Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RIVISTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE lA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZET;
Turkish Probe October 5, 1993 3
will have from those military-introduced policies of
today are not clear. What Parliament sources believe,
however, is that the conditions of moderate
policies no longer exist, that the government has
completely shelved the Paris Charter and rights --
as far as the Kurdish issue goes -- and that the
chances of any peaceful solution to the problem are
being lost by the day. .
In the coming three months a dramatic change in
the regional picture is expected. On the Turkish
side, the war on terror is to be escalated -- apparently
to the extent of repeating the $Irnak incidents
over a vast area.
On the PKK side, the situation
is worse. Öcalan, under
pressure from his own constituents
has the spirit to fight
to the end.
In the words of Active Television
(ATV) news anchorman
Güneri Civao1)lu,
Öcalan a.K.a Apo, is like a
cornered rat. Öcalan previous
warning to Civao1)luand
other journalists is that if an
outlawed organization is cornered,
it becomes more violent.
Cornered he is, but not
only because of Turkish operations.
Looking at the
PKK's problems today, it
could be seen that it is cornered
on four fronts. First,
operations are concentrating
on mountain units. Second,
there are operations concentrating on urban settlements
and hurting civilians. When these two come
together they create the circumstances for only two
things: more recruits to the organization (at a rate it
cannot train or indoctrinate) and more pressure for
violence.
This is where Öcalan is really cornered.• We will
take harsher measures. In one day, 50 people could
die. If we say this we will do it....We will not be responsible
if 50 people die. We have no choiçe because
they are destroying Kurdistan,. said Öcalan
" Wewill take
harsher measures.
In one day 50 people
could die. If we
say this we will do
it....we will not be
responsible if 50
people die.
Wehave no choice
because they are
destroying
Kurdistan ~
Operations UndertyllY ' ' '.
l\T
in his recent press conference.
At least 200 people have died on both sides in the
past week alone and, according to Reuters, more
than 1,600 people have been killed in the region
since May 24, 1993, when Apo called off a twomonth
unilateral cease fire that Ankara ignored from
the very beginning.
"I have never been as confident as today ...when
we started, there was no one talking about the
Kurdish identity but now there is," Öcalan said, emphasizing
correctly that the PKK enjoys strong popular
support.
About three months ago,
when leading Turkish newspaper
owners and directors
were invited to the chief of
general staff's office where
they were "advised" what to
write about and what not,
they were told to avoid statements
such as the above. A
colonel then went to the extent
of even giving a slide
show of a recent commentary
written by Sabah's Hasan
Cemal, "pointing out"
how damaging it was for
Turkey. "The PKK has
spread its roots among the
people," Cemal said in his
column then, which now
rarely refers to the Kurdish
issue.
During the briefing it was
made clear that although it
should not be pronounced openly, wartime conditions
prevailed in the Southeast and the national
press should act accordingly; an argument that may
be accepted as legitimate, if only what is happening
-- or the policy put into practic~ -- was really in the
national interests of Turkey.
The key factor to PKK activities in the coming period
will clearly be the amount of damage it will inflict
on local people during Turkey's war on terrorism.
In its first three years of violence, from 1984 to
ews reaching Ankara from thetroubled' jU;~dYiheI'lTUrkiSh~ircrytft attacked the suspected
~~~~:;a~~~e~:~;a~~ ~~~h~~n1~ca~~:~ ••••••• ~Jr:;s~::'cI:~el~':a~~a~f:~~u6i~;y~~~et~~r~~k~~:
peeted crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers Party.. representativeof !h.eKurdistan Democratic party.
(PKK) which is believed to have some.8 to 1Othou-Simllarattacksàt .the Nerwa region where the
sand fighters in the region.
borders of Turkey, Iraq and Iran converge. killed
There has been increased fighting In .tl'lemoun-... seven other Iraqi Kurds, ttlree of them women, Ditainous
region and at least twooperations have' zayee .said.Ankara's civilian government has been
been started on urban settlements: Thedeath toll told by security officers that PKK camps have been
is up at an average of about .20.per-day but in- established In the Iraqi border region. In reality, the
creasing rapidly. . PKK only' has mobile groups in the area and their
During the weekend. Turkey shelled and number Is quite low.
bombed what was claimed to be PKK targets In Cynics believe the aim of the new campaign is to
Iraqi territory, although the Jraqi Kurds have distract attention from what is going on In Turkey
claimed they were civilian settlements. An Iraqi and give the Turkish electorate a moral victory with
Kurdish woman was killed and five men were in- a story whose veracity cannot be established.
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