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

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RlVISTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi
turkish daily news - January 14, 1994
Security: Better in the cities,
little improvement in rural areas
The worst casualties last year, as it has been for the past decade of
limited war ill the Southeast, were suffered by civilùl1ls once again.
Trapped in the cross fire, and victims of the increased number
of PKK attacks on villages in the second half of 1993, a total of
1,182 civilians were killed, and 1,229 were wounded
By Ismet G. Imset
Turkish Daj/y Ne ..... s
ANKARA- Terrorism continued to dominate
Turkey's agenda in 1993, as in the previous
year, wIth the exception of the
Turkish security forces' major success in
the fight against urban based armed Marxist
movements.
Entering the year with a massive crackdown
on the outlawed Revolutionary Left
(Dev-Sol) organization, Turkey appears to
have reduced this movement to a disunited
group of urban-dwelling young extremists.
Apart from Dev-Sol, Turkey was also
successful in its operations agamst radical
Islamic terrorist movements, taking measures
for the first time against a group identifying
itself as the Hezbollah, or the Party
ofGod.
As for the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK), it continued to rock the Turkish capital
throughout the year with an immense
increase in activities, and once again began
staging attacks on Kurdish civilians. The
PKK' s influence on domestic political
affairs increased daily, and according to
official reports, its activities at least doubled
in comparison with 1992. Separatist violence
in the Southeast was on stich a large
scale that even President Süleyman
Demirel, in his year-end speech, decreased
the figure of previously announced casualties.
Breakdown
According to figures provided by the
Ministry of tlie Interior, a total of
3,832 incidents were recorded in the
10 provinces under Emergency Rule from
Jan.l toDec.17,1993.
In these incidents, 602 security personnel
were killed and 1,190 others, including
Temporary Village Guards (GKK) were
wounded. As for tne PKK., official statistics
showed that a total of 1,668 militants had
been killed, 489 were captured, and 235
militants reportedly surrendered.
The worst casualties, as it has been for
the past decade of limited war in the
So~theast, were suffered by civilians once
agam.
Trapped in the crossfire, and victims or"
the increased number of PKK attacks on villa~es
in the second half of 1993, a total of
1.182 civilians were killed last year, and
1,229 were wounded.
Of those killed, 135 were women and 150
were children. A total of 161 women and 94
children were among the wounded. In security
operations launched as of Jan. 1, 2,695
machine guns, 1,318 guns, 466,007 bullets,
164 rocket launchers, 1,480 rockets, 1,907
grenades, 2 anti-aircraft guns and 2,183
anti-aircraft rockets were seized.
Despite continuous operations throughout
the year and repeated statements by security.
officials that "the backbone of the terrorists'
had been broken, there was no indication
thatthe PKK actually suffered serious losses
in 1993.
The most revealina incident on the subject
of separatist vioÎence last year was the
unilateral cease-fire declared by the PKK on
March 17.
The foundations of the cease-fire were
laid a month in advance, and senior officials
in the Turkish capital had been warned of
what to expect. Nevertheless, the declaration,
made by PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan,
took Ankara by surprise. Following his
press conferenc.~ in the Syrian-controlled
Bekaa valley, Ocalan said the cease-fire
would go into effect as of March 20 and
attached a one-month deadline to it.
When the news reached Ankara, it created
confusion in official circles. The issue
was raisedat a secret Cabinet meeting and
in Parliament. Everyone started to debate
whether the PKK leader was sincere.
No one seemed to care that time was
being wasted with this debate and that this
was an opportunity for Turkey to take the
initiative. The PKK had declared it would
put an end to the activities planned for the
period of time in question but warned that it
would fight if attacked... Turkish operations
nawrally continued.'
Oc~lan was waiting for Ankara to take
steps m the way of reforms but instead got a
demand for all PKK militants to surrender
along with their weapons. Meanwhile PKK
casualties in the mountains increased. '
The PKK leader was under immense
pressure from within his own ranks to break
the ce~se-fire ..They complained that the
op~ra.tlOns -agamst the organization were
cfalmmg more casualties than in a time of
:-var,and demanded to return to active fightmg.
T~e death of Pr~sident Turgut Özal on
Apnl 17 was a turnmg point in many ways
m Turkey, but most importantly it was the
end of an hope for a peaceful settlement to
Turkey's Kurdish proolem.
On May 25, 33 unarmed soldiers being
transf~rred from the reg!on were slain in a
t.çrronst attack near BmgöI. On June 8,
Ocalan announced the end of the cease-fire
and threatened to escalate activities throughout
Turkey. ~e. also put tourism centers
a.mong t~e pno~ty targets of the organizatIOn.
ThiS was Immediately followed by
~ttacks on civilians. In July, 32 people,
mcluding women and children, were ruthlessly
kllI~d in a vil~age o! Erzincan. In
October, mne people mcludms seven children
wer~ burneâ to death ID a village
guard's house. The same month, a PKK
~and ~ine ~Iaimed the lives of 26 p'eople
lnc1udmg fIVe women and nine children.
Again in October, the PKK raided a hamlet
in ~i~rt and gunned down 33 people, a
maJonty of the~ women and children. They
were killed in the front yard of a mosque. In
another attack, the militants machinegunned
14 children and eiaht women.
PKK.publi~ation~ boldly branded all of
those killed, Includmg even the infants, as
village guards.
Perhaps there were only two benefits
from the cease-fire. First, it demonstrated to
the PKK'J'eople and security personnel
what coul happen once the fightina was
over. Secondly, Turkey celebrated the
March 21 Kurdish New Year of Nevroz in
peace. In 1992, more than 100 people had
been killed in. the violence dunng the
Nevroz celebrations, and it was a relief for
everyone that nothing dramatic happened in
1993.
But the relief was short-lived. Year-end
figures for last year showed there had been
a 1qo P,fr~ent increase in the number of separatist
mCldents and a twofold escalation m
the number of civilians killed, compared
with the previous year.
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