Pro-Kurdish DTP makes strange demands of European Parliament

The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) has asked the European Parliament (EP) to amend a report on Turkey by Dutch Christian Democrat Ria Oomen-Ruijten, particularly paragraphs dealing with the Kurdish question.

A two-page document obtained by Sunday's Zaman was sent last Thursday to members of the EP who have been following the debate on Turkey within the EP, asking them to "have a look at" the DTP's requests.

Making a bizarre comparison between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Hamas, the DTP has called on the EP to ask Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to distance himself from Hamas just as the EP report asks the DTP to distance itself from the PKK.

The document also accuses the EP of double standards in dealing with the Kurdish question. The document was titled "Assessment of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) on the Draft Report on Turkey prepared by Ms. Ria Oomen-Ruijten."

The document, prepared by the DTP's Brussels office, draws parallels between Hamas and the PKK and eventually asks the EP to take a similar stance when dealing with the two organizations. Asking for complete deletion of some paragraphs of the report, the DTP expresses its anger over Oomen-Ruijten's characterization of the PKK as a "terrorist organization."


Oomen-Ruijten's progress report on Turkey, which was endorsed by the EP's Committee on Foreign Affairs with a strong margin of support on Feb. 12, is expected to be approved by the EP on March 11. Oomen-Ruijten, one of the most senior members of the EP, has been hailed in recent years for authoring balanced reports on Turkey. Her predecessor, Camiel Eurlings, the previous rapporteur, who was also a Dutch Christian Democrat, was heavily criticized for writing biased reports on Turkey.

While asking Turkey to sort out the Kurdish problem democratically, Oomen-Ruijten has been tough on both the PKK and the DTP. She has criticized the DTP for not distancing itself from the PKK.

The DTP is apparently angry over the call in the report to distance itself from the PKK. In its list of demands from the EP, the DTP's Brussels representatives dub the report's demand as "not objective and reasonable." In an interesting proposal, the DTP calls on the EP to make a similar call to Erdoğan and his party to distance themselves from Hamas. The document says: "So urging the DTP and all its elected members to distance themselves from the PKK is not an objective and reasonable call. If this paragraph is not erased, then another sentence should be added: 'The European Parliament urges Turkish Prime Minister Mr. Erdoğan, [the Justice and Development Party] AKP and its elected members to distance themselves clearly from HAMAS, which is on the terrorist organizations list of the EU'."

The DTP is also unhappy with Oomen-Ruijten's characterization of the PKK as a terrorist organization. Employing logic that is difficult to grasp, the document claims that if the EP shows solidarity with Turkey in the fight against terrorism, it would amount to supporting Ankara in putting Leyla Zana behind bars. "And if you show your solidarity with Turkey in the fight against terrorism, then it means you show your solidarity with Turkey to put Leyla Zana in prison as well," the document says.

In another of the DTP's unique interpretations, the document argues that the Turkish state regards all intellectuals and writers critical of the state as "terrorists": "Because according to the Turkish state mentality, Leyla Zana, other politicians, journalists, intellectuals and those who criticize the Turkish state are 'TERRORISTS.' So this paragraph gives Turkey support to maintain its policies towards the Kurdish issue."

The DTP also calls on the EP to treat the PKK as it treats Hamas. In an analogy with Hamas, the DTP asks the EP to call on both sides (Turkey and the PKK) to declare a bilateral cease-fire, rather than only calling on the PKK. "So we believe that the European Parliament should call for an immediate bilateral cease-fire. The call of the European Union in the Gaza crisis is a good example of promoting a peaceful solution: 'There must be an unconditional halt to rocket attacks by HAMAS on Israel, and an end to Israeli military action.' Even though Hamas is on the terrorist organizations list of the EU like the PKK, we do not see any provocative language in the statements of the EU and the EP in the resolutions on Gaza. But in this report, the language towards the PKK is very provocative, and it does not serve for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question. There should not be a double standard in the position of the European Parliament," the document concludes.

01.03.2009
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Joint commission with Iraq against PKK signals a shift in Turkish policy

A decision to establish a permanent commission in Baghdad to coordinate U.S., Turkish and Iraqi efforts to fight the terror organization, PKK, signals an important shift in Ankara's policy.

Turkey, Iraq and the United States agreed Wednesday to form a joint commission to combat the terror organization PKK, which uses northern Iraq as a base for attacks on Turkey.

Turkey has long rejected to negotiate the PKK issue with the Kurdish regional administration in northern Iraq, who Ankara accuses of supporting the terror organization.

The inclusion of Iraqi Kurdish officials in Wednesday's talks held in Baghdad represents an important step back for Turkey from its red lines.

The commission will track the threat represented by the PKK to the security and the stability of Turkey and Iraq, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement after the meeting between the delegations headed by U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, visiting Turkish Interior Minister Besir Atalay and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The commission will also "enact forceful measures to stop all activities undertaken by this organization inside Iraqi territory or in any region adjacent to the Turkish-Iraqi border."

Turkey, provided with intelligence by the United States, stepped up its campaign to crackdown on the PKK both inside Turkey and in northern Iraq, after the terror organization increased its attacks on Turkish soldiers, as well as civilians.

Turkish officials say around 2,000 PKK terrorists are holed up in the mountains of northern Iraq, where they enjoy free movement and use the region to launch cross-border attacks.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, including the EU and the United States.

MORE DETAILS WIHIN 10 DAYSThe three sides have agreed to hammer out details of the commission within 10 days. This means the agreement should be fully in place before Iraq takes control of its own air space when a U.N. Security Council resolution expires at the end of the year.

A U.S. embassy statement also confirmed the commission would coordinate the fight against the PKK and exchange intelligence.

Previous three-way talks had failed to take hold, but the latest effort was different because the Turks had agreed to recognize officials from the Kurdish regional administration in northern Iraq as part of the Iraqi delegation, a senior U.S. embassy official told Reuters.

"The Turks acknowledge that the Iraqis are more capable of addressing this issue," he said.

"The Turkish public position is different from the Turkish private position. The Turks have seen action (by Iraq) and they acknowledge that," the U.S. official added.

Turkish officials have expressed concern that Iraq could try to obstruct air strikes when it takes control of its air space after the new year. But the U.S. official said Baghdad has not tried to block limited air strikes in the past.

"The Turks came here very concerned about how they are going to keep up their operations against the PKK," he said.

"As it is, the government of Iraq has chosen not to make an international incident over these actions. They, including the KRG (Kurdish regional government), realize that the PKK is a security threat to Iraq," the U.S. official told Reuters.

But Iraqi officials say Turkey should make a security part with Iraq as the United States did, sources told hurriyet.com.tr.

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/world/10404139.asp?gid=237