Turkish Forum

Category: Turkey

  • PKK Party Congress Sets Long-Term Strategy Based on Threat Perceptions

    PKK Party Congress Sets Long-Term Strategy Based on Threat Perceptions

    Terrorosm Monitor
    Volume 6, Issue 20 (October 24, 2008)

    PKK Party Congress Sets Long-Term Strategy Based on Threat Perceptions

    By Nihat Ali Özcan, Saban Kardas

    The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan – PKK) was established in 1973 against the background of Cold War politics. In the formation of the PKK’s institutional culture and practices, the prevailing Marxist ideas and strategies adopted by other leftist movements of the time played a major role in their ideology. Influenced by the experiences of various Marxist organizations around the world, the PKK’s organizational structure was based on three pillars: a party organization acting as the ideological center and running the movement according to strict hierarchical rules, a military wing to carry out subversive military activities, and a “front” organization to oversee the activities of all PKK supporters in both legal and extralegal domains. Even after the Cold War came to an end, the PKK maintained its adherence to these institutional practices and behavioral habits. In this essay, we will evaluate one of the deep-seated practices of the PKK, party congresses. In particular, we will examine the PKK’s threat perceptions as reflected in the conclusions of the tenth party congress, held on August 21-30 in shelters in the mountainous terrain of northern Iraq. We will also discuss the PKK’s response to these challenges in the context of recent developments.

    The Role of Congresses in the PKK’s history

    The PKK has sought to project itself as more than a mere armed organization terrorizing a local population to reach some short-term goals. On the contrary, it defines itself as a party advocating a well-established political program through the application of a long-term strategy. To preserve this image, the PKK went to great lengths to hold party congresses even under dire circumstances. PKK congresses have served as a platform for evaluating the organization’s performance during previous years, assessing the existing situation and setting the agenda of the organization for subsequent years. So far, the PKK has held ten congresses. Although the organization has sought to hold its congresses approximately every five years, in some cases it convened extraordinary meetings. Since it had its first congress in Turkey in 1978, the PKK has convened two congresses in Lebanon, four in Syria and the latest three in northern Iraq.

    Prior to the actual PKK congresses, militants conduct preliminary meetings in their respective regions to determine the agenda of the convention, as well as select the delegates who will attend. The ceremonial value attached to them aside, the congresses perform three main functions. First, in addition to reaffirming the loyalty of the delegates to the imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, they help incoming members of the organization’s leadership cadres solidify their legitimacy. Second, members of the PKK assess the organization’s past activities, as well as the state of political and military conditions prevailing in the region and discuss new strategic goals and alternative instruments for future activities. These deliberations are conducted under the influence of a dogmatic attachment to Marxist principles. Third, by utilizing the milieu of the conferences, the PKK seeks to foster a sense of motivation among the members while boosting their morale.

    The conduct of delegates at congresses helps sustain the internal legitimacy of leadership cadres in several ways. Abdullah Ocalan has been the unchallenged and unquestioned leader of the PKK in all these gatherings. Over time, he has come to assume a symbolic role as the unifying element of the entire movement, and as such a “personality cult” was created around his name. According to the established practice in congresses, the members of the organization, except for Ocalan, engage in self-criticism before their comrades; they reflect on their past mistakes and acknowledge their weaknesses in fulfilling their duties. In essence, these almost ritualistic acts serve to shake the reliability of the leading figures of the PKK other than Ocalan before other delegates. As a result, through the discussions as well as ceremonies during the sessions, the congresses not only legitimize the leadership cadres but also ensure the continuation of the organization’s loyalty to the leader.

    Another function of the congresses is their role in providing a platform for analyzing the past, present and future conditions of the organization in line with its ideological disposition. In general, despite the drastic changes in world politics, the PKK’s discourse is still heavily influenced by Marxist thinking. For instance, it is commonplace to hear criticisms of capitalism in congresses. Similarly, the members of the organization seek to demonstrate their comprehension of Ocalan’s teachings through bombastic flattery of their leader. The rulings concerning the future direction of the organization are also framed in line with its ideological discourse. Therefore, decisions taken at congresses have strategic value for the evolution of the organization. The PKK publishes the conclusions of congresses in print or on the internet to communicate its goals to the public. [1]

    Lastly, congresses help motivate members of the organization. The proceedings of congresses contain short, clear and effective slogans to mobilize members. Following congresses, militants accelerate their attacks to demonstrate their loyalty to the organization and their determination to carry out the conclusions.

