Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
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Revue <strong>de</strong> Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro<br />
<strong>de</strong> la Prensa-Basm Öz<strong>et</strong>i<br />
Sakik controversy<br />
continues<br />
• The terrorist's capture is being discussed by the<br />
government, as well as by the KDP and the PKK, turning<br />
the Kurdish problem into the number one issue on the<br />
agenda once again<br />
• Kurdish circles are discussing the possibility of a solution<br />
with or without the PKK, as well as the possibility of a<br />
cease-fIre<br />
Mustafa Erdogan<br />
Ankara - Semdin Sakik, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party<br />
(PKK) terrorist who first surren<strong>de</strong>red to the forces of the Kurdistan<br />
Democratic Party (KDP) in northern Iraq and then was brought to<br />
Turkey, has triggered heated <strong>de</strong>bates in the ranks of the PKK, in the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP),<br />
and now in Turkey.<br />
The Kurdish problem has become the number one item on the country's agenda once again. At a time when<br />
the Turkish army is more frrm1y in control of the situation than at any point in the past, various circles are<br />
<strong>de</strong>bating wh<strong>et</strong>her a solution to the problem can be found with the PKK or without it.<br />
The Sakik controversy began within the PKK in 1993, but his recent capture has drawn the KDP into the<br />
<strong>de</strong>bate. Had Sakik been a "guest" of the KDP and, if so, had the KDP b<strong>et</strong>rayed the trust of a person un<strong>de</strong>r<br />
its protection? Will the controversy cause the KDP to suffer a loss of military and political prestige? Turkey<br />
is also un<strong>de</strong>r scrutiny, concerning the actual date of the operation by which Sakik was brought to Turkey<br />
and the issue of wh<strong>et</strong>her the military had notified the government of the operation beforehand.<br />
Questions about Sakik<br />
Had Sakik formed a gang of his own within the PKK? Did he mastermind the massacre of 33 soldiers in<br />
Bingoi by collaborating with the so-called "Yesil?" Did he eliminate some of the PKK "comman<strong>de</strong>rs" who<br />
were cov<strong>et</strong>ing his own position in the organization? And, in the end, did he say "l<strong>et</strong> us not fight anymore?"<br />
After Sakik sought refuge with the KDP forces, the PKK lea<strong>de</strong>rship announced that these issues had been<br />
<strong>de</strong>bated in the ranks of the PKK for years, and urged all PKK circles to take part in the <strong>de</strong>bate.<br />
-.- ....<br />
Q..<br />
-<strong>et</strong>:<br />
o<br />
C"l<br />
The KDP has had a power struggle with the PKK in some parts of northern Iraq from time to time,<br />
som<strong>et</strong>imes clashing with it due to "bor<strong>de</strong>r security." When Sakik surren<strong>de</strong>red to the KDP, the latter found<br />
itself in the eye of the controversy. In the wake of the Turkish General Staffs special forces operation in<br />
northern Iraq, the KDP has been accused by certain circles of having condoned that <strong>de</strong>velopment.<br />
These circles have claimed that Sakik's surren<strong>de</strong>r to the KDP was part of a "scenario" right from the start,<br />
and that no Turkish military operation had to be staged to capture him in northern Iraq and take him to<br />
Turkey, implying that Sakik had been willing to go to Turkey right from the start. They have asked why, if<br />
Sakik had genuinely sought refuge with the KDP, did the KDP fail to protect a "fellow Kurd in distress"<br />
and why the KDP failed to establish a "provisional base" for Sakik and other would-be PKK <strong>de</strong>serters in<br />
northern Iraq and thus create more room for maneuvering for itself. They have asked why the KDP would<br />
risk losing prestige in the eyes of people of Kurdish origin living in Turkey to whom the KDP has always<br />
attached great importance throughout its history.<br />
The controversy has been even more complicated in Turkey. Sakik had caused Turkey many a headache<br />
and a special effort had been ma<strong>de</strong> to capture him during the Turkish military operations in staged in<br />
northern Iraq in the past five years. All of sud<strong>de</strong>n, the Turkish government has Sakik in its hands. Why<br />
was the government not informed of the military operation in advance? Where exactly is Sakik being<br />
interrogated? Who is interrogating him? Why did the police officials not have any knowledge of the initial<br />
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