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
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Turkish Probe August 3, 1993
this, if the argument is true, it is evident that the 10
cal forces have full civilian backing.
The PKK, however, is confident that it will strengthen
with each blow -- mainly in manpower.
Finance appears to be no problem. There may be
slight difficulties with logistics but these can be
overcome with ease. But, "professional labor" is
whatthe organization truly lacks at this time.
It boasts of replacing each dead fighter with at least
two new ones, but also realizes that the movement
is getting more and more unprofessional as it
expands. The closure of the Bekaa tràiRing camp in
Lebanon, which used to graduate would-be commanders,
may not have affected the organization in
terms of manpower. But regarding professionalism,
Rh~; .
The very fact that a majority of Bekaa graduates
became commanders speaks for itself. Now, in Turkish
territory, aboùt 20 camps literally flush out new
militants every month as a product of combined training.
. .
According to BaYlk, "Turks always turn out to be
good commanders" because of their intellectual
perceptiveness.
The PKK was initially founded in the late 1970s
by a Turkish dominated group. Today, it consists of
Turkish, Syrian, Iraqi and Iranian Kun:ls, as well as
Turkish Armenians and Turks. "But I must confess,"
BaYlk says, "as we expand, we are having structural
problems. Today the structure is not exactly like
the party." .
Last week, when news of the Kusadasi bombing
reached BaYlk's headquarters, his.first reaction was
that "it must be our supporters. All party cadres have
orders not to harm innocent people."
BLlt with the supporters, no one knows what will
happen. The bombing in Antalya has also turned
out to be the work of supporters, a concept related
to expanding grassroots. Both Turks and Kurds living
in Turkey' are aware that this, accompanied by
developments in the region, is actually leading to a
new threat.
In the PKK, which at the top is a Marxist-Leninist
movement, Kurdish racism may be spreading now
in the disguise of nationalism. Even BaYlk, the most
senior commander, warns against this. "There is a
Kurdish racist threat," he says. What once started
off as a separatist movement is now turning into a
nationalist one, because it is expanding and more
and more ending up under the influence of the
grassroots. And, nationalism is also spreading
among the Turks. The news of each and every soldier
beingkilled further fans hatred and enmity to
the Kurds in general.
Meanwhile, the wave of retaliation is compiling into
an even bloodier campaign. The killing of 19 militants
last week led to PKK attacks claiming the lives
of at least 17 soldiers and leaving behind more
than 20 wounded. .
Even the hard-line commander of $Irnak, Gen.
Mete Sayar, agrees that the PKK-has grown at least
twofold over the past two to three years.
But, this awareness is serving no lasting solution.
Still, in the absence of a civilian initiative for a solution,
local forces want more and more power in their
hands, and appear to believe this is the only way
to cope with increased support to the PKK. As one
officer put it on Monday in a letter to Hürriyet's Emin
Çöla~an, some even believe that "using napalm on
the Ararat, Tendürek, Cudi and Herekol mountains,
along with lasting chemical agents," to destroy anything
in the vicinity appears to be a solution for
them.
In the lack of a true solution, radical outbursts are
now coming from both sides. Extreme nationalism
is leading to racism, and the threat of an onslaught
appears to be brewing. Unless Turkey names its
"war" in the Southeast and breaks the current policy
with alternative reforms, the troubled region will turn
more and more into another Vietnam. And, history
has already shown what could happen in such a
case...•
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