    Of the ten congresses the PKK has held so far, the following stand out in particular: The third congress held in 1982 called for the return of the PKK militants from Lebanon to Turkey to initiate an armed struggle against the state. The fifth congress in 1995 prioritized the political struggle over the armed struggle. The eighth congress of 1999 decided to cease terror attacks following Ocalan’s capture and the ninth congress of 2005 agreed to halt attacks against Turkish security forces. Such decisions have marked important turning points in the PKK’s overall strategy.

    Decisions of the Tenth Congress, August 2008

    The PKK convened its latest congress in northern Iraq on August 21-30. Delegates met in mountain shelters under the threat of airstrikes from Turkish jetfighters. In the traditional spirit of the congresses, the latest gathering declared the forthcoming period as “Freedom to Ocalan.” The tenth congress also maintained the tradition of assessing the past, present and future of the organization. The statements following the congress indicate one of the biggest current sources of concern is the new situation created by the meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President George Bush in November 2007. [2] After this meeting, the United States started to share actionable intelligence with Turkey, with alarming results for the PKK. The closing statement of the congress maintains that the United States, along with Turkey and Iran, is determined to eliminate the PKK.

    The PKK’s major concern appears to be the decision of the Barzani-led Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to reconsider its relations with the PKK, which may result in it abandoning the PKK (Firat Haber Ajansi, September 8). If the KRG indeed withdraws its support from the PKK, this development will likely have a grave impact on the organization’s use of the terrain of northern Iraq as a safe haven. So far the PKK’s activities in this region have been largely unhindered, which at times has led the Turkish government to accuse the KRG of actively supporting the PKK. Nonetheless, the PKK is uneasy about prospects for U.S. pressure on Barzani as well as a possible rapprochement between Turkey and Barzani (Referans, October 14). To forestall such scenarios, the PKK congress expresses its support for Barzani on the Kirkuk question (Firat News Agency, September 8).

    The conclusions of the congress also indicate that the PKK is concerned about the fate of its “front” organization (Firat News Agency, September 8). PKK supporters established various associations and political parties in the legal domain to advocate for Kurdish nationalism and compete in Turkish electoral politics. Since entering the legal political sphere in the 1980s, Kurdish nationalists have operated a series of political parties such as the Democratic Party (DEP) and the Democratic People’s Party (DEHAP), a new entity arising each time the last manifestation was shut down by the state. The most recent of these is the Democratic Society Party (Demokratik Toplum Partisi – DTP), founded in 2005. These groups nonetheless maintained organic ties with the PKK, steadfastly refusing to condemn PKK violence. The legal advocates of ethnic nationalism benefited from the violence as fear became an important factor in mobilizing people around their agenda. Continued connections or support for the PKK eventually led the Turkish state to close down many of these organizations. Despite continued protestations from DTP leaders that they do not act as a front for the PKK, the party has recently faced court proceedings designed to shut it down. At a recent meeting with three leading DTP MP’s, Deputy Prime Minister Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat (himself of Kurdish origin) told the MP’s, “We know your reality. The type of relations you have with the PKK are an obstacle for the prime minister’s efforts to implement solutions to the problem. We want you to recognize the PKK as a terrorist organization” (Hurriyet, October 19).

    As a matter of fact, the threat to the PKK’s front organizations was unwittingly aggravated by its decision to refrain from attacking civilians following the 9/11 terror attacks in order to cultivate a more sympathetic image (Ozgur Politika, March 14, 2002). Having lost the leverage of being able to “penalize” civilians, the PKK encountered serious problems in disciplining its front organizations. The most common problems were encountered in mobilizing people for street demonstrations or providing logistical support for armed militants (Firat News Agency, September 18). Having been freed from fear of punishment, the priorities of sympathizers changed during the calm years between 2001 and 2005. They started to ignore the demands of the organization. To avoid this handicap, the PKK set up more militant shadow organizations (such as the Freedom Hawks of Kurdistan) and sought to motivate its supporters and terrorize its opponents. In some cases, the PKK executed civilians on charges of being government agents (hezaciwanan.com, August 11, 2004). The conclusions of the tenth congress show that the PKK is eager to regain the leverage of punishment, threatening cadres that have failed to conform to the organization’s ideology (Firat News Agency, September 18).

