Words of Wisedom About the PKK Mess

I am not going to endorse or condemn a possible Turkish military strike against the terrorist group PKK (Kurdish Worker's Party), started by Abdullah Ocalan into northern Iraq quite yet. There are a number of reasons why I find this problem highly troubling.

The chief one is that a significant amount of progress was made with regards to Kurdish rights in Turkey and separatist PKK attacks had come to a virtual grinding hault, but with the war in Iraq it was a virtual inevitability that this problem was going to ressurect itself.

Turkey is now in a highly difficult position. If there are more PKK attacks, the Turkish public will be outraged and they will criticize Ankara for not taking action. But, if Turkey does take action, there is a possibility of getting trapped in the mountains of northern Iraq and the even more certain risk that northern Iraq would then become as messed up as the rest of Mesopatamia. And, assuredly, this will even cause even more tension between Washington, DC, and Ankara.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the inept George W. Bush have already contributed to this gulf tremendously. Pelosi should absolutely not have pushed for congressional recognition of the Armenian controversy, and Bush should have known_from Day One_ that an invasion of Iraq was going to lead to Kurdish unrest in both Iraq and Turkey.

It is almost tragic to see the long-standing good relationship between Ankara and Washington, DC, that was fostered by President Harry Truman, one of our best leaders, come to this.

The irony is that even though I was highly opposed to the rise of conservative Turkish PM Abdullah Gul, I will fully defend him if there are diplomatic tensions between the two countries because the position he is in was caused by many factors outside his control........including bad political decisions made inside the Beltway.

I am also concerned about relations between Turkish and Kurdish people in general. Some of Turkey's best known figures, like author Yashar Kemal and the late singer Ruhi Su, are of Kurdish descent. The actions of irresponsible terrorists always cause problems for responsible people who try to resolve conflicts in a civil way.

The BBC World News site had the following observation by someone known only as Arzu in Istanbul. Her response was evoked by people who expressed sympathy for the PKK because they believe Kurds deserve their own state.

Even though she lives in Turkey, I think her sentiment is felt by those of us of Turkish descent all over the world regardless of our individual cultural/political/religious views with regards to the PKK situation:

"How sad it is to realize once more that there are still people who support terror actions by believing that the terrorists have a valid REASON to do this. What reason can justify KILLING INNOCENT people?"

Useful links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice