Turkish <http://intellibriefs.blogspot.com/2007/09/turkish-millitary-assessment-of-k urdish.html> Millitary assessment of Kurdish PKK
Self-Criticism on PKK from Land Forces commander Wednesday, September 26, 2007 http://intellibriefs.blogspot.com/2007/09/turkish-millitary-assessment-of-ku rdish.html Source: Turkish Daily News Mehmet Ali BÝRAND The key speech made by General Baþbuð, the Commander of Land Forces, at the opening of the Military Academy's new scholar year was important from several points of view.In a style that we are not very used to, General Baþbuð outlined the military's assessment of the PKK issue and also listed the mistakes that the Turkish Republic had made in the handling of this matter. .These are the bitter facts that he probably revealed for the first time: - He underlined the lack of coordination between the security-intelligence and political institutions. - He drew attention to the general confusion of concept within the society. - He mentioned the long-winded nature of the fight against the PKK. General Baþbuð's speech was pessimistic from the beginning to the end. The truth was pessimistic. In the end, I was demoralised, too. International developments favour the PKK.In contrast, there is complete chaos in Turkey.Public opinion is confused.There is neither dialogue nor coordination between security institutions and the government. The only hopeful part of Org. Baþbuð's speech was his suggestion to reorganise the coordination between these institutions. "The fight against terror is neither completely military nor entirely political. The related problems have both political and military dimensions." he said, stressing the fact that only a military-civilian rapprochement could get us out of the hole.In my opinion, his comments on North Iraq were the most important part of his speech. What he said almost amounted to this: "The time for North Iraq's independence draws nearer each day, and all we do is try to deal with the PKK. We don't attach enough importance to this issue. Yet, the independence of Northern Iraq could divide Turkey." General Baþbuð is a soldier. He is today's Commander of Land Forces and in 11 months, he'll become the Chief of Staff. It is natural for him to see the events from a military point of view. He's experienced enough to know that this problem cannot be settled by security measures alone. Now, let's put aside who said what and how right or wrong he is and try to change that sorry picture. In order to do that, we need to consider what's going on in North Iraq as much as what measures to take in our country. * * * PKK'S JOURNEY THROUGH TIME In 1985, the terror organisation had a population of around 200. By 1988, the Halepce massacre and the ensuing immigration had increased that figure to almost 1500. Finally, during the Gulf War of 1990-91, this number climbed to approximately 12 thousand. During those years, the chief of terror's objective was to increase his population to 50 thousand. In 1992, the separatist terror organisation was attacking our bases and outposts in groups of hundreds. The years between 1993-1995 saw the fiercest fight against terrorism. During this process, the number of our soldiers killed in action reached its maximum. However, the number of terrorists was also reduced roughly from 12 to 6 thousand. This was a period where the organisation and the chief of terror saw their dreams crumble. As a result, the organisation decided, in 1995, to carry its separatist activities to cultural and political arenas and transformed its terrorist units into groups of 20-30 members. Today, the terrorists move in groups of 7-8. All this means is that the organisation is going back to the beginning. In other words, it is reverting to "armed propaganda." * * * WHY THE PKK STILL EXISTS During his speech, General Baþbuð provided an interesting answer to the most asked question by the public, "How did this organisation manage to survive the repeated blows dealt by our security forces?" According to the Land Forces Commander, these are the most important reasons for the PKK's continuing existence: Regional developments that continuously served to enlarge the PKK: - The Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) - The Halepce Massacre in North Iraq (1988) - The First Bay War (1990-1991) - The Second Iraq War (2003 - ..) The failure to stop more people from joining the organisation's armed units in spite of our military losses. To mistakenly believe that the organisation was finished at times when acts of terror grew less (1999-2004).The failure to establish dialogue and coordination (in economic, social, cultural, psychological and safety areas) between the civilian government and the security forces.The failure to avoid conceptual confusion among the Turkish public. The translation of M.A.Birand's column was provided by Nuran Inanç. 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