Tag: Murat Karayilan

  • Murat Karayilan announces PKK withdrawal from Turkey

    Murat Karayilan announces PKK withdrawal from Turkey

    Analysts say Ocalan is still the final decision-maker among the Kurds
    Analysts say Ocalan is still the final decision-maker among the Kurds

    The military leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Murat Karayilan, has said fighters will begin to withdraw from Turkey in early May.

    “The withdrawal is planned in phases… and will be completed as soon as possible,” he said at a news briefing.

    It follows a call by jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan for a ceasefire, as part of peace negotiations with Ankara.

    More than 40,000 people have died in the 30-year fight for an ethnic Kurdish homeland in Turkey’s south-east.

    Mr Karayilan announced the withdrawal to journalists gathered at a PKK base in the stronghold of the Kandil mountains in northern Iraq.

    Continue reading the main story

    Analysis

    image of Cagil KasapogluCagil KasapogluBBC Turkish

    This follows months of negotiations between the Turkish government and the PKK’s imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan. Ocalan has said that “the weapons should be silent and ideas should speak”.

    Unlike previously, the AKP government seems to be more determined to solve the problem through negotiations. It has not kept the negotiation process secret and chose to declare its desire for a permanent solution.

    However, the main opposition CHP party remains critical and claims that the process lacks transparency.

    Abdullah Ocalan and PM Erdogan are the two key figures in this peace process. Recent developments indicate that Ocalan remains as the most respected and powerful actor among the Kurds.

    But he warned: “Withdrawal will stop immediately if there is any attack, operation or bombing of our guerrilla forces, and our forces will use their right to reciprocate.”

    In his statement – a copy of which was seen by BBC Turkish – Mr Karayilan proposed a three-stage plan to settle the decades-old conflict:

    • Gradual withdrawal of PKK forces from Turkish soil
    • Constitutional amendments made by Turkish government
    • PKK completely lays down arms once Ocalan and other Kurdish militants released from prison

    More than 50 journalists from Turkish and foreign media outlets were taken from the regional capital, Irbil, to the briefing and had their mobile phones confiscated. No television crews were given access.

    ‘Decision-maker’

    Ocalan called for a truce in March, saying the PKK was “moving from armed resistance to an era of democratic political struggle”.

    Continue reading the main story

    The PKK

    A file photo taken on September 28, 1993 shows Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan giving a press conference in Masnaa on the Lebanon-Syria border
    • The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984, demanding greater autonomy for Turkey’s Kurds, who are thought to comprise up to 20% of the population
    • Since then, some 40,000 people have died in the conflict
    • It is regarded by Turkey, the US and European Union as a terrorist organisation because of its attacks on Turkish security forces and civilians
    • PKK fighters face life after withdrawal
    • Profile: The PKK
    • Ocalan statement: Key excerpts

    The move was cautiously welcomed by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    The PKK has announced ceasefires before and each has failed.

    However, this time there is a sense of optimism among many in Turkey, says the BBC’s James Reynolds, reporting from the PKK media briefing in northern Iraq.

    The Turkish parliament is currently discussing a new constitution, with the Turkish and Kurdish leaders seeking to renegotiate the foundation of the secular state drawn up by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in the 1920s.

    The PKK wants greater autonomy for Turkey’s Kurds, who are thought to comprise up to 20% of the population.

    The group is regarded by Turkey, the US and European Union as a terrorist organisation, because of its attacks on Turkish security forces and civilians.

    The organisation rolled back on its demands for an independent Kurdish state in the 1990s, calling instead for more autonomy.

    Our correspondent says Ocalan is still the final decision-maker among the Kurds, despite the 14 years he has spent in Turkish custody. He is serving a life sentence for treason.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22293966

  • Kurdish rebels to retreat from Turkey to northern Iraq next month as part of peace efforts

    Kurdish rebels to retreat from Turkey to northern Iraq next month as part of peace efforts

    By Associated Press, Published: April 25

    Turkey Kurds.JPEG-0f30b

    ANKARA, Turkey — Kurdish rebels will start withdrawing thousands of guerrilla fighters from Turkey on May 8 and retreat across the border to northern Iraq, a rebel commander said Thursday, in an important milestone toward ending a nearly three-decade old insurgency that has cost tens of thousands of lives.