    The final statement of the congress, as well as ensuing developments, show that the PKK perceives another serious threat to its front organization: the growing power of the governing Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi -AKP) in the region as the March 2009 municipal elections approach (Milliyet, October 21). Current predictions indicate that the DTP, which currently controls municipalities in several cities such as Diyarbakir, will face a serious challenge from the AKP. Losing municipalities may cost the PKK dearly; even if its front organization avoids a total collapse, it will still face a severe crisis. Maintaining control over local municipalities is crucial, not only because they provide material resources to the organization and boost its supporters’ morale, but also because a political presence helps build the legitimacy of the movement domestically and internationally.

    A parallel development further disturbed the PKK. The new Turkish Chief of Staff Ilker Basbug, unlike his predecessors, has sought to establish channels of communication with local people in southeastern Turkey. Moreover, Basbug has drawn attention to the economic and social problems in the region. Perceiving this outreach as a threat to its interests, the PKK threatened those people who attended a meeting Basbug held with the representatives of various NGOs in Diyarbakir. [3]

    Threats to Survival

    In short, the PKK seems to perceive threats to its survival both inside Turkey and in northern Iraq. Its assessment of current threats – namely, the prospect that the PKK may lose its safe havens in northern Iraq and the challenges posed by upcoming municipal elections and other local developments to its front organization – led the delegates attending the tenth congress to focus on two alternatives: first, increasing the medium-intensity armed attacks; second, revitalizing mass public demonstrations in urban areas, marked by the visible attendance of women and children (Firat News Agency, September 18 ). Through these moves, the PKK plans to raise the tension in the run-up to the municipal elections and mobilize people along ethnic lines. It expects that if the people are confronted with the brutal face of the state, they will cast their votes based on ethnic identity. This mode of thinking largely explains the aggressive attitude the PKK has adopted lately, through intensifying its attacks on Turkish security forces and agitating Kurdish people in southeastern Turkey and the major cities in western Turkey.

    This new strategy was put into effect shortly after the congress. The number of terror incidents increased dramatically; between August 30 and October 20, around 180 attacks were reported, the most notorious being the one against the Aktutun border station on October 3, which took the lives of 17 Turkish soldiers (www.tsk.mil.tr; see also Terrorism Focus, October 21). At the same time, the PKK was successful in mobilizing civilians. To protest Prime Minister Erdogan’s trip to Diyarbakir, PKK sympathizers organized illegal demonstrations in various cities on the grounds that Ocalan was mistreated in prison, which disrupted provision of basic services in many places. DTP deputy Emine Ayna stated, “Ocalan is seen as a leader by many Kurds. If there is any physical violence toward him, this violence is directed at Kurds” (Turkish Daily News, October 23). With demonstrators threatening local businesses into shutting down their shops, the municipalities controlled by the DTP did not collect garbage and halted public transportation as part of the PKK’s protest of the AKP (kanaldhaber.com, October 20).

    Conclusion

    To counter the political and military threats from inside and outside Turkey, the PKK has initiated proactive policies in line with the conclusions of the tenth congress. If it fails to mobilize ethnic sentiments among Kurdish speaking constituents, the DTP might have to concede electoral success in the 2009 municipal elections to the AKP, which has been making political inroads in southeast Turkey. Recent developments highlight the PKK’s determination to raise tensions in Turkey to reverse this process.

    Notes:

    1. For instance, see: Abdullah Ocalan, PKK 4. Kongresine Sunulan Politik Rapor (Istanbul: Zagros Yayinlari, 1993); Abdullah Öcalan, PKK 5. Kongresine Sunulan Politik Rapor (Istanbul: Gunes Ulkesi Yayinlari, 1995); Abdullah Öcalan, PKK Olaganustu 7. Kongresine Sunulan Politik Rapor (Istanbul: Mem Yayinlari, 2000).
    2. For Murat Karayilan’s statements, see Firat News Agency, September 18.
    3. For Basbug’s meetings, see Radikal, September 5 and Terrorism Focus, September 24; for the PKK threat, see Firat Agency, September 18.

