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

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