Summary of Kurdish Conflict on World Conflict Flash Point

Kurdistan, the homeland to more than 20 million Kurds, is a nation that exists only in the dreams of the Kurds, and in the long forgotten Treaty of Sevres, which divided up the Ottoman Empire, following World War I. The Kurds, inhabiting parts of Turkey, Iraq and Iran are the largest national group without a country.

Conflict Background

Located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Turkey has sought recognition as a European state. After siding with the central Powers (Germany/Austro-Hungarian Empire) in World War I, the vast Islamic Ottoman Empire was divided into many smaller countries, one of which was to have been Kurdistan, a region in southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq and northern Iran. However, before the state could be formed, Kemal Ataturk, father of modern Turkey, consolidated power and negotiated a new, more favorable agreement, the Treaty of Lausanne. Ataturk united the Turkish Republic by promoting a strident nationalism and relaxing Islamic restrictions, while persecuting non-Turks and repressing other ethnic identities, including the Kurds, who have been denied rights to their language, culture and political dissent.

Despite its ties to Germany, Turkey remained neutral in World War II, until the Allied victory was clear, then declared war in 1945. Since WWII, Turkey's governmental power and control have, and still, remain vested in the military. During the Cold War era, Turkey permitted the US to build the Incirlik Air Base, now leased for over $1 billion annually and has continually leveraged this to gain favor with Washington. Incirlik enables the US to project air power throughout the troubled Middle East and poses diplomatic challenges for Turkey's relations with Arab states.

By 1990, a Kurdish separatist movement emerged in southeastern. The government banned Kurdish political parties, arrested and exiled Kurdish leaders. Violence erupted in 1992, as the Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) responded, announcing a war government, mounting an insurgency campaign and provoking Turkish military intervention, reprisals and human rights violations.

During the 1991 Gulf War, Turkey reluctantly supported the anti-Iraq coalition, including Operation Provide Comfort, to shield Iraqi Kurds from Saddam Hussein's revenge, while the PKK intensified its guerrilla war, operating from bases in Iraq and Syria. In 1993, with the Gulf War over, Turkey sent 50,000 troops into Iraq, in a massive assault against Kurdish rebels, no longer protected. In 1994, dissenting political parties were banned, elected Kurdish representatives were accused of treason and imprisoned, while others fled into exile. Turkish forces have launched air and ground attacks, ravaging as many as 3000 Kurdish villages, forcibly relocating over 3 million villagers and defoliating forests in its scorched earth campaigns to destroy the PKK. The death toll is approaching 40,000.

In early 1999, Turkish agents captured PKK leader Abdullah (Apo) Ocalan, prompting Kurdish protests throughout Europe, including horrific scenes of protesters setting themselves ablaze, while guards at an Israeli shot and killed three Kurds. While Ocalan was held incommunicato in a prison, Turkish forces, again, moved against the Kurds, seeking to destroy the PKK, which then declared an all-out terrorist war against Turkey.

Issues and Aspirations

The Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) is the main rebel political group, it's leader Abullah Ocalan, aka APO, was captured by Turkish agents in Kenya in early 1999. The US State Department has designated the PKK as a terrorist group. The PKK transitional leadership is uncertain, as are any policy changes since Ocalan's capture. Prior to his capture, Ocalan had proposed several ceasefires and political negotiations, that were rejected by the Turkish government. ERNK is the political wing of the PKK. The Parliament of Kurdistan in Exile (PKE) is a quasi-official, elected organization that includes former Kurdish elected representatives exiled from Turkey. The PKE includes representatives from the Democracy Party, the Islamic Movement (not fundamentalist), Assyrian-Chaldeans (Christians), women, youth and trade organizations. While seeking a peaceful settlement, the PKE supports the PKK armed liberation movement.

The PKK has offered to drop its demands to establish an independent, sovereign Kurdish state and proposed a semi-automonous Democratic Federal Republic that, together with the Turkish Republic, would form a Turkish Federation, similar to that in Belgium (not unlike like American States).

The PKE has called for intervention by the European Parliament and the United Nations and establishment of a Parliamentary Intergroup that would convene Turco-Kurdish meetings to outline possible solutions.

The demands and aspirations of the PKE, PKK and others Kurdish groups include:


1. Declare a general amnesty and free political prisoners.
2. Kurdish and a bill of rights, including rights to elect regional government, practice their culture, speak their language and maintain their traditions and identity.


Complications

There are many. Turkey wants to join the European Union, which has denied their application due to Turkey's practice of human rights abuses. The US tolerates Turkey's policies in order to retain its strategic Incirlik Air Base. Syria and Turkey are involved in a water dispute over Turkey's plans to limit flows from the Bosphorous River, while Syria is also a base for the PKK operations. Although enemies in the Gulf War, Turkey and Iraq are aligned in their policies against Kurdish nationalism. Iran and Turkey are seeking closer relations, related to proposed plans for a strategic oil pipeline. Inside Turkey, an Islamic fundamentalist movement has grown and led to sporadic violence, while Armenians along Turkey's northern frontier have not forgotten Turkey's genocide against their people. And of course, Greece and Turkey remain poised for confrontation at the UN monitored buffer zone in occupied Cyprus. Meanwhile, the resilient PKK has threatened war against Turkish "allies" in Europe, where millions of Kurds reside. And not to be left out, Israel and Turkey have launched cooperative ventures, sure to alienate Arab neighbors.

Recent Developments

PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan was captured by Turkish agents in Kenya in early 1999, brought to Turkey, kept in a one-man island prison, and denied access to attorneys. The arrest sparked protests throughout the world, in which some demonstrators set themselves ablaze. Meanwhile, Turkish security forces launched pogroms against suspected PKK strongholds and sympathizers, in which thousands were arrested. By mid-year the trial was underway and "APO" pleaded that he be spared, and that peace negotiations be started lest his death would inflame Kurds and prolong the strife.
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