    In a news conference held in northern Iraq’s Qandil mountains, rebel commander Murat Karayilan said the extraction would be gradual, but warned it would come to an immediate stop should the rebels be attacked as they leave Turkey.

    A drummer in the Royal Australian Navy Band raises a drumstick to her face as she marches in a parade commemorating ANZAC Day in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, April 25, 2013. ANZAC Day is a day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that commemorates Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars and conflicts. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

     

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    He also outlined for the first time “obligations” the Turkish government needs to fulfill for peace, including enacting a new constitution, dismantling special security units established to fight the rebels and declaring an amnesty for all imprisoned guerrillas. A video of the news conference was aired by Turkey’s private Dogan news agency.

    The decision to leave Turkey and retreat to bases in northern Iraq comes a month after the rebels declared a cease-fire, heeding a call by jailed rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is engaged in talks with Turkish officials to end the fighting. Ocalan also had asked his group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, to leave Turkey as part of the peace efforts.

    “The withdrawal will be gradual, in groups,” Karayilan, who took over the PKK’s leadership after Ocalan’s capture and imprisonment in 1999, said. “It will be completed in the shortest time possible.”

    “Withdrawal will stop immediately if there is any attack, operation or bombing of our guerrilla forces and our forces will use their right to reciprocate,” Karayilan warned.

    He said the rebels would pull out of Turkey through usual routes they use to slip into the country from Iraq.

    There was no immediate statement from Turkish officials on the announcement. A vague statement released at the end of a national security meeting said Turkey’s leaders had “assessed” steps needed to ensure that “efforts being taken for the peace and security of the people yield lasting results.”

    The rebels’ retreat is seen as a major step toward a political settlement of a conflict with roots dating to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the redrawing of boundaries in the Middle East, which left Kurds scattered in Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran.

    Kurds in Turkey were long denied a separate identity and basic cultural and linguistic rights. In 1984, Ocalan’s PKK launched a campaign, first for independence, and then for autonomy and greater rights for Kurds — who make up around 20 percent of Turkey’s 75 million people.

    “The withdrawal is a very positive step,” said Mesut Yegen, an expert on the conflict at Istanbul’s Sehir University. “It is vital for the continuation of the political dialogue.”

    The PKK, which frequently launched attacks on Turkey from bases in northern Iraq, is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies. The Turkish government estimates that between 1,500 to 2,000 of the rebels operate from inside Turkey, mostly from caves and other hideouts in the country’s rugged southeast.

    more : http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/kurdish-rebels-announce-forces-retreat-from-turkey-as-part-of-peace-efforts/2013/04/25/90c73b1c-adaa-11e2-b240-9ef3a72c67cc_story.html

  • Turkey to offer 850,000 Euros rewards for PKK leadership

    Turkey to offer 850,000 Euros rewards for PKK leadership

    By Alakbar Raufoglu for SES Türkiye — ekurd.net

    The PKK demanded Turkey’s recognition of the Kurds’ identity in its constitution and of their language as a native language along with Turkish in the country’s Kurdish areas, the party also demanded an end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and constitution against Kurds, ranting them full political freedoms. See Related Links

    Turkey is set to offer cash rewards for the PKK’s leadership, but analysts differ over whether the initiative will be effective.

    March 16, 2012

    turkey3828ISTANBUL, — With a new initiative targeting the PKK’s leadership, Turkey is set to offer up to 1.6m euros (4m TL) in cash rewards for information leading to the capture of 50 members of the PKK’s top leadership. Up to 850,000 euros (2 million TL) will be offered for lower-level PKK leadership, while at least 42,000 euros (100,000 TL) will be provided for assisting in the capture of a perpetrator or plotter of a terrorist attack.

