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  Turkey and the Kurds: Searching for an Exit on the Highway to War

Turkey and the Kurds Searching for an Exit on the Highway to War

By Annette Grossbongardt and Bernhard Zand

Part 2: Last Chance to Avoid War

The EU has expressed its sympathy with Turkey, saying that the country must "protect itself against acts of terror." But opponents of EU membership for Turkey are just waiting for a Turkish invasion of Iraq as an excuse to demand a halt to negotiations. This is why many Turkish critics warn against marching into the trap they say has been laid by the PKK, which they claim wants to draw Turkey into the quagmire of the Iraq war.

Militarily speaking, the PKK may be strong enough to repeatedly provoke the Turkish army, but it has come under fire politically and is fighting for its survival. In Turkey's July parliamentary elections, hundreds of thousands of Kurds voted for Erdogan's conservative Islamist AKP, which has improved the situation in Kurdish regions in eastern Anatolia by instituting reforms and providing financial assistance.

The Kurdish party DTP, some of whose activists are closely aligned with the PKK, did poorly in the election -- a sign of just how out of touch the PKK is with the Kurdish people.

The PKK leadership's reaction to Erdogan's election victory bordered on panic, as Assos Hardi, the editor-in-chief of Awena, a news magazine for northern Iraq, confirmed on the Iraqi side of the border. "Nothing less than Kurdish nationalism is at stake for the PKK," says Hardi, adding that this helps explain why the PKK has suddenly become militarily active again. "In an effort to reestablish the old battle lines, the PKK leadership seeks to portray the Turkish government as being just as pig-headed as the hated Turkish army."

Dedicated to the Cause

Despite the announced closing of the PKK offices, Kurdish politicians in Iraq remain undecided over how to respond to the fighters. They remain popular, at least in northern Iraq, where Kurds respect the fact that no one is making comparable sacrifices to further their dream of an independent Kurdish state, and that no one is as defiant of the Turks as "Apo's" indefatigable guerillas.

This sentiment explains the admiration with which Kurds in northern Iraq continue to view the PKK's founder. "We are Apoists," says Faik Gulpi, 52, the head of the political arm of the PKK in Iraq. Gulpi, a surgeon, says that he "amputated many legs" during his fellow Kurds' struggle against the soldiers of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. He testified as a witness in the trial over Saddam's gassing of the Kurds. Even after a decades-long guerilla war, Gulpi remains dedicated to the cause.

DER SPIEGEL

A map of the crisis region.

Gulpi, whose group has repeatedly clashed with the established Kurdish parties in northern Iraq, Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party, has been imprisoned several times -- but has always managed to be released. He owns a large house in downtown Sulaymaniyah, a city in the Kurdish Autonomous Zone of northern Iraq.

Turkish troops marched into northern Iraq a number of times in the 1990s to teach the PKK a lesson -- with the consistent support of northern Iraq's Kurdish parties. Barzani was rewarded for his services with a Turkish diplomatic passport. His family has lucrative business ties to Turkey, and he is said to be skimming off a fair share of the funds collected at the Habur border crossing. It would be a financial blow to Barzani if Turkey were to make good on its threats to impose economic sanctions and close the border.

'Our Neighbor or Our Target'

In the past, northern Iraq's Kurds needed allies against Saddam. But today they are hesitant to take too tough a position against the PKK. Their principal aim is to secure independence. Barzani's objectives are also primarily nationalist at this point. He is already embroiled in a bitter dispute with Turkey over Kirkuk, a major oil-producing center. Barzani wants to incorporate Kirkuk into the region he controls, but Turkey, which sees itself as a protector of the city's Turkmen population, opposes the idea.

The postwar order in Iraq is one of the issues behind Turkey's threat to invade the region. "The PKK is the current problem," says Turkish journalist Ilnur Çevik. "But Turkey is also afraid of a strong, independent Kurdish state developing in northern Iraq. Hilmi Özkök, the former commander-in-chief of the Turkish armed forces, warns that Barzani must make up his mind: "Either he is our neighbor -- or our target," he says.

Diplomatic efforts appear to have gained the upper hand, at least for now. But as long as the nonstop shuttle diplomacy -- undertaken by the likes of Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan -- fails to produce concrete results, an armed conflict in northern Iraq remains a distinct possibility. "We need tangible results," says Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül. "Our boys are dying."

One of the tangible results Turkey is hoping for is the extradition of PKK leaders, especially Murat Karayilan. A member of the PKK leadership for many years, Karayilan is viewed as one of the organization's toughest commanders in its fight against the Turkish army. Turkey also wants Iraq to extradite Kadri Çelik, the man who allegedly led the PKK attack into Turkey earlier this month that claimed the lives of 12 Turkish soldiers.

Even Erdogan, who actually has little interest in invading Iraq, warns: "We cannot wait forever. In the end, we will reach a decision based on our own interests, not those of the United States."

New Recruits

Meanwhile, a wave of nationalist fervor has gripped the Turkish people. "We are all soldiers, we want weapons," demonstrators called out last week at a rally on Istanbul's Taksim Square. In the northwestern Turkish city of Bursa, demonstrators chanted: "We are not afraid of the dogs of Apo Öcalan." Hundreds have signed up for military service in recent weeks.

The mood was so heated that the government imposed a temporary ban on stories about the deaths of the 12 soldiers. Nationalist politicians have blasted the Kurdish party DTP which holds 20 seats in the Ankara parliament. "While we hunt down terrorists in the mountains, their supporters walk around in our city halls, universities and even in the parliament," ranted Devlet Bahçeli, the head of the nationalist MHP.

Sebahat Tuncel, a 32-year-old member of parliament for the DTP, went straight from prison to parliament. She was in detention awaiting trial for eight months on charges of supporting the PKK. "Someone denounced me and claimed that I had attended a PKK convention -- but that isn't true," says Tuncel. A lawyer and land surveyor, Tuncel gained immunity from prosecution as a result of her election. She was released and returned triumphantly to Istanbul.

The DTP is under growing pressure to finally distance itself from the PKK fighters and condemn their acts of terror. But this is difficult for Tuncel. "We are part of Kurdish society. Many of our voters have sons and daughters who are fighting in the mountains," she says. The DTP, which seeks a peaceful end to the conflict, is calling for an amnesty for PKK fighters as part of a political solution.

Marginalizing Terrorism

"As long as soldiers are dying, this is out of the question," says Fuat Keyman. A political scientist, Keyman is one of a group of more levelheaded Turks who, despite the current military buildup, wants to see efforts continue to develop a political solution to the Kurdish problem. The government must finally put together a comprehensive plan for the development of the Kurdish southeast, says Keyman. Sönmez Köksal, the former head of Turkish intelligence, believes that the military alone cannot bring about a solution. "The government must expand the rights of the Kurds," says Köksal. "This is the only way to marginalize terrorism."

That effort could succeed. Turks and Kurds alike are victims of the PKK's attacks, and many Turkish Kurds serve in the military. When the PKK captured eight Turkish soldiers last week, Turkish newspapers printed a photo of the grieving mother of one of the men. The soldier's mother -- like the kidnappers -- was a Kurd.

Translated from the Germany by Christopher Sultan

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