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 <strong>de</strong> la Prensa-Baszn Öz<strong>et</strong>i<br />
INTERNATIONAL BOSTON - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 1998<br />
With Rebels on Run, Turkey G<strong>et</strong>s Tougher<br />
• A successful Army offensive and arrest of a Kurd lea<strong>de</strong>r may un<strong>de</strong>rmine hopes for a<br />
negotiated end to a guerrilla war.<br />
",<br />
SamiKohen<br />
ISTANBUL, TURKEY<br />
Special to The Christian Science Monitor . .<br />
Turkey seems to have won the upper hand in its long and costly war agamst a Kurd separatIst movement.<br />
And amid new military gains against the rebel group PKK, or Kurdish Workers Party, Turkey's position<br />
has only har<strong>de</strong>ned. .<br />
The prospect of a negotiated s<strong>et</strong>tlement with the group, which seeks a homeland for the region's <strong>et</strong>hnic<br />
Kurds, including 12 million in Turkey, appears to have fa<strong>de</strong>d.<br />
Turkey is a key NATO ally that has increasingly sought to cement its special relationship with the United<br />
States, particularly since being snubbed earlier this year for membership in the European Union. The EU<br />
cited human rights concerns - including questions about Turkey's treatment of Kurds - as a reason it was<br />
not admitted.<br />
The recent capture of a top PKK comman<strong>de</strong>r, Semdin Silik, came amid an offensive in which Turkey's<br />
Army also claims to have killed scores of rebels in Turkey's southeast.<br />
'Brink<br />
of collapse'<br />
"The PKK has received a severe blowand is on the brink of total collapse," said a senior member of the<br />
Army's general staff Aprill7, speaking on condition ofanonymity. "Now it is up to the government and<br />
other civilian organizations to resolve the region's economic and social problems, which are the real cause<br />
of the violence," he said.<br />
Another military source, asked wh<strong>et</strong>her the "<strong>de</strong>feat" of the PKK might encourage Turkish authorities to<br />
listen to recent PKK overtures for a s<strong>et</strong>tlement, was blunt: "No one in Turkey would agree to negotiate<br />
with terrorists," he said. "We have always resisted any contacts with the PKK, and now that they are<br />
crumbling, there cannot be any question of ... acceptance of their conditions."<br />
A call has gone up among liberal Turks, however, to go beyond economic and social reform in the region.<br />
There is <strong>de</strong>bate over allowing Kurds to use theirJanguage in education, broadcasting, and official contacts.<br />
"If we want this [military success] to be permanent, we have to <strong>de</strong>al urgently with other aspects of the<br />
problem," wrote Hasan Cemal, a prominent columnist for the daily newspaper Sabah, on April 17. "To<br />
secure economic well-being in the southeast is only one aspect; the other is to respect [Kurdish] i<strong>de</strong>ntity<br />
.and their rights to use their culture and language," he wrote.<br />
Army and government still at odds<br />
Tensions remain high b<strong>et</strong>ween the Army, which regards itself as guardian of the secular state foun<strong>de</strong>d by<br />
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk more than 70 years ago, and the civilian government. Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz<br />
was not told about the raid to capture Mr. Sakik until the operation was over.<br />
At the time the raid was being un<strong>de</strong>rtaken, PKK chief Abdullah Ocalan was making an appeal to both Mr.<br />
Yilmaz and to Gen I. H. Karadayi, the Army chief of staff. Mr. Ocalan proposed a cease-fire followed by a<br />
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