    The list — submitted by the interior and finance ministries to the Prime Minister’s Office for approval — includes Murat Karayilan, Cemil Bayik, Riza Altun, Duran Kalkan and Osman Ocalan. Many on the list currently live in Europe or northern Iraq.

    Ali Sahin, a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy sitting on the Parliamentary National Security Commission, said that the new initiative marks “the first time PKK terrorists are being targeted in such a way”.

    Speaking to SES Türkiye, he called the new action “a strategic struggle” against the PKK.

    “No matter what the result, even if [the new regulation] will not bring a final solution [to the PKK problem], it is an important step to neutralise and weaken the terrorist organisation,” he said.

    However, for some local analysts like Yusuf Cinar, founder of the Konya-based think tank Strategic Outlook, the cash rewards might not be an effective instrument in the fight against the PKK.

    “A long time is needed for the rewards to be effective in capturing top [PKK] leaders,” he told SES Türkiye, arguing that it depends on the possibility of infighting within the top leadership of the PKK. “This possibility looks very week right now,” he said.

    Francesco Milan, a PhD candidate at King’s College in London who studies the counter-insurgency campaign against the PKK, argues that the new initiative could lead to concrete results.

    The PKK is likely facing “more than usual” levels of internal friction lately, he noted. “I think the initiative tries to exploit this situation. It is addressed at PKK members, it aims at encouraging defections,” he said.

    Milan also underscored that the PKK “does suffer from being hit at its top, unlike al-Qaeda or other leaderless terrorist organizations,” reminding of the internal turmoil that the PKK faced after its leader Abdullah Ocalan was captured in 1999.

    “As a matter of fact, it is much easier to replace ten ‘rank and file’ PKK members rather than one leader. Just look at how PKK is still depending on [Abdullah] Ocalan,www.ekurd.net 13 years after he has been captured,” he said.

    Wladimir van Wilgenburg, a writer for the Kurdish newspaper Rudaw and Jamestown Foundation analyst on PKK issues, however, isn’t so optimistic.

    “It’s difficult for the PKK insurgents in Qandil [the PKK’s base in northern Iraq] to sell their leaders out, since they are in an isolated, mountainous area, and due to the punishment the PKK reserves for traitors,” he said.

    Recently, an Iraqi Kurd named Musa Yusef was reportedly killed by the PKK for spying on them for Turkey. The PKK denied responsibility.

    Wilgenburg points out that unlike the past when the PKK forced some people to become insurgents, “They are much more indoctrinated [now], or also believe in the cause.”

    With many of the PKK’s leadership residing in Europe, Wilgenburg says the cash reward system might not be very effective there. “The PKK can only be arrested by the national authorities, and handed over to Turkey, if approved by court,” he said. “European countries will handle these issues in a judicial way; they will not change their policies for cash rewards.”

    Published by Ekurd.net in cooperation with Southeast European Times.

    via Turkey to offer 850,000 Euros rewards for PKK leadership.

  • Turkey-Iran tension escalates over NATO radar system and PKK

    Turkey-Iran tension escalates over NATO radar system and PKK

    11 October 2011, Tuesday / AYDIN ALBAYRAK, ANKARA

    Experts state it’s strongly probable that Iran has released Murat Karayılan, the number two man in the PKK terrorist organization, after capturing him.

    murat karayilan 1

    The war of words between Iran and Turkey over the latter’s decision to host NATO’s early-warning radar system may hint at a new crisis looming on the horizon between the two neighbors, with the Kurdish terrorist organization, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in play as a possible trump card by Iran against Turkey.

    Iran may resort to a terror threat using the outlawed PKK against its neighbor Turkey because of the latter’s decision to host NATO’s early-warning radar system, experts warned, adding that the move may boomerang on Iran. Hasan Köni, professor of international law at İstanbul-based Kültür University, said Iran might use the PKK as leverage in the short run against Turkey. “I do not believe that they will go to a great length in doing so because of the boomerang effect of the terror that might hit back at Iran in the future,” he told Today’s Zaman.