  • WATCHING A GAME BY MUMTAZ SOYSAL (CUMHURIYET)

    WATCHING A GAME BY MUMTAZ SOYSAL (CUMHURIYET)

    Columnist Turker Alkan comments on the US presidential elections and Turkish-US relations. A summary of his column is as follows:
    “Watching another country’s elections isn’t like watching a soccer game. You have to think about how the candidates would treat your country. And if the country in question is the US, which is both near and far from Turkey and has a large impact on us, you would certainly watch those elections differently.

    At the same time, there will always be certain factors which might change the usual preferences for your country’s interests. We seem to be facing this situation now in terms of the US elections set for Nov. 4. Our leaders and many people interested in foreign policy favor the incumbent Republicans, who are more conservative than the Democrats. Why? Because they think that American liberals are more interested in human and minority rights and could disappoint Turkey by, for example, supporting the Greek Cypriots and Armenians on such issues as Cyprus or the so-called Armenian genocide.

    But even in this situation, certain factors might change the usual preferences. The Iraq policies followed by the Bushes, both father and son, as Republican presidents hurt Turks’ views of Americans in general, not just certain politicians, and damaged our positive feelings for the US and its people. Yet perhaps the enthusiasm stirred by Barack Obama, the Democrats’ candidate, among both the US people and young Turks could help dispel the bad feelings over the Bushes and so warm up Turkish-US relations.

    But an official Obama statement this week referring to the ‘Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus,’ as well as the campaign’s stance on the so-called Armenian genocide, also play a role. So while many university students in Turkey share their US counterparts’ enthusiasm over Obama, the same cannot be said of political circles. So if politicians who are campaigning for votes far away ignore Turkey, shouldn’t we remind them that that doing so carries a high price?”

  • World’s largest blog hosting service banned in Turkey

    World’s largest blog hosting service banned in Turkey

    Ankara – A court in south-east Turkey on Friday banned Turkish internet users from accessing Blogger, the world’s largest free blog hosting service. Internet users in Turkey discovered Friday afternoon that the site, which hosts millions of blogs, or web logs, had been blocked. When users tried to view a blogger’s page they were redirected to a message which said: “Access to this website has been suspended in accordance with decision no. 2008/2761 of the TR Diyarbakir First Criminal Court of Peace.” No reason for the ban was given. Turkish internet users are used to court-ordered bans of a large range of websites, including the video-sharing site Youtube, which was barred for hosting a video insulting the founder of the Turkish republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Adnan Oktar, an Islamic creationist has also been successful in getting a variety of sites banned by court decisions, including blog hosting website WordPress and the personal website of renowned biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins.
  • Turkish court defends quashing Muslim scarf reform

    Turkish court defends quashing Muslim scarf reform

    By Ibon Villelabeitia
    REUTERS
    8:17 a.m. October 22, 2008

    ANKARA – Lifting a ban on women wearing the Muslim headscarf at university violates Turkey’s secular constitution, the country’s top court said on Wednesday, defending a decision against the ruling AK Party.
    In a legal reasoning that appeared to end any hope for the Islamist-rooted AK Party to revive the sensitive headscarf issue, the Constitutional Court said that while wearing a headscarf was ‘an individual choice and a freedom’, lifting the ban was ‘openly against the principles of secularism’.

    The Constitutional Court, a bastion of Turkey’s secular founding principles, overturned in June a constitutional amendment sponsored by the AK Party to lift the restriction, but only issued its long-awaited reasoning on Wednesday.The AK Party, which denies accusations by secularist opponents of harbouring an Islamist agenda, said it would respect the constitution. It had first reacted angrily to the ruling, accusing the court of violating the constitution.

    ‘We do not have any intention of undermining the republic’s essential principles,’ Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said.

    The headscarf issue is one of the most highly charged in Turkey, a predominantly Sunni Muslim country with a secular constitution, and has long been a source of political instability in the European Union applicant.

    Foreign investors, already dumping emerging markets assets due to the global financial crisis, are monitoring signs of political instability that could delay market-friendly reforms.

    The AK Party, which has its roots in political Islam, sees it as a question of religious freedom, while securalists see it as proof the government wants to impose sharia law by stealth. The party repeatedly denies those charges.

