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PKK restructures itself, shows no signs ofdisarming
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Murad Karaylan walks with his fellow PKK terrorists to a news
conference at Kandil mountains near the Iraqi-Turkish border in
Sulaimaniya in this Sept. 30, 2010 photo. (Photo:Reuters)
RELATED NEWS
Newly appointed PKK chief threatens government with end to
peace12 July 2013 /SEVG AKAREME, STANBULAs the terrorist Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) reshuffles its higher echelons while
establishing new bodies within itself, expertsclaim that the
organization is restructuring itself in an effort to adapt to the
settlement process, which aims to end the decades-long armed
conflict between the state and the PKK, but has no intention of
disarming no matter what.The PKK's larger network, the Kurdistan
Communities Union (KCK), replaced Murat Karaylan, a senior
commander who had
served in the KCK for two consecutive terms, with Cemil Bayk,
who is thought to be more radical. Following Karaylan'sappointment
to a body called the People's Defense Forces (HPG), an armed wing
of the PKK, the jailed leader of the PKK,
Abdullah calan was elected chairman of the KCK. Prior to the
latest PKK congress, calan was considered the honorary
president of the KCK.
On Friday, Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) parliamentary group
chairman Pervin Buldan called on Parliament not to have a
recess, but convene again following Eid to discuss
democratization packages regarding the settlement process. She
also
pushed for a change in the prison conditions of calan, who is
incarcerated on mral Island, since he is an important actor in
the process.
Buldan also reportedly delivered the latest letter from calan on
the second stage of the settlement process to the PKK
leadership in the Kandil Mountains.
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AK Party spokesman and Deputy Chairman Hseyin elik said on
Friday that the settlement process is sensitive and fragile
and that everyone has important responsibilities in order not to
harm the process.
Prior to Buldan's call, on Wednesday the Democratic Society
Congress (DTK), an umbrella group of Kurdish nongovernmental
organizations, applied to the Ministry of Justice for permission
to send an independent delegation of doctors to mral Island to
examine calan.
Karaylan, who gave an ultimatum to the government to move on the
settlement process in a week in order not to disrupt it,
asked on Thursday for a secretary and an assistant for calan. He
should be able to talk to delegations from outside and have
connection with outsiders, said Karaylan, adding that only then
can he run the negotiations process.
Experts who evaluated the latest development within the PKK for
Today's Zaman believe that there will not be a policy change
within the terrorist organization due to the new appointments.
There is consensus that the organization is trying to
restructure
itself in the face of the emergence of new conditions.
Kurdish intellectual and writer brahim Gl has a much more
negative evaluation of the latest changes within the PKK. Gl
argues that the PKK will never disarm even if all of the Kurdish
demands [such as expanded civil rights and autonomy] are met.
Both sides [the government and the PKK] know that the PKK will
not lay down arms, but they have put on a play -- a theater
piece -- from the very beginning, commented Gl. For him, even if
Turkey switches to a federal system, the PKK will remain
an armed force with the ultimate dream of establishing a
dictatorship. The PKK doesn't only want to become the founding
force
of North Kurdistan [Turkish territories], but also of all Kurds
in the broader region, he claimed.
Stating that the PKK is an organization that owes its survival
to its relations with international powers, Gl argued that the
new
co-chairman of the KCK, Bayk, is connected to countries in the
region such as Iran, Iraq and Syria.
According to Gl, the National Intelligence Organization (MT) and
the government are the sources of the interpretation that
Karaylan's appointment to an armed wing of the PKK, the HPG, is
a move to control the organization. The government tries to
portray these developments as positive signs, stated Gl. For
him, claiming that the whole process of change within the PKK
is taking place with the approval of the government could make
the government liable in the event the process is aborted. Gl
further argued that the government's policy to manage the
PKK-Kurdish problem incrementally might lead to a serious
conflict.
Vahap Cokun, a professor at Dicle University Law School, told
Today's Zaman that calan had strengthened his grip over the
PKK during this process, which restructured the terrorist
organization. According to him, calan had to be the honorary
president of the PKK due to his health. However, his condition
has improved now with the correspondence between him and
Kandil and his deeper involvement in the PKK's administration.
calan is the only dominant power within the organization no
matterwhat, commented Cokun, who added that the settlement
process proved this.
Disagreeing with the comments that the hawk elements have taken
over the PKK with the appointment of Bayk as one of the
co-chairman of the KCK, Cokun stated, What happened in the PKK
is not a policy change, but a change of position among
administrators. According to Cokun, an argument that the
settlement process could be sabotaged is an exaggerated comment
and does not reflect the real situation.
Political scientist Professor Sedat Lainer also argued that the
PKK would not disarm due to the lack of concrete steps so far.
The PKK is restructuring itself and trying to adapt to the new
era, stated Lainer. According to him, the PKK is trying to
become an organization that can survive without calan as
well.
Unlike comments that have appeared in the Turkish media that
these signs should be considered positively, Lainer believes
that for the PKK the settlement process is only a tactical tool.
He said that there has been no announcement regarding
disarmament, let alone a concrete step to do so. Only withdrawal
from Turkish territories has been mentioned, but the PKK has
not implemented that, either, added Lainer.
In recent weeks, the PKK has set up its own public safety
squads, kidnapped workers and recruited new fighters, indicating
that
the terrorist group is consolidating, as the optimism of the
initial days of the settlement process fades.
