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

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKAÇA~Ê-RNISTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi
turkish daily news / Thursday, October 7,1993
PKK swings to more radicalism
• Öcalan defends village raids, says grassroots
want radical actions from PKK and DEP
• Separatists prepare to create alternative
parliament by next year
• New orders issued for metropolitan attacks
in form of massive retaliation
Turkish
Daily News'
ANKARA- Statements made over the past
two weeks by KU~9istan Workers' Party (PKK)
leader Abdullah Ocalan confirm' expectations
that this organization, believed to have a growing
force of around 10,000 fighters, has resolved
on radical policies once again.
More than 7,200 people have died since the
PKK launched its first attacks as part of an arc
med carnpaign for self-rule in 1984 and even
before Ocalan declared "all-out war" on Turkey
last week, the d~ath toll for the past year had exceeded
2,000. 0 calan was quoted by the' pro-
Kurdish 0 zgür Gündem saying on Tuesday that,
the people wanted radical activities not only
from his organization but also from Kurdish deputies
in Parliament. In his instructions issued
on Sept. 18 and published later in the official
PKK Serxwebun magazine, the militant leader
noted that his struggle had entered a different
era and "tactics in the form of retaliation" would
be adopted. He said the PKK would retaliate
now in metropolitan cities and listed the new
targets. These targets, he said, included rich
markets, money markets, gold markets, luxury
districts, places of luxury entertainment and touristic
places. He said these attacks wO,uldbe "in
return for a country which has been devastated ...
In return for that, devastated metropolises."
On Wednesday, coincidingwith a new wave
of village raid,~by the orgamzation in the Southeast
region, Ocalan defended attacks on civilian
targets -- saying it was in the form of retaliation.
Interviewed by the 0 zgür Gündem and denouncing
arguments that certain PKK activities
were alienatmg the Kurdish and Turkish people,
o calan a.k.a. Apo, argued it was their right "to
evacuate some fascist villages."
His statement came after PKK militants killed
over 60 people in 24 hours of violence, leaving'
'behind more than a dozen dead children.
"All of Kurdistan is being evacuated. Is to
evacuate sonw fascist villages an alienation, of
, the people?" Ocalan bluntly asked. He called on
, Turkish critics of his organization to "go and
pick on the (Turkish) special war" instead of
discussing damages c,~usedby the PKK.
Observers believe Ocalan's recent statement is
a final step in the organization's turn to radical
policies and that the civilian massacres of the
1987- I990 period will be revi ved. Already,
three separate villagers have beenraided and
their populations have been massacred without
differentiating between men or women, or children
and theefderly.
38
The PKK campaign for 1993 is underway at
full steam as if to prove baseless Turkey's military
commander's claims that the organization
wil!.be crushed by next year. And, in the words
of Ocalan, "despite torture and murders, the people's
support (of the PKK) has increased."
Observers say there are three major developments
in the near future which will inevitably
affect the PKK's future policy. The situation of
the PKK-supported Democracy Party
(DEP) and Turkish altempts to prosecute
it; the upcoming March local elections
and winter condItions.
The organization is aware of Turkish
plans to cut it off from supplies and
crackdown on mountain units as of this
month and sees its survival, at least until
~arch 19?4, vital. In this context, spreadmg
fear m the hearts of the local people'
and minimizing cooperation with the state
has become a priority target once again.
The aim is to cut off as many village
guards as it can from suppoitmg Turkey's
operation. Thus, the target VIllages
hit by PKK militants are selected from
among those who have accepted state-issued
weapons and who have been warned
by the organization -- at least once --
to drop their weapqlls.
One priority on Ocalan's agenda is the
situation of the DEP, which has been accused
frequently by Turks of being a
pro-PKK party. Apo's recent statements
clarify a point repeated by the TDN over
,the past months: That he is not pleased
with the DEP and sees it only as an instrument.
The PKK leader has made it clear this
week that he will not tolerate any individual
activities of DEP parliamentarians
and that he expects aU of them to fall in
line with radica!.ism. Some say that between
the lines, Ocalan is actually giving
signals to Turkish leftists and implying
that the DEP has failed to work out as a
Kurdish party but could do good in raising
Turkish Issues on the agenda ...
In his r.ecent interview with 0 zgür
Gündem, Ocalan criticized DEP deputies
from failing to resist "Turkish chauvinist
pressures" ilirected at them. "At this pomt,"
hesaid, "the masses got more disturbed.
They asked why the DEP was
not taking a more radical élltitude."
He also lashed out at DEP deputies for
living a life of luxury. failing to he together
with their people and failing to come
up with alternative radical policIes.
According to Apö, it is true that DEP
is a legal party but none of its leaders come
from "a period of struggle." More
openly, he does not see them fitto play
th~ir role of voicing Kurdish demands. ,
Ocalan also believes that the state IS
using the DEP and trying to create an alternative
to the PKK which will force
the struggle to surrender. "In other
words, they want to use them liRe political
village guards," he says.
The PKK leader also puts forth the
conditions of PKK support for the DEP
in the future: "If the executives turn to a
radical, revolutionary and democratic line,"
he says, "we will support them."
But he also has a warning: "The deputies
are not able to reply to the demands
of the people. The people want them to
withdraw, but they are sticking to their
seats even in a stronger way. This is not
only a step taken backwards but a failure
to meet P9pular demands."
What Ocalan exactly wants from the
, DEP is not yet clear although he has said
openly that his movement is to support
all "revolutionary and democratic candidates"
during an election whether they
be from DEP or not. He also added that
, no one could be elected without PKK
support.
Before the winter sets in, the PKK leader
wants to get stronger, attract more
popular support to the organization and
retaliate as nard as he can to Turkish military
campaigns in the region. In the
words of a local source in Diyarbakir,
"much blood is to be shed after this.
There will be a stronger campaign against
the village guards. When they (Turkey)
bum villages, the PKK will do the
same." On Monday night, PKK militants
burned a total of 22 houses in Siirt. A
day later, security forces were accused of
burningdown a complete village in Agri.
What is evident policy-wise is that the
PKK intends not only to boost its armed
activities' in the regIon and throughout
Turkey but also to establish authority.
Ocalan's own orders dated Sept. 18 are
headlined: "This era is one of freedom
and establishing authority."
In the past two years, the authority put
into practice in the region has been in the
form mainly of forcing village guards to
resign from their duties -- or dIe. Or, to
force locals to pay a certain amount of
"tax" to the orgamzation. The main pre- '
sence of PKK authority though has Deen