PKK attacks continue to dominate national agenda in Turkey
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E-mail Xinhua, September 19, 2012
Meanwhile, experts also pointed out that the PKK is mounting last attacks against the Turkish security forces before a tactical withdrawal due to approaching harsh winter period in Turkey's mountainous southeast.
"The operations against the PKK must go on despite the increasing number of casualties, because the PKK is struggling to keep psychological edge over the local population in order to give a message that it still has the capability to strike," said Salih Akyurek, expert with the Wise Men Center for Strategic Studies ( BILGESAM).
"If the BDP really wants peace, it should call on the PKK to give up arms," Akyurek said, warning however that the BDP, under an armed threat of the PKK militants, cannot go against the wishes of the PKK organization.
"Turkish military offensive will help break that vicious cycle and help the BDP get loose from the grip of the PKK," Akyurek underlined.
SECRET TALKS CONTROVERSY
In the meantime, Turkey's main opposition Republican Peoples' Party (CHP) revealed on Tuesday what it claimed to be a nine-point secret agreement negotiated between Turkish intelligence officials and senior PKK leaders in Oslo under the mediation of Britain. The document is expected to stir a controversy in Turkey with the opposition accusing the government for caving into demands of the PKK organization.
The voice recording of the meeting was first revealed in September 2011 when it was posted on a website.
The leak was interpreted as an attempt to influence Turkish public opinion against the government. The government defended itself then, saying that it is not unusual for an intelligence agency to conduct such meeting, but denied having agreed on demands voiced by the PKK.
By revealing the signed document, the CHP is now calling the prime minister who sanctioned the secret meeting to explain his actions that might be a constitutional crime.
CHP Deputy Chairperson and Spokesman Haluk Koc signaled on Tuesday that the party could seek a legal case against the government based on this new revelation. "This accord is constitutional crime," Koc said.
In the meantime, Turkish court on Tuesday convicted BDP lawmaker Sebahat Tuncel for an illegal membership to the PKK and sentenced her to eight years and nine months in prison. She was standing trial from a court case that started in 2007 based on charges that included membership in a terrorist organization, aiding and abetting a terrorist organization and attempting to destroy the country's unity and integrity.
MOST KURDS OPPOSE SEPARATION
The PKK is fighting almost 30 years of separatist war in Turkey 's southeast with a view of establishing an independent Kurdistan carved out of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria.
The Kurdish population in Turkey, estimated to be around 14 to 18 million, is not comfortable with the PKK objectives. Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) received most of the Kurdish votes in the region while the rest went to the BDP in the 2011 general elections.
According to a recent survey by BILGESAM, most Kurds are opposed to the idea of seceding from Turkey. Only 2.3 percent of Turkey's Kurds say independence will bring a solution to their problems. While 5.7 percent see a federative structure in Turkey as a solution, 11.9 percent say regional or democratic autonomy will be a way out.
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