    The AK Party, which has a huge majority in parliament, passed the amendment earlier this year, angering a secularist establishment of judges and army generals.

    Another attempt to lift the headscarf ban would require a constitutional reform and broad social consensus, an unlikely event in a country deeply polarised over the role of Islam.

    ‘The amendments in articles 10 and 42 are openly against the principle of secularism because procedurally they mean using religion as a tool in politics, and breach other people’s rights and cause public disorder by content,’ the court said.

    The headscarf reform was seen as a catalyst for a separate case, in which the same court narrowly voted in July not to close the AK Party on charges of Islamist activities. The court is expected to issue the reasoning of that case this week.

    Cengiz Aktar, a professor at Istanbul’s Bahcesehir University, said the court’s reasoning ends any hope of bringing the headscarf issue back until a new constitution is written.

    ‘This ruling not only ends the headscarf debate, but also any attempt to reform the constitution and the secularist regime,’ Aktar said.

  • TURKEY COURTS CENTRAL ASIA

    TURKEY COURTS CENTRAL ASIA

    By John C. K. Daly

    Wednesday, October 22, 2008

     

    In the aftermath of the Georgian-Russian confrontation, Ankara sees an opportunity to expand its trade relations with Central Asia, particularly the rising petro-states of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Seeking to capitalize on the changing geostrategic environment for Caspian energy exports, Turkish Parliamentary Speaker Koksal Toptan, accompanied by other MPs, has undertaken a tour to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. On October 19 Toptan began his tour with a four-day official visit to Astana (Aksam, October 20).

    Not surprisingly, energy was a major theme of Toptan’s visit. Turkey has already profited from Astana’s commitment to use the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, as BP-Azerbaijan executives announced that later this month Kazakhstan would begin pumping Kazakh oil from its massive Tengiz field into the BTC (UPI, October 15).

    Under the arrangement, Kazakh tankers will ship about 98,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Tengiz oil, or slightly less than 10 percent of BTC’s one million bpd throughput capacity, across the Caspian to the BP-led consortium’s Sangachal Terminal on Azerbaijan’s Abseron Peninsula for pumping into the BTC pipeline and transmission to Turkey’s Mediterranean port at Ceyhan. Building on the Kazakh commitment, Toptan told a group of Kazakh academicians and students at the Public Administration Academy, “I invite Kazakhstan to participate in big energy projects such as the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Ceyhan refinery”(Anadolu Ajansi, October 21). Following his discussions with Toptan, Nazarbayev in turn urged Turkish businessmen to invest in Kazakhstan.

    The 345-mile-long, 1.5 million bpd Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline (SCP, also known as the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline) is designed to link Turkey’s Black Sea port of Samsum with Ceyhan. It will parallel the BTC by using its corridor from Sariz, and has an added advantage of providing an alternative route for Russian and Kazakh oil exports from Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The SCP, given that its throughput capacity would be 50 percent greater than BTC, could greatly ease the tanker traffic through the Bosporus and Dardanelles, a rising environmental and security concern for Turkish officials.

    Toptan’s trade agenda is hardly limited to energy issues, however. During his meeting with Kazakh Parliament Senate Chairman Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Toptan told a press conference, “Our trade volume currently stands at $2.5 billion. We aim at bringing it up to $5 billion by the year 2010. Direct investments by Turkish businessmen in Kazakhstan amount to $2 billion, and their construction services total $8.5 billion”(Anadolu Ajansi, October 20).

    Turkey’s trade with Kazakhstan’s eastern neighbor Turkmenistan is also growing. According to Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov, Turkish investment in Turkmenistan has slowly and steadily increased, reaching $2.7 billion in the past 18 months. Berdimukhamedov noted, “Our countries have always had good relations. In the new stage of its development, Turkmenistan plans to make cooperation with Turkey more intensive” (EDM, October 8).

    In Ankara’s calculations it is critical to diversify its energy imports in order to sustain the economic growth of the last four years, during which the Turkish economy has grown annually by more than 7 percent, making the country the 6th biggest trading partner of the European Union and giving Turkey the world’s 20th largest economy (www.deik.org.tr).