    There has been a wave of threatening statements from top Iranian civilian and military leaders in recent weeks, all blaming Turkey for agreeing to host NATO’s early-warning radar system on its soil, warning of unspecified consequences.

    On September, Turkey agreed to go ahead with a NATO plan to set up an early-warning radar system in Malatya’s Kürecik town, which is in the east of the country.

    Claiming that the missile shield aims to protect Israel and target Iranian missiles, Tehran criticized Ankara for its decision to deploy the NATO radar system. The latest warning came on Monday when the deputy head of the Iranian Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff, Brig. Gen. Massoud Jazayeri, said, “Turkey should rethink its long-term strategic interests and draw lessons from the ‘bitter historical experiences’ of other countries.”

    Jazayeri, warning of “adverse consequences,” urged Turkey to reconsider its decision to host the NATO radar, Iran’s state-run Press TV reported.

    The Iranian commander also emphasized that Turkey should be held accountable for its all-out support for the Israeli regime following Ankara’s agreeing to the installation of the US-backed missile shield on its soil and went on to say, “Ankara should rely more on the strength of its Muslim nation as well as the potency of Muslims elsewhere and assume a role geared towards improving security in the region.”

    Köni argued that Iran may also decide to extend support to the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and the PKK to destabilize Turkey. “When Turkey is busy with its domestic problems it would have no time to direct its attention either to Iran or to supporting Sunni groups in Arab countries,” he explained.

    He underlined, however, that Iran has a limited role in the Kurdish issue because of Tehran’s fear of an eventual independent Kurdish state partly covering its own territory. “In the long run, Israel’s aim is to prepare the ground for the foundation of a Kurdish state and the largest Kurdish population is in Turkey. That is, until a structure is put in place in Turkey, it’s not possible for a Kurdish state to take shape — the structure in northern Iraq being inadequate for such an ideal — in which case, it’s clear the process will also cover Iranian territory, Kurds also being a minority group in Iran,” he said, noting that Iran would not want such a possibility.

    President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week claimed the defense system was meant to protect Israel against Iranian missile attacks in the event a war breaks out with the Jewish state.

    “The missile defense shield is aimed at defending the Zionist regime. They don’t want to let our missiles land in the occupied territories [Israel] if one day they take action against us. That’s why they put it there,” Ahmadinejad said in an address to the nation on state TV. Ahmadinejad said his government has conveyed Iran’s displeasure to Turkish officials.

    “We told our Turkish friends that they did not make the correct decision and that it’s to their detriment,” he said.

    Another signal of worsening relations came on Tuesday when Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, upon a question regarding the alleged capture and release of the number two man of the PKK terrorist organization by Iranian forces, said he’s always had doubts regarding the incident. “Iran and the PKK might be having negotiations, signs of which would surface soon,” he underlined.

    Iranian security forces captured senior outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Murat Karayılan in August but later released him after negotiations with the terrorist organization, a Turkish daily reported on Tuesday.

    The claim was put forth by Yeni Şafak daily columnist Abdulkadir Selvi, who said Iran was planning operations against bases of the PKK’s Iranian offshoot, a group called the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), in the Kandil Mountains and suggested carrying out joint military operations with Turkey. Turkey reportedly preferred intelligence sharing to a joint operation and the country’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) informed Tehran of Karayılan’s location.

    Iranian forces then reportedly captured Ka-rayılan and his accomplices just a few days before Turkey launched an air offensive against PKK bases in Kandil. They were taken to the Iranian city of Urumiyya. Selvi says the fact that Iranian forces captured Karayılan a few days before Turkish airstrikes on Kandil and the fact that they took the PKK leader from Kandil and released him after a short while raise questions about whether Tehran had saved the PKK leader from strikes. On Aug. 18, the Turkish military launched aerial attacks on PKK targets in northern Iraq, killing up to 160 terrorists.

