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

REVUE DE PRESSE~PRESS REVIEW~BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ~RIVISTA STAMPA~DENTRO DE LA PRENSA~BASIN ÖZETÎ
Turkish Daily News
United States : PKK
is involved in drug
traffic in Europe
State Department report says
hundreds of thousands of PKK
sympathizers in Turkeyand Europe
By Ugur Akmel
Turkish Daily News
WASHINGTON- The top U.S. administration
official responsible for momtoring terrorist groups
.around the world, has confrrmed that the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) is involved in the narcotics
trade In Europe. Phil Wilcox, U.S. State
Department's counter-terrorism coordinator said "I
know of no narcotics activities by the PKK in the
United States," butstated that the PKK has been
involved "in narcotics trafficking in Western Europe
and elsewhere."
In the State Department' s report on "Patterns of
Global Terrorism, 1994," the PKK has been identified.
as an .international,terrorist: group which/'pee-
. septs ,a potentially, serious:'$'eaHo, U.Sdnterests."
The,repQrtdetailed.the bomb attacks' by the PKK on
the touristïndustry inTurkeY'last year,where several.
tourists died and more were injured. The PKK
also kidnapped two Finnish tourists who were later
released. .
The report also acknowledged the support PKK
,received from some Euro{lt3!l countries. "The PKK
opened offices of its political wing (ERNK) in Italy
and Greece," it said. The terrOrIst orgamzation's
"expanding activities" in Germany werealso mentioned.
,
5,000-6,000 PKK guerrillas in Turkey.
The State DePlll1mentestimates PKK strength as
MO~DAY.MAY l, 1995
"approximately 10,000 to 15,000 full-time guerril~
. las, 5,000 to 6,000 of whom are in Turkey; 60,000 to
75,000 part-time guerrillas and hundreds of thousands
of sympathizers in Turkey and Europe."
The report also sàid that the PKK "receives safehaven
and modest aid from Syria, Iraq and Iran."
The aid and comfort Syria is giving tothe PKK was
raised with President Assad during Assistant
Secretary of State, Dennis Ross' latest visit to
Damascus. UPI rèported that the PKK leader,
Abdullah "Apo" Öcalan, had escaped to Syna 24
, hours before Turkey launched Operation Steel in
northern Iraq on March 20.
The second Turkish terrorist or~anization covered
by the report is Dev-Sol (Revolutionary Left) whose
leader Dursun Karata~ was arrested bythe French
authorities last September. .
Dev-Sol members in Austria,' Belgium and
Netherlands"sprang into action" to have Karata~
released. The State Department describes Dev-Sol as
a Marxist group which is "intensely xenophobic and
virulently anti-U.S. and anti-NATO." Its strength is
described as "several hundred members and several
dozen armed militants." It is noted that the organization
"conducts fundraising operations in Western
Europe."
"Dev-Sol operatives in Turkey assassinated former
Justice Minister Mehmet Topaç on Sept. 29~
1994 in Ankara and also killed a policeman in
Istanbul," the reports says.
'.
The "loosely organized Turkish Islamic extremists"
are the third Turkish terrorist group covered by
the report. ''They have claimed responsibility for
attacks under a variety of names, such as Islamic
Jihad, the Islamic Movement Organization and the
Islamic Great Eastern Raiders Front."
Deseite the fact that it is not of paramount signifi- ',
cance ln Turker., the U.S. State Department report
mentions that 'there was an upsur~e of attacks by ,
Islamic extremist groups in 1994, mcluding many.
aimed at undermining the Middle East peace
process." ,
Wilcox noted a trend of "a decline in attacks by
secular terrorist $roups in recent years ahd an
increase in terronst activities by radical Islamic
groups." In the introduction to the re~ort, Wilcox
stated that "terrorism in Islamic guise IS a problem
for established governments in the Middle East." ,
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