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Al-Ahram Weekly 7 - 13 October 1999 Issue No. 450 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 7 - 13 October 1999 Issue No. 450
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Interview Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Ocalan racing against time
By Gareth JenkinsThe Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) stepped up its war of nerves against the Turkish government last week, when a group of armed militants officially surrendered, along with their weapons, to the Turkish security forces in the mountains along Turkey's border with Iraq and Iran.
The surrender was in response to a statement issued earlier in the week by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan from his cell on death row on the prison island of Imrali. In August this year, Ocalan had announced that the PKK was abandoning its 15-year-old armed struggle and would withdraw its militants from Turkey as of 1 September.
"I call on a PKK group to join the democratic republic with their weapons as an expression of goodwill," said Ocalan last week. "Such a step would be very important in order to show that our decision to give up the armed struggle is sincere."
Last Friday, shortly after nightfall, a group of eight PKK militants, three of them women, surrendered to the Turkish army in the mountain village of Gelisim. The PKK's political wing, the Europe-based National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK), described the group, who were carrying white flags and letters to the Turkish authorities, as "a peace mission."
"The group surrendered for the sake of peace and democracy, said ERNK spokeswoman Nilufer Koc. "We are waiting for the Turkish government to respond."
But the Turkish authorities impatiently dismissed suggestions that they should enter into negotiations with the PKK to find a peaceful solution to a conflict which has already cost over 30,000 lives. "Ocalan is just trying to save his life," said Defence Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu, in a reference to the death sentence, which is due to go to the Court of Appeal later this month.
"The last gasps of the terrorists should not be defined as peace efforts and it is impossible to understand those who applaud these efforts," said a statement by the Turkish General Staff. "The Armed Forces Staff will continue its struggle against terrorism until the last terrorist is killed."
Nor does the Turkish military believe that the PKK really is withdrawing from Turkey. Last week, sources close to the military estimated that only 300-400 of the estimated 1,500 militants in Turkey at the end of August had left Turkish territory and that there were over 5,000 militants in camps just across the border.
"The PKK terrorists' presence in Iran, Iraq and Syria is still considered a threat against Turkey," said a military official. "They can cross back over the border at any moment," he added.
But in south-east Turkey, the fighting continues.
"Whatever Ocalan may say, the PKK are still planting bombs and laying ambushes in the south-east. The war continues," said a source close to the military, citing official figures of 21 "terrorist attacks" since the beginning of September and 135 PKK militants killed in 91 search and destroy operations.
Last week the Turkish army launched another cross-border raid into northern Iraq to strike at suspected PKK bases. But, privately, some government officials admit that even they no longer believe that the struggle is just military. There is no doubt that, while the violence continues, it is easier for the Turkish authorities to portray the granting of Kurdish minority rights as "concessions to terrorism". But, if the fighting stops, Turkey will come under increased pressure from the international community to ease restrictions on the expression of Kurdish identity; and, with the country desperately in need of foreign aid to bolster an economy which was already floundering even before the devastating 17 August earthquake, the pressure would be hard to resist.
For Ocalan, a continuation of the violence raises questions about either his sincerity or his ability to control the PKK. He is also racing against time. Unless he can force the Turkish authorities at least to recognise him as an interlocutor in peace negotiations, evidence suggests that many of the PKK militants who responded to his call for a withdrawal from Turkey will return to the armed struggle.
"He needs to stay in the public eye," said a foreign diplomat. "If he proves that he can deliver the PKK, then he will increase his standing internationally and, even if the Turks won't talk with him, it becomes much more difficult for them to hang him. But if the PKK recommits itself to the armed struggle, then he will slip from the public eye and I wouldn't give much for his life expectancy."
