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

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RNISTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi
Turkisb Daily News
THURSDAY,JUNE29.199S
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Local support for Kurd
rebels hinders Turks
By Aliza Marcus
Reuter
TUNCELt, Turkey- The Turkish military's
drive against rebel Kurds in the
eastern province of Tunceli is hampered
. bya major factor, front-line mem1iers of
the security forces say"":' many Kurdish
civilians support the rebels. '7be problem
is there is still sympathy for the
PKK (Kurdistan Worker.çPartj), and as
long as that continues it will be impossible
to finish them off," a counter-insurgency
commando told Reuters at the
weekend. Turkey has long said the
PKK, which it calls a terrorist group,
commands little support in the mairily
Kurdish east and southeast, where the
rebels have fought for 11 years for
autonomy or independence. Over 16,000
people have died. The Turkish army
outnumber.ç the PKK by something like
25 to one in Tunceli province, at the
heart of the struggle. Troops were
recently boosted to at least 50,()(}(}there
against an estimated 2,000 rebels. But
Kurdish sources throughout the region
say the guerrillas rely on villagers for
food, shelter and supplies, something
some give willingly and other.çprovide
outo(fear.
The commandos, based in Tunceli for
almost four years, said they found it
hard to accept continuing sympathy for
the rebels, WDO have bumed schools and
health clinics, killed teachers and
attacked families of state-paid village
guards.
'1t's not ue to us to solve this, wejust
take orders, said one commando, who
like the others would not give his name.
"But if the state would lift some
restrictions, like allow Kurdish television
or schools, then sympathy would
probably drop," he saId. Kurdish
activists have long argued the PKK benefits
from state repression of Kurdish
cultural and pol1tical identity, and
Turkey's weak record on human rights.
Many Kurds who do not support the
PKK say Ankara is playing mto the
hardline 8Ioup's hanos by closing off
democratJc alternatives and essentially
criminalising discussion of Kurdishrelated
issues. Last year the pro-Kurdish
Democracy Party was shut 6y the courts
for separatist actility and six of its parliamentarians
were jailed in December
on similar grounds.
"Ifl suggest a federation or complain
about Tuifish policies I'll also end up in
prison," said a Kurdish intellectual.
Tunceli province has always been a
stronghoJd of leftist and Kurdish
activism, and a 1936-38 rebellion harshly
put down by Turkish troops has
beCome the stuff of local folklore.
"Back then our people wanted a
Kurdish province, where cultural rights
and thelt Kurdish identity could be
free," said a bus driver, who like others
insisted his name not be used.
'The rebels in the mountains now are
fighting for the same thing." Turkish
forces last September launched a major
operation against PKK forces in
Tunceli, criss-crossed by narrow gorges
and soaring mountains that offer rebels
natural hiding places.
Despite frequent promises the military
has not managed to end PKK
attacks or hunt down regjonal commander
Semdin Sakik and local commander.ç
say PKK activity seems to be on
the rise again.
Since mid-April the PKK has killed at
least 33 soldiers in two major attacksin
Tunceli and staged numerous
raids.
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