From: "Per Rasmussen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 13:37:34 +0100 To: "Power to the People" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [pttp] "Assault Against The Guerrillas Is An Assault Against Democracy" ----------------------- Yours in solidarity Per Rasmussen Denmark Familien Rasmussen http://home0.inet.tele.dk/pera/ Cuba SI! http://w1.1559.telia.com/~u155900388/ Viden er Magt! - Magten til folket! http://w1.1559.telia.com/~u155900373/ PKK: "Assault Against The Guerrillas Is An Assault Against Democracy" Assault Against The Guerrillas Is An Assault Against Democracy PKK Council of Leaders member Nizamettin Tas participated by telephone on Medya TV's "Cozum" (Solution) program which discussed recent developments in South Kurdistan [Iraqi Kurdistan] and the Middle East the other evening. Tas gave extensive evaluations on a number of topics of interest. Tas said that a war against the guerrillas would essentially be an assault against the struggle for democracy in Turkey. He noted that a potential war would not remain restricted to the South, and continued: "If they insist on annihilation, a 10-thousand-strong sacrificial group will finish Turkey as well." Tas said that the PKK was the sole force which could bring democratic change and transformation to Turkey at this point in time, and added that the fundamental strength of the PKK was its guerrillas. Tas also noted that the occupation of the South had been realized by oligarchic powers which were aiming at blocking the aforementioned process and which aimed at restructuring on a fascist foundation. Tas said that the Islamic opposition, which was one of the forces which could be a basic dynamic for democracy in Turkey, had been impeded ever since the February 28 process, while the latest prison operations had been basically aimed at dividing the left and leaving it ineffective, at which they had been successful to an important extent, and stressed that now the turn had come to the most dynamic and organized force, the Kurds. Tas continued as follows: "What remains to build democracy is the Kurdish people. Now, they are trying to make the PKK, which is the vanguard of the Kurdish people, become ineffective. The fundamental strength of the PKK is its guerrillas. They are trying in this way to liquidate the basic force of transformation and prevent a Kurdish-Turkish alliance. The Turkish army's war against the guerrillas in the South is basically an assault against the democratic struggle being carried out in Turkey. This is a democracy war. In this fashion, it is aimed to secure complete control by the oligarchic forces in Turkey, and afterwards, a controlled democratic opening. Turkey's strategy at this moment is this. This is the basic reason for the hurried entrance into the South." The Occupation Of The South Has Been Completed Tas said that North and South Kurdistan [Turkish and Iraqi Kurdistan] had been de facto united by the latest situation and that the military and administrative occupation by the Turkish state, leaving Iran and Iraq out of the equation, had been completed. Tas said that this was a new situation, and continued: "Thousands of Turkey's soldiers have been positioned in the Behdinan region for years. This time, they have taken hold of the Soran region. Iraq has no influence or supervision in any case. One could have spoken of Iran's influence from the political angle in the past. With this last attack, Turkey has left Iran out of the picture to an important extent. Thusly, the South has united with the North in the practical sense. In other words, the only force which has occupied both sides and which has established control and is giving direction at this moment is Turkey. The situation in the South has changed on this basis and a new status has been developed." The PUK's Will Has Been Broken Tas stressed that no clashes whatsoever have been experienced with the Turkish military thus far, and continued as follows: "Basically, Turkey had brought in its force and planned on assaulting together with the PUK. The PUK had moved to assault us with a 17,000-person force long ago also, but was in utter confusion within a period as short as a week and their will for war was broken. But the Turkish state is putting its force into action and trying to rapidly pull the PUK together by contributing its trainers, intelligence people, techniques, and fifteen million dollars as well. That is why there was not an assault immediately. If they can pull the PUK together a little, war could also begin under winter conditions. But if instead the preparations drag on a little, an extensive conflict could be on the agenda in the spring months." War Will Not Remain Limited To The South Tas pointed out that by entering the South, Turkey was poisoning its own self, like a scorpion, saying that should war begin, it would not remain limited to the Soran region in the South but would spread in every respect to every field. Tas continued: "It is clear that Turkey is at this time living through a period of least esteem and honor. Thus there is such a trap and the PKK is basically the antidote to this. It is also seen that by entering the South, they have moved war onto the main plan. We are taking this danger into consideration and preparing with all our power. This is preparation for war, but we absolutely have not given up on a democratic solution. If you are insisting on war and annihilation, we also will never accept this; we endured this for 15 years and we can endure for another 15 years. We began this war with 300 people; now they are saying 5,000, and all of them are self-sacrificing. If they insist on destruction, a 10,000 sacrificial force will finish Turkey as well. This is not a threat, but a concrete reality." Iraq And Iran Were Mistaken Tas continued: "As far as we know, when Turkey brought in its forces, Iran and Iraq evaluated the situation as 'This is not against the South, but [against] the PKK.' But their current evaluations are not like that. Why? Because Iraq understood that, along with the change in administration in the U.S., the alliance of the U.S., Israel, and Turkey directed against the person of Saddam would gradually become more concrete. And Turkey, assuming that the U.S.'s policy of toppling Saddam depending on the Kurds goes into practice, sees that a Kurdish entity could arise within this against [Turkey's] will. Therefore, Turkey is hindering a Kurdish entity in the South. In this manner, if such a de facto situation is created, then an initiative against Iraq will depend on Turkey, not on the Kurds. If Iraq is divided, Turkey will be able to bring about a project to take Mosul into its national borders, just as it has had the intention since long in the past." The Statements Are Not Correct PKK Council of Leaders member Nizamettin Tas said that statements by the Turkish General Staff concerning developments in the South were not correct, and said that military and technical build-up was continuing. Tas said the following: "The statements by General Staff are not correct. At this moment, Turkey has a force of about 4 to 5 thousand positioned at the Qoysancak, Carkurca, and Suleymaniya center. The matter is not one of numbers. Turkey can bring tens of thousands of soldiers within a week if it wants. They brought not only soldiers, but, together with them, heavy weapons and helicopters, which remain. In addition to these, there are dozens of intelligence officers, and most importantly, there are many training officers to prepare training of the PUK force as an army." (Source: Kurdish Observer - January 10, 2001) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist information collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials on our listserv called ATS-L. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. 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