17.01.2005 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Northern Iraq: PKK / Gongral-Gel ("original document") [ID 10665]

"PKK TOPS THE AGENDA AT TRIPARTITE MEETING IN ANKARA. Iraqi, Turkish, and U.S. officials met in Ankara on 11 January to discuss Turkish demands that the U.S. and Iraqi militaries address the issue of Turkish-Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq. Turkey has called on the United States for several months to crush PKK/Kongra-Gel bases in Iraq, but Washington appears hesitant to do so.

U.S. Central Command commander General John Abizaid told Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul at the meeting that while the United States considers the PKK a terrorist organization, "We also understand...that our troops have a lot of work to do there along with the Iraqi security forces, and we agree that, over time, we must deal with the PKK," nytimes.com reported on 12 January.

Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid al-Bayati represented his government at the meeting, telling journalists at a subsequent news briefing that the Iraqi government is not opposed to taking military action against the PKK but it is currently not in a position to do so. He said any military operation "will take place in coordination with the multinational forces in Iraq," Anatolia news agency reported on 11 January. Al-Bayati added that Iraqi, Turkish, and U.S. officials would hold "technical discussions" on the issue but did not say when those discussions would begin.

The Iraqis did agree at the meeting, however, to increase security along the Turkish-Iraqi border and to prevent illegal crossings, Istanbul's "Milliyet" reported on 13 January. The Iraqi delegation also agreed to address the issue of participation by the Democratic Solution Party (a PKK political group) in the Iraqi elections with the Iraqi Independent Election Commission. That commission has stipulated that armed militias cannot participate in the election, yet the party is listed on the ballots for national and Kurdistan parliamentary elections. Both sides also committed themselves to a previous agreement that any PKK members arrested in Iraq would be subject to Iraqi law rather than being handed over to Turkish authorities. It was also agreed that pressure would be applied to Turkish Kurds living in Iraq's Makhmur Camp to induce their return to Turkey, "Milliyet" reported.

Turkey has pressured the United States to address the issue of PKK militants since before the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003. At that time, as the United States lobbied to gain access to Turkish military air bases ahead of the invasion, the Turkish military contended that a power vacuum would be created in northern Iraq during the war that would allow the PKK to launch attacks against Turkey, despite assurances by the two main Iraqi Kurdish parties that no such attacks would take place (see "RFE/RL Iraq Report," 14 March 2003).

Washington later sought Turkish military support in Iraq, but Turkish officials used the PKK issue as a bargaining chip, saying they would not commit troops to Iraq until the United States cracked down on the PKK. U.S. officials said they would not move against militants at the time due to a five-month amnesty issued by Turkey a month earlier (see "RFE/RL Iraq Report," 25 September 2003). Just days later, the United States and Turkey agreed on a plan of action to eliminate the PKK's presence in Iraq, but that plan apparently never came to fruition. Iraqi Kurdish leader Mas'ud Barzani later criticized Turkey, saying, "The Americans do not think the Turkish [amnesty] offer is sufficient or else they would have clamped down on the PKK with an iron fist." He added, "If a new law was passed and a real amnesty was issued, many of the militants would come down from the mountains leaving their leaders behind." Indeed, few PKK militants accepted the amnesty offer.

Turkey continued to press the issue with U.S. officials throughout 2004, with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan telling reporters on 11 June that the PKK presence in northern Iraq would be "high on the agenda" of his meeting with President George W. Bush in Washington that month, adding, "We expect the United States to take some concrete steps to this end." Interim Iraqi President Ghazi Ajil al-Yawir vowed to Turkish officials in Ankara on 16-17 August that his government would work to eradicate the presence of the PKK but warned Turkey not to interfere in Iraq's domestic affairs (see "RFE/RL Iraq Report," 18 August 2004). Turkey upped its pressure on Iraq in November as media reports indicated that the government had formulated a plan that would send as many as 40,000 Turkish soldiers across the border to root out the militants (see "RFE/RL Iraq Report," 11 November 2004).

Media reports suggest that the United States might attempt to take concrete steps in the coming months toward rooting out the militants, but as indicated above, the issue of the PKK arguably cannot be addressed as long as U.S. forces are tied up with battling insurgents in Iraq. The United States might also be wary of launching an operation against the PKK in northern Iraq, as such action could potentially destabilize the relative calm there. The PKK is estimated to have some 5,000 members in the region, according to a PKK member interviewed in Berlin's "Die Welt" on 8 January. The issue however, could be complicated by a new U.S. request for access to Turkey's Incirlik air base. Anatolia news agency has reported that Abizaid has sought access to that base for U.S. logistical operations. (Kathleen Ridolfo)"

Document(s): original document

20.08.2004 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Northern Iraq: Iraqi government will eradicate Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Kongra-Gel ("original document") [ID 10666]

"IRAQI PRESIDENT VISITS TURKEY. Iraqi interim President Ghazi Ajil al-Yawir met with Turkish officials in Ankara on 16-17 August and said that his government would work to eradicate the presence of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), also known as Kongra-Gel, from northern Iraq, NTV reported on 17 August. However, Al-Yawir warned Turkey not to interfere in Iraq's domestic affairs. Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer told the media on 16 August that Turkey expects Iraq to follow through on its commitment. "Another important security issue between the two countries is the presence of a terrorist organization that targeted Turkey using Iraq as a base," Sezer said of the Turkish-Kurdish group. "I told President al-Yawir that we expect that the new Iraq won't be a shelter for terrorist organizations, and will try to end the presence of terrorist organization PKK/Kongra-Gel on his soil."
.""

Document(s): original document

25.06.2004 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Northern Iraq: presence of PKK, now known as Kongra-Gel ("original document") [ID 10667]

"GUL MEETS TALABANI, ISSUES WARNING ON KIRKUK. Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul reportedly issued a warning to Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani during meetings in Ankara this week, Anatolia news agency reported on 22 June.

Diplomatic sources told Anatolia that Gul warned Talabani about Kurdish attempts to change the demographic composition of Kirkuk, in which many Turkomans reside. Gul reportedly told the PUK head that such attempts would lead to tension and violence and yield "unfavorable results," Anatolia reported.

Regarding the presence of the Turkish-Kurdish opposition group Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), now known as Kongra-Gel, Gul reiterated earlier demands that the Kurds take action to expel the group from northern Iraq. Gul said that if Talabani is truly responsible for his region, then he should take prompt action, Anatolia reported. Talabani reportedly assured Gul that the PUK would not tolerate any action by the PKK against Turkey, and stressed his belief that the PKK is in a process of disintegration and might no longer pose a threat to Turkey. (Kathleen Ridolfo)"

Document(s): original document

22.06.2004 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Northern Iraq: PKK / Kongra Gel ("original document") [ID 10668]

"Reports from southern Turkey suggest that Turkish authorities have launched a crackdown against Kurdish separatists since the remnants of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) declared an end to the unilateral cease-fire it announced five years ago. Kurdish separatists in the PKK had waged an insurgency for nearly two decades in southeastern Turkey in their failed bid to win autonomy for the Kurdish minority there. The now-defunct PKK declared the cease-fire in 1999 after its leader, Abdullah Ocalan, was captured the previous year and urged his followers to conduct their campaign for autonomy through legitimate political means."The PKK based in northern Iraq is about to disintegrate.” But the PKK's successor group, Kongra-Gel, called off the cease-fire at the start of June, saying Turkish security forces have refused to respect the truce. Turkish security forces are reported to be increasingly involved in clashes with Kurdish separatist fighters. Ankara claims that about 2,000 Kurdish fighters have crossed into Turkey from hideouts in mountainous northern Iraq in recent weeks.

Seyfi Tashan is director of the Foreign Policy Institute at Bilkent University in Ankara. He notes that the Kurdish separatist movement has been disintegrating since many of its militant members fled into northern Iraq after Ocalan's capture. Tashan says what now remains of the separatist movement is divided between moderates and splintering militant groups. "The PKK based in northern Iraq is about to disintegrate,” he says. “Some of their members are joining the peshmerga [force that the PKK had fought against in the past]. A group of the PKK -- its name now is Kongra-Gel -- have decided to renew action, infiltrating eastern Turkey from Iraq."

Tashan says that by rekindling violence in southern Turkey, militant faction leaders hope to maintain unity within the disintegrating separatist movement. "It would be to keep at least a certain part of the people together because, without fighting a war, keeping a group of [militants together] in a camp in the middle of nowhere in northern Iraq is a difficult feat," Tashan says. However, international lobbyists for Kurdish rights say it is a misrepresentation to equate Kongra-Gel with militancy and terrorism. Estella Schmid, coordinator of the London-based Kurdistan Solidarity Committee, told RFE/RL that although Kongra-Gel includes some former militants, the group in recent years has developed a political platform that renounces terrorism.

"Kongra-Gel is a congress. And following the dissolution of the PKK in 1999, this is quite a completely different organization in terms of its strategy and tactics. It is entirely based on the democratization of the Middle East. So they are putting forward a proposal of a federation of the Middle East in which the Kurds are part of the resolution of the problems in the Middle East -- entirely by political and peaceful means," Schmid says. Schmid concludes that it is Ankara's ban against Kongra-Gel, as well as some 700 attacks conducted by Turkish security forces against Kurds during the last five years, that make a peaceful, political resolution to Kurdish issues so difficult in Turkey. Rochelle Harris, a spokeswoman for the London-based Kurdish Human Rights Project, says it is hard to find objective opinions about Kurdish issues inside of Turkey. "The difficulty in finding an objective opinion on the Kurdish situation in Turkey is that the Kurdish side itself has been censored for so many years. For a number of years, it has been illegal to speak as a Kurd in the Kurdish language. However, the European Court of Human Rights is surely one body that could be expected to have an objective opinion. And it has condemned Turkey on a number of occasions for violating the right of freedom of association, of the right to a fair trial, for torture and for other human rights violations," Harris says.

