French police have arrested seven members of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Reims in the latest crackdown on the terrorist organization.
The French court arrested five of the seven suspects on Monday on charges of funnelling money to the PKK. The two suspects were released by the court.
Rens prosecutor Thierry Fragnoli is presiding over an investigation into the PKK. Two of the three detained PKK members were also jailed last month.
We evaluated extremely important subjects and events in South Caucasus with Dr. Alexander MURINSON for Strategic Outlook readers. (more…)
By: Melih Asik posted on Thursday, Jun 21, 2012
The PKK crossed the Iraqi border into Turkey with 300 men and killed eight of our soldiers. The main opposition MP, Onur Oymen, asked the critical question:
About this Article
Summary:
Melih Asik wonders why Turkey never holds Iraq and the US responsible for attacks from the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), even though they are based in northern Iraq. Recently, a PKK incursion into Turkey resulted in the deaths of eight Turkish soldiers. Turkish politicians, says Asik, act like they owe their positions to the US.
Publisher: Milliyet (Turkey)
Original Title:
We Were Never Like This
Author: Melih Asik
Published on: Thursday, Jun 21, 2012
Translated On: Thursday, Jun 21, 2012
Translator: Timur Goksel
Categories : Security Turkey Iraq
When looking for those responsible for the Daglica attack, nobody remembers to accuse the Iraqi government, which is allowing the PKK to take refuge there. Why not? Prime Minister Erdogan criticizes Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki for his poor treatment of Sunnis. The two men occasionally engage in nasty exchanges, but Iraq’s harboring of the PKK is never mentioned. While Daglica was under attack, Erdogan was in Mexico with Obama discussing how to solve the Syrian crisis, not the PKK one.
And our opposition party? Until today, it has never accused Iraq or the United States. Why not? Because they know the US stands behind the PKK and the Kurds. They don’t want to upset the US by accusing Iraq. They are behaving like politicians who owe their positions to the US.
The PKK, knowing that it is supported by the US, Iraq and Barzani, naturally disregards Ankara’s gestures of peace. It is locked onto the idea of a Kurdish state, so they keep pounding Turkey.
While we are strutting about with empty rhetoric on how we are the 16th strongest economic power in the world, how we are the regional leaders and how everybody is copying our model, the PKK continues to slap our faces.
Imagine if somebody crossed the border into Israel and killed eight Israeli soldiers. The next day, Israel would level that country. And what does Turkey do?
It has never been so impotent.
via Why Won’t Turkey Stand Up To Iraq, US on Aiding PKK? – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East.
Ari Katz
Turkey is a predominantly Sunni Muslim, ethnically Turkish country with a Kurdish minority. Its role in several ongoing geopolitical sagas, its increasingly public Islamic conservatism, and its newly assertive nature has positioned Turkey squarely on the international stage.
Historical Background
After a brutal war for independence from Western WWI victors, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk led a group of military officers who successfully instituted secular and western reforms, including the restriction of Islam in the public sphere. Heralded as exemplary, “Kemalism” drove Turkey’s destiny to become a successful, liberal and modern power.
Following World War II, Turkey moved forward as a largely secular, constitutional parliamentary republic that became increasingly allied and integrated with the Western geopolitical framework.
Coups and the subsequent splintered political landscape led to the ascendancy of the socially conservative, fiscally liberal Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by the current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The AKP, elected in 2002, has presided over fiscal growth, a push to join the European Union (EU), and an institutional social conservatism.
Domestic Politics
Turkey has leaned more conservative in recent years, but maintains a relatively stable political atmosphere with healthy civic participation. The success of the reigning AKP, with Erdogan at the helm, has sparked fears of a developing Islamist shift. Although this conservatism appeals to elements of the Turkish population, for others, it runs counter to ostensibly important secular norms and curbs on Islam in the public sphere. Whether this Islamist characterization is true, Erdogan rejects the label to avoid the associated stigma from both external and internal actors.
Aside from the AKP, two other major political parties are acting in Turkey: the center-left leaning Republican People’s Party and the right-wing Nationalist Movement Party. The former espouses a populist, secular ideology in the tradition of Ataturk, while the latter has a nationalist Pan-Turkic agenda.
A third organization, the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), is a militant, leftist revolutionary organization that claims to represent the interests of the ethnic Kurdish population in Turkey. The PKK is banned in Turkey and has been designated as a terrorist group, but it continues a sporadic armed insurrection against the Turkish government in its quest for increased Kurdish minority rights and the eventual establishment of a separate Kurdish state.
Foreign Politics and Geopolitical Significance
Turkey has become an increasingly strong, assertive regional power that has shown some foreign policy independence from the US strategic framework, while still remaining a key American/NATO ally in the Region. In this respect, Turkish military power is burgeoning on the heels of an evolving modernization program, and its participation in the US F-35 Stealth Fighter Program could dramatically alter power dynamics with its neighbors.
Turkey is also experiencing a recent surge in soft-power. Its recent rebukes and strained dealings with Israel over the Palestinian issue have earned it admiration across the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). Synergizing with this, Turkey also propagates a populist image by claiming support for popular uprisings in the Arab world. The flagship aspect of this policy has been the public criticism of Syrian President Bashar al Assad and limited logistical support of the Syrian rebels in the current uprising.
With regards to Tehran, historically closer ties have given way to recent tension both over Ankara’s negative disposition towards Iran’s ally in Damascus, and its participation in the NATO antiballistic missile system. This cooperation with the NATO program is a manifestation of Turkey’s increasing desire – seen also in its bid to join the EU – for increased integration with the West, especially Europe. Far from assured, however, this quest for EU membership is challenged by European fears of an ostensible Turkish Islamic resurgence under Erdogan along with an indecisiveness stemming from recent internal EU political and economic upheaval.
A burgeoning power at the crossroads of the West and Asia and the nexus of many critical international issues, Turkey will continue to play a key role in regional and global politics. It is a critical broker among internal MENA actors and ultimately between the West and the East.
via Turkey: Modern Assertiveness in a Globalized World | Fair Observer°.
British police raided yesterday a tent pitched by members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral amid a number of other tents belonging to “Occupy London Stock Exchange” protesters.
The PKK members were allegedly promoting their organization to protesters that had gathered there to voice their dissatisfaction with the global economic system.
Officials said a person called the police saying they had allegedly seen weapons in the PKK’s tent in front of St. Paul’s.
PKK members in London have attempted to occupy numeroues media buildings in the city and staged a protest in front of the British prime minister’s office on the grounds that the government had increased pressure on the illegal organization.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
DHA
ANKARA, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) — Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said on Sunday that a top member of the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) was arrested in the Turkish largest city of Istanbul.
“A top member of the terrorist organization PKK, whom I cannot identify right now, has been caught in Istanbul,” Arinc was quoted as saying by the semi-official Anatolia news agency.
Arinc said that Turkish security forces had been successful in all their operations against the PKK.
The deputy prime minister said the fact that the PKK was receiving support from foreign countries made the fight against the PKK difficult, adding, “we need foreign support and measures that will cut the terrorist organization’s sources in order to succeed in our fight.”
Listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, the PKK took up arms in 1984 to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the PKK during the past over two decades.
via PKK top member arrested in Istanbul: deputy PM.
