Left-Extremist Endeavours

PKK tries to present itself
as a democratic force
PKK uses "MED-TV" station
for presenting its aims
On 4 December, 9000 - mostly Kurdish - demonstrators in Cologne
demanded reversal of ÖCALAN’s death penalty. A few days
earlier, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg
had granted an urgent motion submitted by ÖCALAN’s lawyers
for suspension of all measures regarding enforcement of the
death sentence which just before had been confirmed by a Turkish
court of appeal.
For years, the PKK has endeavoured to present itself as a democratic
political force. In that regard, the "Kurdish Parliament-in-
Exile" (PKDW) - initiated by the PKK in 1995 and ever since under
PKK control - played an important role as its mouthpiece. In
addition - again with decisive PKK involvement - the "Kurdish
National Congress" (KNK) was founded in Amsterdam (Netherlands)
in late May; the Congress is constituted by Kurdish parties
and organizations from Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. The KNK
thus represents a wider spectrum of Kurdish groups than the
PKDW. The Congress sees itself as representing the interests of
all Kurds with the aim of providing a political forum for raising the
awareness of the international political community and of the
general public as regards the Kurds’ interests. On 26 September,
the PKDW decided to integrate itself within the KNK. The reason
given for this step was that the PKDW had achieved its aims with
the constitution of the KNK. Its members should in future participate
in the activities of the National Congress.
Another important PKK propaganda instrument was the
television station "MED-TV" which started operations in 1995.
The competent UK supervisory agency in March withdrew the
licence from the station, with particular reference to the appeals
launched by the latter to use violence in connection with
ÖCALAN’s arrest. Accordingly, "MED-TV" ceased its broadcasting
activity. Instead, the Kurdish television station "MEDYA-TV",
which can be received via satellite, has since 31 July been on the
air with programmes in the Kurdish and Turkish languages. Its
political programmes are largely devoted to issues of PKK
interest. In addition, this TV station - by means of live interviews -
provides leading PKK functionaries with an opportunity for
disseminating their comments and assessments to a large
audience.
For its propaganda activities, the PKK also relies on the Turkishlanguage
daily "Özgür Politika" ("Free Politics") which is also
available in Germany. This newspaper, too, publishes regular interviews
with PKK functionaries, reports on statements by the
PKK executive bodies, and provides information on PKK events.
2.2.3 Organizational Situation
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