Turkey has been enacting cultural rights for its estimated 12 million-strong Kurdish population as part of efforts to persuade the European Union to open entry talks. But at the same time, ethnic clashes appear to be on the rise. Private Turkish broadcasters -- including NTV and the Turkish-language division of CNN television -- have reported in the past week that the Turkish military is preparing large-scale operations in southeastern Turkey to hunt down separatist militants. Other reports confirm that raids already have been launched by Turkish authorities in the southern city of Adana near the Mediterranean coast. In one raid in Adana last week, six Kurdish men and two Kurdish women were arrested on charges of plotting terrorist attacks. Turkish news reports say evidence seized from the suspects by police included 10 kilograms of plastic explosives along with detonators and documents on bomb making. Earlier this month, four members of the former PKK also were arrested in Adana on suspicion of planning attacks. More than 37,000 people have been killed in Turkey as a result of separatist violence and the subsequent crackdowns by security forces since Kurdish militants launched their insurgency in the mid-1980s. Most of those killed have been Kurds in the southeast of the country."

Document(s): original document

19.06.2004 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Iraq will not allow PKK to attack Turkey ("original document") [ID 10669]

"IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS HIS COUNTRY WILL NOT ALLOW PKK TO ATTACK TURKEY. Hoshyar al-Zebari told Istanbul's NTV that his country will not allow the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Turkish-Kurdish resistance group, to continue to launch attacks on Turkey from northern Iraq, the television channel reported on 15 June. The PKK had an active presence in northern Iraq before the U.S.-led invasion.

"These groups may be present there for now, but our new policy will be to prevent Iraq from becoming a secure place for such groups to take shelter in," he said. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on 11 June that the PKK's continued presence in northern Iraq was "high on the agenda" of his meeting with President George W. Bush in Washington, adding, "We expect the United States to take some concrete steps to this end." Turkey has been pressuring the U.S. for several months to adhere to an agreement to crackdown on the PKK (see "RFE/RL Iraq Report," 8 December 2003)."

Document(s): original document

29.04.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Northern Iraq: Turkish Kurds / Kurdistan Worker's Party PKK ("original document") [ID 10670]

"(...) Q: There are some 12,000 Kurds from Turkey living in northern Iraq - what is their situation now and are they returning home?

A: The Turkish Kurds are mainly people who moved to Iraq when the PKK [Kurdistan Worker's Party] and [Turkish] security forces conflict reached its peak in the 1980s and 1990s. We realised the PKK's aim was to create a base where more militants were in their ranks. Once a refugee camp becomes more permanent, it is a way of life. So, the situation in the camp is that PKK elements in Iraq want the camp to stay as it is.

But the security situation in Turkey is now safe. People can come back now. It won't be easy but we have to show them the way. We still must negotiate some details, however.

Q: What assistance will you give these refugees? How will you integrate their return into Turkish society?

A: There is an agreement between UNHCR [the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] Turkey and Iraq to close down this camp. But a lot of people don't want to go back. There are things the Turkish government will do and there are things UNHCR will do. The United States says it will also help, but now, as sovereignty comes to Iraq [scheduled for 30 June] there is a little bit of foot-dragging on the part of the United States on making guarantees for the safe and orderly implementation of this agreement. The problem is, in a few months they'll say they're out of this.

The agreement didn't enter into force yet, but refugees would return to their villages. The Turkish government doesn't promise jobs or houses, but it would help. It will be the job of the governorates [in Turkey] to make sure this happens. Repatriation has to be orderly. It will take several months or a year. Some housing will be necessary, since houses may have been damaged before. If the refugees are going to rebuild, instead of mud houses, they should get more modern housing.

Many in the camp married Iraqis. Some children don't know Turkish at all, and the families have not been home in more than a decade. So adaptation for them is quite a project. UNHCR requires help to bring the people back, and they need to be screened. If people are accused of terrorist activities, they have the right to find out if they are accused of any crimes. This process will be completed before they go back. With housing and other things, the World Bank can help, the European Union can help. (...)"

Document(s): original document

02.10.2003 - Source: Standard

USA and Turkey fight againts PKK ("original document (German)") [ID 10671]

The USA and Turkey agreed to fight together againsts the PKK in Northern Iraq which might included military operations.

Document(s): original document (German)

04.09.2003 - Source: Neue Zürcher Zeitung

End of cease fire ("original document (German)") [ID 10672]

Since 1999, the PKK is based in the Kandil-Mountains along the Turkish-Iraqi border. They ended a four-year old cease fire at the beginning of Spetember 2003. Hundreds of PKK-fighters crossed the border to Turkey according to newspaper reports.

Document(s): original document (German)

21.07.2003 - Source: Neue Zürcher Zeitung

PKK in Northern Iraq under pressure ("original document (German)") [ID 10673]

PKK have about 5000 fighters in Northern Iraq. USA want to use forces againsts the PKK if they do not disarm.

Document(s): original document (German)