Intelligence reports indicate that newly adopted measures against the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) by the very countries that supported the organization and used it against Turkey for decades have caused significant unease inside the group.
Various countries, beginning with the US, are now working to eliminate the PKK from the region. Many other countries in Europe that once provided the PKK with supplies, armed it and backed it at various levels are now beginning to turn their backs on it.
The PKK, one of the most violent terrorist organizations in the world, has caused the deaths of more than 30,000 people in the past 29 years. The PKK has also worked together with other terror organizations throughout these years, including the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA). For years, Turkey had to fight not only the PKK but also its neighbors who were using this organization against it.
The PKK has enjoyed the highest amount of foreign support compared to any other terrorist group anywhere in the world, according to Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek, who is in charge of coordinating Turkey’s anti-terrorism efforts. Speaking to Today’s Zaman, he also made an important point: “No terrorist group can continue to exist for long without foreign support.”
As part of its Kurdish initiative, which seeks to bring PKK recruits back to Turkey and extend the cultural rights of the Kurds, the government is not focusing only on PKK militants but also on the group’s links and support abroad. The tactic seems to be paying off, as many countries are starting to decrease the support they have given to the PKK for years.
PKK’s relations with the outside world over the years
Syria was one of the major patrons of the group for decades. Syria was the first one to protect the PKK and provide its leader a safe haven in Damascus in 1983. Syria, under Hafiz Assad, had not only given PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan a safe place to call home but also allowed the group to train its militants in the Bekaa Valley. In 1999, Turkey threatened Syria with war, which ended in what some call the “Adana Deal.” Syria had to ask Öcalan to leave. He left the country, hid in other countries for a while and was captured later that year in Kenya.
The second biggest supporter of the PKK after Syria has always been Greece. Many a Greek deputy has visited the group’s bases in Bekaa quite openly to voice their support. Actually Greece’s support remained firmly in place until his capture in a Greek Embassy in Kenya. Turkey’s firm stance and the US’s support for Turkey forced Greece to cut their backing. Along with Greece, Greek Cyprus was a prominent supporter of the PKK. Many higher-ups in the PKK actually spent holidays in Cyprus, where intelligence has long established that a good deal of the organization’s financial resources resides. Greek Cypriot deputies have also frequented the Bekaa camp.
Armenia as well as the Armenian diaspora abroad has been significant supporters of the group. Many senior members of the group have fled to Armenia then to Russia, from where they could escape to European countries.
In Europe, France was for a long time the PKK’s biggest supporter. Former President François Mitterrand and his wife, Danielle Mitterrand, defended the PKK at every opportunity. Zübeyir Aydar, the head of the PKK’s Europe operations, has been able to walk freely in France, which was home to many of the financial operations of the PKK.
Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania were also good friends of the PKK. The PKK had two offices in Sofia. However, this has been cut off, as Turkey’s relationship with Bulgaria has mostly improved in the past few months. The PKK bought the Strella missiles it frequently uses in attacks against the Turkish military from Serbia, where some of its militants were trained to shoot the missiles. Romania at one time provided the PKK with training camps and allowed its affiliated organizations to operate freely within its borders. However, support extended to the PKK by this country started to diminish with the downfall of Ceausescu.
Germany provided the largest financial support for the PKK. The group has a center in Düsseldorf called the Germany Kurdish Federation. Despite it renouncing the PKK as a terrorist organization in 1993, Germany still remains a country where the PKK can operate freely. Belgium, which didn’t even extradite left-wing terrorist Fehriye Erdal — alleged to be one of the killers of businessman Özdemir Sabancı — and practically released her as she is now nowhere to be found, has also sheltered the PKK. The PKK’s MEDYA TV’s first studios were set up in this country. It operates 11 associations, two unions and a sports club there.
The Netherlands served as the PKK’s recruitment center for years. After Germany cut down on its support for the PKK, the organization moved its activities here. Switzerland and Italy, where Öcalan went after Greece when he had to leave Syria, have also supported the organization. The PKK has 20 associations, five unions and the Lausanne Kurdish Institute in Switzerland. Italy has been a significant supporter, but the support has dwindled since Berlusconi came to power.
In Austria, there are currently nine associations run by the PKK. The Socialist Party, the Greens and the Communist Party have had and still maintain close links to the PKK. Organization members wishing to fly to Iraq from Europe use Austria to this end. Very recently, three leaders of the PKK were flown from this country to northern Iraq on a private jet despite Turkey’s protests.
The PKK taking root in Kandil was possible only with Iran’s support. Iran supported the PKK emotionally and financially for years. However, Iran has been supporting Turkey against the PKK ever since the US increased its hostility toward Iran.
England has been a long-time supporter of Kurdish movements in the region, including some uprisings that took place in the late 1800s. The PKK operates a large number of offices in the UK.
Russia supported the PKK during the Cold War years. It is now known that Moscow was one of the places Öcalan hid after leaving Syria. Russia has provided logistics and political support to the PKK. Seventy-five percent of the PKK’s Kalashnikovs, mines and other explosives come from Russia.
The US supported the PKK for years when its military presence in the region started with the First Gulf War. It is usually perceived in Turkey as the country that strengthened the PKK. However, it was also the first country to decide to eradicate the PKK after entering Iraq and overthrowing Saddam.
Iraq’s Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani, who relied on Turkey’s help to communicate with foreign states for years, also supported the PKK when the US first intervened in Iraq. Iraq has also supported the US’s decision to disarm the PKK in the region. Currently neither Talabani nor Barzani wants to see the PKK in the region.
Scandinavian countries have also consistently supported the PKK. Norway and Sweden have given political asylum to many members of the organization, while Denmark still hosts the terrorist group’s most important broadcasting agencies.
Todays Zaman