------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the March 13, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
KURDISH PEOPLE RESIST U.S. MANIPULATION By Greg Butterfield Kurdish people and their allies are speaking out against the planned U.S. war and occupation of Iraq. They are also denouncing Turkey's plan to send tens of thousands of troops into northern Iraq to block an influx of refugees and "root out" Kurdish revolutionaries of Kadek, the Congress for Freedom and Democracy in Kurdistan, formerly known as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Hundreds of Kurds held a dramatic protest outside United Nations headquarters in Baghdad on Jan. 28, vowing to act as human shields against U.S. bombs and missiles. They said a U.S. war against the Iraqi people could only hurt, not help, the cause of Kurdish liberation. In late February, Kurdish groups that supported the 1991 Gulf War and are friendly to Washington warned that Kurds in northern Iraq would resist any intervention in the region by the Pentagon's Turkish allies. They suggested that U.S. troops could get caught in the crossfire. And on March 1, following weeks of swelling anti-war protests across Turkey, tens of thousands of Turkish and Kurdish people converged near parliament in downtown Ankara. Inside, legislators were voting on a long- delayed measure to permit the United States to deploy up to 62,000 troops in Turkey. Pentagon plans call for using Turkey as the staging ground to invade Iraq from the north, while simultaneously invading from the south. Thousands of U.S. troops are already permanently stationed at Turkish bases. The Bush administration was so confident the compliant Turkish regime would vote "yes" that tens of thousands of U.S. troops and tons of war material were sitting on ships just offshore, ready for deployment as soon as the vote was taken. Instead, 100 members of the ruling Justice and Development Party broke ranks and voted against the deployment. Although a small majority of parliament approved the measure-264 votes in favor to 251 against-the measure failed. Under the Turkish Constitution, 267 votes were required to make it law. The power of the anti-war protests, Kurdish resistance and 90-percent public opposition to the war sent shockwaves through Turkey's parliament and all the way to Washington. Turkish labor unions called the March 1 demonstration, supported by the left, Kurdish and other anti-war forces. "No to war, don't let people die," chanted protesters standing beneath a huge banner reading, "The people will stop this war." Kurdish activists and their supporters also raised slogans opposing Turkey's plans to intervene in northern Iraq; demanding freedom for imprisoned Kadek leader Abdulah Ocalan; and in solidarity with Turkish and Kurdish political prisoners on a "death fast" hunger strike. One hundred and five prisoners have died in Turkey since the hunger strike began. Western media reported the crowd's size as 10,000, but local television stations in Ankara admitted that at least 50,000 came out, despite the presence of hundreds of riot police and armored cars blocking the main road to the parliament building. While claiming it could still launch a northern assault from other bases in Central Asia, the Bush administration immediately began twisting arms in Turkish ruling circles. Threats to cut off financial aid sent Turkey's stock market and currency tumbling. The New York Times reported March 3, "Under intense American pressure, Turkey's foreign minister indicated today that his government would ask Parliament to vote a second time on whether to allow American troops to use the country as a base for an attack against Iraq." A HISTORY OF U.S. BETRAYALS Kurds are a Middle Eastern people with a distinct language, culture and history. The region known as Kurdistan encompasses southern Turkey, northern Iraq, and parts of Iran, Syria and Lebanon. Forty percent of historic Kurdistan lies within Turkey's borders. >From 1984 to 1999, the PKK-Kadek's predecessor-waged a revolutionary armed struggle in southern Turkey for Kurdish rights and independence, closely allied with Turkey's communist movement. Until recently, Turkey claimed there were no Kurdish people-only "mountain Turks." Their language was forbidden. It was the fierce struggle of the PKK and its allies that finally won some concessions on Kurdish civil rights. With U.S. military and economic aid, a succession of Turkish regimes conducted a brutal war against the Kurdish resistance. More than 30,000 people died--mostly Kurdish civilians accused of sympathizing with the PKK. While the U.S. was assisting the slaughter of Kurds in Turkey, across the border in Iraq Washington was playing a cynical game with two bourgeois Kurdish groups, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. Those parties supported the U.S.-led Gulf War against Iraq in 1991. Washington promised military and economic support for a Kurdish uprising in the north against the Baghdad government. The uprising failed when the first Bush administration withdrew its support. A similar scenario played out under the Clinton administration in 1994. As Washington continues to squeeze Baghdad and encroach on Iraq's sovereignty, the rival KDP and PUK have nominally governed areas of northern Iraq under U.S. and British control-the so-called "northern no- fly zone." Both groups joined in denouncing the PKK/Kadek and attacking its members. However, some Kadek guerrillas succeeded in crossing the border and finding refuge in the mountains of northern Iraq. Trust Washington? No way, Kadek says. Calling for national unity of the Kurdish people against U.S. war in Iraq and Turkish occupation of the northern region, a Feb. 23 Kadek statement declared: "The Kurdish people must prepare themselves for a serhilidan (popular uprising) in the spring. The serhilidan will begin on March 8 until the end of May and it will take an important place in history. "PUK and KDP have often been used against the Kurdish movement," the Kadek statement continued. "When it is time to take steps toward a solution on the Kurdish question, Turkey targets all the Kurdish forces ... There must be a plan to solve the Kurdish question both in South and North Kurdistan. ...Everybody must take steps to avoid the war." For background on the Kurdish struggle and U.S. imperialism, see Sam Marcy's 1991 article, "Kurdistan: The struggle in historical perspective," available at www.workers.org/marcy/ cd/sam91/1991html/s910418.htm. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