    While current Turkish trade with Central Asia is dwarfed by its $38 billion annual turnover with Russia, the energy assets of former Soviet republics Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan are impelling Ankara to make a determined effort to acquire a significant portion of their energy assets, or, failing that, to ensure that they transit Turkey on their way to the global market.

    Furthermore, despite the three nation’s long association with Moscow, Turkey has the added negotiating advantage of deep linguistic, cultural, and religious ties that Russia signally lacks. The most notable sign that Turkey is determined to play its cultural card is the fact that Nazarbayev and Toptan discussed the efforts of Turkey and Kazakhstan to establish a Parliamentary Assembly of Turkish Speaking Countries, first broached by Nazarbayev in November 2006 (EDM, February 29).

    Turkey’s other rising rival for Caspian energy assets is China. According to Guoxiang Sun, the Chinese ambassador to Ankara, in 2007 bilateral trade between Turkey and China totaled $14.26 billion, and Beijing “expects it to increase by 50 percent” (www.deik.org.tr).

    Further east in the “Stans,” distance and geographical isolation serve to diminish Turkish trade ties, resulting in less than a quarter of Ankara’s trade with Kazakhstan. In Uzbekistan there are over 470 Turkish-Uzbek joint ventures, with annual bilateral trade between Uzbekistan and Turkey now standing at about $600 million per annum (Informatsionnoe Agenstvso, www.fergana.ru, August 31, 2007). Tashkent’s conservative fiscal policies have combined with the country’s geographical isolation from Turkey to limit a dynamic increase in bilateral trade for the foreseeable future.

    Turkish-Tajik bilateral trade is also growing slowly, hampered by Tajikistan’s geographic isolation, political and economic instability, corruption, and an underdeveloped domestic financial system. In 2007 bilateral trade between Tajikistan and Turkey reached $500 million, only a 16 percent increase over the previous year (Avesta, July 7). In 2006 Turkish-Tajik bilateral trade totaled $420 million (Avesta, January 10, 2007). Tajikistan nevertheless remains keenly interested in cooperating with Turkey in the economic, hydroelectric power generation, and tourism sectors; but the aforementioned constraints will preclude dynamic growth.

    Kyrgyzstan has the smallest trade turnover with Turkey of all the “Stans.” Speaking last month in Ankara at the Fifth Turkey-Kyrgyzstan Joint Economic Commission, Turkish Minister of Industry and Commerce Zafer Caglayan noted, “Although relations with Kyrgyzstan are improving in all areas, we do not think they have reached adequate levels,” commenting that while bilateral Turkish-Kyrgyz trade would reach $250 million by the end of 2008, “There is nothing stopping us from reaching an annual trade volume of $1 billion” (Zaman, September 6).

    While Turkey’s pressing needs for energy import diversification have in the short term led it to focus its attention on the westerly “Stans” with the most abundant energy resources, both Ankara and the Central Asian nations share a common interest in resisting both Moscow’s influence and China’s growing economic dominance.

    Given that Turkey and the “Stans” share a common linguistic, religious, and cultural heritage, the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkish Speaking Countries, which by its very definition would exclude Russian and Chinese membership, may well develop a dynamic of its own among the politicians in Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

    As NATO and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization increasingly stake out their claims to Eurasian spheres of influence, the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkish Speaking Countries, by concentrating on cultural and economic issues, may well prove a haven for its members who might well wish to sit out the opening stages of the new Great Game.

  • Russian Northern Fleet ships arrive in Turkey

    Russian Northern Fleet ships arrive in Turkey

     
     
     

    MOSCOW, October 22 (RIA Novosti) – A naval task force from Russia’s Northern Fleet has arrived in Turkey, an aide to the navy commander said Wednesday.

    The task force includes the nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky (Peter the Great) and the large ASW ship Admiral Chabanenko.

    “The working call of the Northern Fleet task force to Turkey will contribute to further development of naval relations between the two states in the interest of strengthening stability and mutual confidence at sea,” Capt. 1st rank Igor Dygalo said.

    The visit will last until Sunday.

    The naval task force comprising also support ships left a naval base in northern Russia on September 22.

    After port calls and training at sea in the Mediterranean, the Northern Fleet warships will head for the Caribbean to hold exercises in November with Venezuela’s navy.