    The daily claims that Iran did not inform Ankara about Karayılan’s capture and his transfer to Urumiyya and that the Tehran administration then released Karayılan after talks with the PKK. The content of the talks, however, were not released.

    The Anatolia news agency reported on Aug. 14 that Iranian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee Chairman Alaeddin Boroujerdi had said Karayılan had been captured by Iranian security forces. According to Anatolia, Boroujerdi confirmed weekend news reports of Karayılan’s capture from the Iranian Fars news agency.

    “The number two man of the PKK has been captured. Our intelligence forces accomplished a significant achievement by capturing Karayılan,” he was quoted as saying by Fars. However, Anatolia ran a correction later in the day saying Boroujerdi had actually said, “The number two man of the PKK has been captured,” without explicitly referring to Karayılan.

    However, the explanation did not satisfy Turkey with the country’s deputy prime minister, Bülent Arınç, saying on Aug. 23 that “the whereabouts of Karayılan had not yet been clarified.” “There have still been no news reports with recent images of or statements from Karayılan. There is something about this we don’t know, but we can’t explain what,” Arınç said.

    The role Turkey has assumed during the Arab Spring seems to be another reason for the adversarial statements coming from the Iranian side. According to Professor Sedat Laçiner, president of Çanakkale 18 March University, the missile shield is a major concern for Iran, but even more important is the Arab Spring. “Iran doesn’t see the Arab Spring as the “Arab” Spring, but a development through which the West is reshaping the Middle East to suit the interests of Israel. Therefore, in Iran’s eyes, Turkey acts as the West’s main agent in the process and puts all the responsibility on Turkey. In that context, we can say that what’s feared has taken place. Although it was not Turkey who planned the Arab Spring, of its own accord Turkey put itself in a position in which it looked like the leader of the Arab Spring. This is the cost of that attitude of Turkey. And Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s statement regarding secularism in Egypt touched some sensitive nerves in Iran” he explains

    Laçiner also sees in Iran’s recent attitude the effect of Turkey’s policy toward Syria, which is maybe the only regional ally Iran has. For Laçiner, it would be no surprise if Iran would support the PKK, because “Iran also did that in the past.”

    Arzu Celalifer Ekinci of the Ankara-based International Strategic Research Organization (USAK), however, believes that Iran wouldn’t support the PKK against Turkey because it would have a boomerang effect as it did in the past.

    Laçiner disagrees, however, saying: “Now the countries act mainly according to fast-paced daily developments. What is most important for Iran now is that the Arab Spring shouldn’t turn into an Iranian spring. That’s why it supports the PKK. It looks as if Iran and the PKK have reached a serious agreement, and it’s strongly probable that Iran has released Karayılan, the number two man in the PKK, after capturing him.”

  • Intelligence report reveals links between PKK, Israel

    Intelligence report reveals links between PKK, Israel

    pkk terrorists
    Militants from the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party patrol the area around a PKK base in northern Iraq.

    ERCAN YAVUZ, ANKARA

    An intelligence report prepared by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and presented at a National Security Council (MGK) meeting on Feb. 24 suggests that the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has been forging new ties with the state of Israel. The report also notes that the PKK has plans for a serhildan, the Kurdish word for uprising, in the spring in an attempt to manipulate the June 12 general elections. A senior security official, who asked not to be named, shared information about the intelligence gathered on the PKK with Today’s Zaman. According to the information, the group earlier this month ended a cease-fire it had announced late last summer.

    It also says some countries in the region seem to have convinced the PKK to re-launch its attacks ahead of the elections. The same official says that intelligence reports indicate Israel has intensified its contact with the PKK in retaliation for a meeting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had with Hezbollah during a visit to Lebanon. Intelligence reports say the PKK is concerned about a drop in the votes of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), whose candidates will run as independents. For this reason, the decision to end the cease-fire came easily for the PKK, which is trying to stop Kurdish votes from slipping to the Justice and Development Party (AK Party). The terrorist group has plans to hold constant demonstrations and clashes in the Southeast and in eastern provinces with a significant Kurdish population.

