Kurdistan Essay, Research Paper

Since the end of World War I, Kurdistan has been administered by five sovereign

states, with the largest portions of the land being respectively in Turkey

(43%), Iran (31%), Iraq (18%), Syria (6%) and the former Soviet Union (2%). The

PKK’s origins can be traced back to 1974, when calan, in Ankara, led a small

group of radicals out of Revolutionary Youth (DEV-GENЗ). The Kurdistan

Workers Party, "Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan" (PKK) was established in

1978. Цcalan, the leader of the organization took refuge in Syria, after

1980, following the efficient struggle against such organizations by the Turkish

Security Forces. In the annual report of the U.S. State Department published in

April 1993 under the title of "Patterns of Global Terrorism" the PKK

is described as a "Marxist Leninist terrorist group composed of Turkish

Kurds seeking to setup a Marxist state in Southeastern Turkey" The PKK is

recognized and classified as a terrorist organization by all Western countries

including the European Parliament and the Council of Europe. France and Germany,

recently, banned the activities of this terror group and other West European

governments, are closely monitoring the situation. PKK’s Subordinate Military

Committee established under the name of Liberation Units of Kurdistan (Hazen

Rizgariya Kurdistan-HRK) was dissolved and replaced by Kurdistan Peoples

Liberation Army (Arteshen Rizgariya Gelli Kurdistan-ARGK) after the Third

Congress of the PKK held in Damascus-Syria in October 1986. The external center

of the PKK operates through the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (Eniya

Rizgariya Netewa Kurdistan-ERNK) which was established on March 21, 1985. The

ERNK started to operate after 1989 when the European countries opened their

doors and allowed it to flourish in their territories. The United States

Department of State Bureau of International Narcotic Matters, has published a

report in 1992, called "International Narcotics Control Strategy".

This report stipulates that the European drug cartel is controlled by PKK

members. NUMBER OF DEATHS YEAR Terrorist Civilian Soldier Police Village Guard

1984 11 20 24 – - 1985 100 82 67 – - 1986 64 74 40 3 – 1987 107 237 49 3 10 1988

103 81 36 6 7 1989 165 136 111 8 34 1990 350 178 92 11 56 1991 356 170 213 20 41

1992 1055 761 444 144 167 1993 1699 1218 487 28 156 1994 4114 1082 794 43 265

1995 2292 1085 450 47 87 (First 6months) TOTAL 10416 5124 2087 313 813 RESOURCE:

http://www.mfa.gov.tr/grupa/ac/acf/acf1/pkk.htm GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF

APPROXIMATE KURDISH POPULATION YEAR 1990 Region Population (in thousands)

proportion to total Doрu 2230,29 41,96 Gьneydoрu 2365,04 64,98

Ege 296,99 3,98 Karadeniz 37,88 0,5 Эз Anadolu 579,38 5,53 Marmara

810,13 6,09 Akdeniz 726,55 8,95 Total 7046,25 12,6 RESOURCE: S.MUTLU,?The

Population of Turkey by Ethnic Groups and Provinces?, New Perspectives on

Turkey, 12 (Spring 1995), p.49 2- VALUE BASED ISSUES The Republic of Turkey

openly states that: 1. The territorial integrity and sovereignty of Turkey is

beyond discussion. PKK is an organization, whose ideology is based on

Marxism-Leninism, seeks to establish an independent Kurdish state encompassing

Turkey’s southeastern provinces. The Anatolian people have a common past. They

have lived together for ten centuries thus creating a Turkish identity. The term

"Turkish" refers to being a Turkish citizen. It does not reflect any

ethnicity. The Anatolian people as a whole struggled for the independence of

Turkey and everybody has contributed immensely in building this state. Turkey is

forced to its legitimate self-defense for its territorial integrity and the

protection of its people. 2. In the Republic of Turkey, which relies upon the

rule of law, everyone has the freedom to pursue his or her rights through legal

means. The constitution of the Republic of Turkey treats individuals on equal

footing before the law irrespective of their language, race, color, sex,

political opinion, conviction, religion and creed. The terrorist acts of PKK in

a country where all legal and democratic means for the prevalence of justice is

open for all, cannot be justified. It is the legitimate right of any country

facing terrorism to root it out with all legal means available to it. Turkish

citizens, irrespective of their ethnic origins, are free to form or to support a

political party that expresses their political views and all Turkish citizens.

Moreover regardless of ethnic background, have the right to participate actively

in Turkey’s multi-party system. All citizens are free to organize and to join

political pressure groups, including human rights organizations. 3. Turkish

citizens of Kurdish ethnic origin live throughout the country and are not found

exclusively in Southeastern Anatolia. It is estimated that two thirds of Turkish

citizens of Kurdish origin live in the larger cities and towns outside the

Southeast. They participate in all walks of social, economic and political life

on equal grounds with other Turkish citizens. On the other side it is claimed by

PKK that: 1. PKK is a revolutionary socialist national liberation movement

formed in the 1970s which later developed into a party formation whose agenda

was set against the background of a global wave of revolutionary struggles,

influenced by the successful national liberation movements of Asia, Africa, and

Latin America. 2. In order to gain the right of self-determination for Kurdish

people who are linguistically, culturally and racially distinct from the rest of

the Turkish population, PKK resists in all arenas and by all means against the

genocide that the Turkish fascism, the striking power of imperialism is

committing in Kurdistan. PKK resists against the threat it constitutes to

humanity. Turkey is involved in the activities of the destruction and

depopulation of thousands of Kurdish villages, massacre of tens of thousands,

the torture of hundreds and thousands, the expulsion of millions of our people

and the unceasing violation of human rights. 3- INTEREST BASED ISSUES The Kurds

remained one of the few ethnic groups in the world with indigenous

representatives in three world geopolitical blocs: the Arab World (in Iraq and

Syria), NATO (in Turkey), the South Asian-Central Asian bloc (in Iran and

Turkmenistan), and until recently the Soviet bloc (in the Caucasus, now Armenia,

Azerbaijan and Georgia). As a matter fact, until the end of the Cold War, Kurds

along with the Germans were the only people in the world with their home

territories used as a front line of fire by both NATO and the Warsaw Pact

forces. Turkish authorities agree that The Southeastern part of Turkey is faced

with economic problems. The Turkish state has inaugurated major programs to

ameliorate the living standards of the people living in the area. Among such

development projects, the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) is the most

important one. This project, which is disrupted by PKK terrorism, aims at

changing the whole the social and economic fabric of the region and Turkey

doesn?t want to put GAP at stake with all the risks of running a costly war

against the guerrilla warfare. Water and petroleum constitutes the main clash of

the two parties? interests. The region that is claimed to be the Kurdish state

is the gateway to the North Iroquoian petroleum. Many critical issues such as

the construction of Baku-Ceyhan pipe line, water issue concerning the Fэrat

and Dicle Rivers, and the transfer of petroleum from Caspian occupy the policy

agenda of the same region. The region, consisting of the boundaries between

Middle East, Russia and Caucasian, has an incredible geopolitical significance

for Turkey in order to provide national security for her people. Keeping the

absolute control of this territory which is situated in one of the most

vulnerable areas in the world, is the only way for the Republic of Turkey to

formulate a unitary state system, which respects the human rights, pluralist

democracy and a secular establishment.

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