after the ground offensive into northern Iraq to flush out PKK terrorists there in February 2008, President Abdullah Gul said in an interview with a renowned Milliyet daily columnist that all those who wanted to solve the terrorism problem democratically needed to be taken seriously.
This was why he had met members of the Democratic Society Party(DTP), which he regarded as part of the solution rather than part of the problem. It was obvious that they must be listened to if a democratic solution was to be found to the problem. Democracy will isolate terrorists.
However, when discussing PKK terrorist activities, Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul insisted that this was a problem imported to Turkey from outside.
He explained that the situation in Iraq greatly contributed to the strengthening of the PKK and that a vacuum had been created in northern Iraq allowing the PKK to operate freely and procure arms easily.
It was a lawless area because the Kurdish regional administration refused to assume its responsibilities. This justified the Turkish military's launch of cross-border operations into northern Iraq, Gonul added.
¡¡¡¡CUTTING OFF OUTSIDE SUPPORT TO PKK
The PKK benefits from outside financial support stemming from illegal activities, such as racketeering and trafficking in drugs and human beings in a number of EU states. Turkey is convinced that the EU member states could do more to combat the PKK and expects the EU to step up its efforts to reduce support for the group in Europe.
Turkish Defense Minister Gonul was not the only one to refer to outside support for the PKK. Murat Mercan, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and former leader of the Turkish delegation to the assembly, recalled the Kurdish propaganda being broadcast in Turkey through a number of satellite TV stations operating from outside the country.
One of the local TV channels viewed with the greatest suspicion by Turkey is Roj TV, which has a broadcasting license in Denmark. Turkey has called for its license to be revoked because of its incendiary propaganda, still to no avail.
The Kurdish regional administration, although emboldened by its relative autonomy, lacks the will to step up pressure on the PKK. The Iraqi central government is incapable of dealing with the PKK directly and has no force deployed in the border area.
At the same time, it is to Turkey's advantage to strengthen ties with the forces inside the Kurdish regional administration that want a long-term stable relationship with a neighbor both able and willing to invest in northern Iraq.
Turkey has the right to protect its citizens and to respond to the new wave of PKK attacks. It wisely abstained from a full invasion of northern Iraq in February.
The policy mix of military operations, including incursions into northern Iraq and air strikes against PKK hideouts and depots, combined with economic and social measures, aimed at the Kurdish population in southeast Turkey is, however, insufficient to address the wider issues related to the situation of Kurds in Turkey.
The Turkish government needs to steer its policy even more toward responding to the legitimate claims of peaceful Kurds for more cultural rights and a Kurdish identity.
The EU governments can support Turkey by intensifying its efforts to crack down on illegal activities perpetrated by PKK members, or the support of the PKK from the EU member countries.
