So thinks one obviously uninformed Washington Post writer
as stated in an article titled "Kurdish Prospects" published on Saturday,
January 23, 1999; Page A20: "Two vistas loomed... The other was that
in his equally undeniable role as a Kurdish nationalist, he would be drawn
into a broad negotiation on a Kurdish population that is spread among Iraq,
Iran and Syria as well as Turkey..." This
is a ridiculously naive and inaccurate viewpoint bereft of any historical,
political, or cultural concept of the region. But more significantly,
PKK lacks legitimacy and representative capacity
on at least three accounts: a) PKK cannot even
communicate with Kurds outside Turkey because it communicates only in Turkish.
(b) PKK does NOT represent but a minority
of Kurds in Turkiye (c) PKK is
enemies with both Kurdish fractions in Iraq as well as the Kurdish clans
in other states. This is a well known fact for anyone with
any familiarity with the region:
| "Also known as
Apo, (PKK leader) Ocalan ... acquired a reputation for ruthlessness in
the southeast with killings of suspected collaborators, pro-government
tribespeople and left-wing rivals.
Alliances
he has forged with the main Kurdish groups in Iraq have fallen apart because
of the Iraqi Kurds' anger at the PKK's willingness
to kill Kurdish civilians." (Alistair Bell,
Reuters, March 27, 1995) |
|