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PKK pressure is hurting U.S.-Turkey ties
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PKK pressure is hurting U.S.-Turkey tiesReuters 08 (10/5/08, “Pressure on Turkey to crush PKK may hurt U.S., EU ties”, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE4941P020081005)Turkey faces increasing pressure at home after Friday's deadly ambush to launch a major offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq that would hurt its ties with Washington and the European Union, analysts say. Tapping into widespread indignation and nationalism sparked by the attack that killed at least 15 Turkish soldiers, newspaper Vatan's front-page headline said, "Enough is enough!," along with photos of the dead soldiers. Turkish television stations on Sunday broadcast live the soldiers' funerals, with tens of thousands of mourners across the country waving Turkish flags. In the worst single attack on the military in a year, rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) on Friday raided a military outpost in a region in southeast Turkey bordering Iraq. Twenty soldiers were wounded and two more are still missing. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and the powerful military have vowed to step up operations to crush the PKK, which was been weakened by Turkish warplane strikes in their bases in northern Iraq. But analysts said the attack puts the government in a difficult position as it faces calls to strike back at the PKK but must be careful not to alienate its allies with any large-scale response. NATO-member Turkey has attacked PKK bases in northern Iraq several times in the past 12 months but has confined itself to shelling and air strikes since a brief land offensive in February, which Ankara cut short under U.S. pressure. Washington and the EU, which Ankara hopes to join, are concerned that prolonged Turkish military operations inside Iraq could further destabilize Iraq and the wider region. Taking down the PKK is key to US-Turkey relationsTurkish Daily News September 22, 2003ANKARA - Asking, "Why should the United States and Turkey work together?" influential American think-tank institution Washington Institute stated in a report, "With support from the EU, the KDP, and the PUK, Turkey and the United States could take successful action against the PKK. If these parties do not pursue a decisive, multifaceted campaign to shut down the PKK, internal mayhem would likely erupt in Turkey, with U.S.-Turkish relations suffering yet another blow. In the post-September 11 world, Washington and its allies cannot afford either consequence." Reminding that on September 2, 2003, the seperatist terror organization Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), renounced a unilateral ceasefire it had declared in February 2000, Soner Cagaptay, the coordinator of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute stated in his report, "This is a dangerous development for three reasons. First, PKK violence could throw Turkey back into the political maelstrom of the 1990s, and it is in Washington's best interests to help preserve democratic Turkey's stability. Second, if the PKK attacks Turkey from U.S.-controlled northern Iraq, where it has an estimated 4,000-5,000 terrorists, this could put Washington and Ankara at loggerheads. Third, Turkey considers joint action against the PKK a sine qua non for U.S.-Turkish cooperation in Iraq; it is unlikely that Ankara will send troops to Iraq unless the PKK issue is tackled. Given all of these reasons, the threat that the PKK poses to U.S. national interests is now at such a level that the organization is a legitimate target in the war on terror. Therefore, it is time to take action against the PKK." PKK CP Solves turkish/regional stabilityChecking PKK terrorism is key to Turkish and regional stability Uysal, 7/2 [2010, Ahmet, associate professor at Eskişehir Osmangazi University’s department of international relations, Kurdish separatism is a threat to the future of the Middle East, http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-214854-109-centerkurdish-separatism-is-a-threat-to-the-future-of-the-middle-east-bribyi-brahmet-uysalcenter.html] Turks and Kurds in Turkey have benefited from the consolidation of democracy in the Middle East. The recent rise of terrorist attacks by the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Turkish military and civilian targets carries major risks of destabilizing the region. There are several domestic, regional and international reasons for the recurrence and the timing of these events. Who is the PKK and what does it demand? The PKK is an acronym for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Kurdish. It was founded by Ankara-trained Abdullah Öcalan in 1978 and began to use terrorist attacks in 1984 for the first time. It aspires to establish an independent Kurdish state based on communist ideology in the area comprising parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. Financially it relies on illegal drug and human trafficking between Iran and Europe. The early 1990s were the most troublesome period for PKK terrorism due to its internal struggles and instability in Turkey as well as the negative international situation. This was because the PKK movement found fertile ground in northern Iraq after the First Gulf War because Saddam Hussein’s forces were kept out of the north and the two other major Iraqi groups were fighting each other. On the one hand, Hafez al-Assad’s Syria was supporting the PKK to pressure Turkey on border and water issues. It almost sparked a war between the two countries. However, subsequent events resulted in the capturing of PKK leader Öcalan by Turkey in 1999. It was a major blow to the PKK, which the US, the EU and Turkey consider a terrorist organization. Unlike before, the AK Party improved Turkey’s human rights record and democratic standards. This also helped the Kurds with the opening of a Kurdish TV channel and Kurdish departments at universities. However, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s effort was hampered by Turkish and Kurdish nationalists both adopting a hard-line stance. The major nationalist party, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), rejected any bargain or dialogue, fearing that these concessions might lead to the dismemberment of the country. Similarly, Kurdish activists rejected the improvement of ethnic rights without involving Öcalan. As it often happens, radicals of any kind do not like a middle ground. The continuing terrorist attacks create an emotional environment which results in any democratic initiative being framed as leeway for terrorism. Despite the fact that the Constitution bans any ethnic-based or religious-based parties, the ethnic Kurds had space for themselves within the democratic discourse. However, the political wing, the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), of the Kurdish movement did not distance itself from the PKK and terrorism. Therefore, the BDP accepted nothing less than the unimaginable release of PKK leader Öcalan. Directory: file -> view view -> Western Europe after wwii view -> Author study: paul fleischman view -> Qpa1 7ela study Guide view -> Arctic Oil/Gas Neg view -> November 1970 Approximately 150,000-500,000 deaths Bhola Cyclone Bangladesh view -> Grade Level: 6 Unit of Study: Caribbean glce view -> Citation: Duffield, Katy view -> Table of Contents Lesson # view -> Chinese Wind Energy Disad Download 1.27 Mb. Share with your friends:
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