    PKK-Israel links
    The MİT report presented during the MGK meeting in late February chaired by President Abdullah Gül also includes interviews with various PKK militants on the terrorist group’s action strategy for this spring. In these interviews, the militants confessed to having received training from Mossad officials.

    MİT also has footage from an interview in which PKK second-in-command Murat Karayılan says the PKK attacked the İskenderun naval base during the May 2010 flotilla crisis, in which Israel killed nine Turks on board a Gaza-bound civilian aid ship sailing in international waters. In the video, Karayılan says the PKK and Israel worked together during the Mavi Marmara incident. Experts say this video is evidence that the PKK and Israel work in coordination in some of the terrorist group’s attacks. The interview has already been aired on an Israeli television station.

    PKK action strategy
    The report also says the PKK plans to put pressure on Kurdish voters. It is planning a dramatic attack to make it clear that it has ended its cease-fire. The group was also inspired by the recent uprisings rocking the Arab world. Today, International Women’s Day, and the three-day-long spring festival of Nevruz, celebrated around March 20, will be the dates the PKK will focus on to start its campaign of agitation and chaos. It also has plans to sabotage the election rallies of political parties in the region other than those of the BDP.

    The PKK’s real concern is weakened support for the BDP in the region, but it will use as an argument for its attacks and demonstrations the slowdown in the government’s democratic initiative process.

    The plan includes nighttime demonstrations, press statements, illegal protests and passing out declarations. They will also engage in demonstrations that they will call “acts of civil disobedience” during visits from Prime Minister Erdoğan and officials of other political parties.

    The PKK also seeks to carry its demonstrations to cities with sizable Kurdish populations, such as İstanbul, Mersin, Adana, İzmir and Ankara. As has happened in the past, they are expected to use children in the front line during demonstrations in these cities. Intelligence information also suggests that the PKK will seek to manipulate the Kurds in the Southeast by passing out anti-Kurdish declarations. In fact, such fliers, referring to those participating in pro-Kurdish demonstrations as “anarchical punks and lowlifes” were passed around in Yüksekova, Hakkari province, on Feb. 19, 2011. It included other expressions likely to provoke the Kurdish people.

    www.todayszaman.com, 08 March 2011

     

  • PKK leader warns may end Turkey cease-fire

    PKK leader warns may end Turkey cease-fire

    By REUTERS
    Published: Oct 19, 2010 22:27 Updated: Oct 19, 2010 22:27

    karayilan

    LONDON: The leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) warned Turkey on Tuesday it will end its cease-fire if the government steps up military operations against the armed group.

    In an interview with Britain’s Independent newspaper, Murat Karayilan was quoted as saying time was running out for the Turkish authorities to pursue a peaceful solution.

    “We will wait another 15 days,” Karayilan told the newspaper from his hideout in northern Iraq, where the group is mainly based.

    “If something positive develops, we will extend the unilateral cease-fire. If there are no concrete steps, we will evaluate developments and do what we have to do to defend ourselves.”

    More than 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, have been killed since the PKK took up arms against Turkey in 1984 for an independent homeland. The rebels say they now want greater rights and autonomy for Turkey’s estimated 15 million Kurds.

    On Aug. 13 the PKK declared a one-month, unilateral truce that it then extended for an indefinite period on Sept. 30.

    Despite the cease-fire, there have been fatal clashes between PKK rebels and Turkish soldiers in southeast Turkey.

    Karayilan told the paper the Turkish government has used the cease-fire to “surround and destroy” the group.

    “If attacks are carried out, all the Kurdish people will be part of the defense strategy,” Karayilan said.

    “The issue is not between the Turkish state and the PKK. It is between the Turkish state and the Kurdish people.”

    The United States and the European Union, like Turkey, classify the PKK as a terrorist organization.

    Source: Arab News