BY TAHA AKYOL
MILLIYET- Yesterday's air operation against terrorist PKK camps in northern Iraq was the fruit of long technical and political preparation. When US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice came to Turkey, she said that Turkey had a `comprehensive plan' to fight the PKK. Of course, this plan was prepared by military, diplomats and intelligence officials, in accordance with political directives. When Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with US President George W. Bush early last month, they reached a consensus on the outlines of this plan. Immediately afterwards, Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Ergin Saygun met with his US counterpart James Cartwright and Iraq Commander David Petraeus and at their meetings in Ankara, a mechanism was established to facilitate intelligence sharing. That this sharing took place shows that this time military efforts are serious and based on a plan. Yesterday's operation is an element of this comprehensive plan and when needed, a more comprehensive one will be carried out.
The operation's importance can be summed up as follows:
Turkey has gotten US and Europe support for these cross-border operations. If it had not, the US and Europe would have been pointing their fingers at Turkey and this would have strengthened the PKK politically. But the diplomatic side of this comprehensive plan, which is as important as the intelligence and military sides, was arranged well and thus Turkey has the support of the international community.
The success of this complex operation showed that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) has a high capacity for planning and operations. This will boost Turkey's deterrence.
The PKK's mobility in northern Iraq has been limited.
Even if the PKK terrorists have scattered, it's very important that their training and warehouse facilities and shelters were destroyed.
The PKK and the northern Iraqi Kurdish administration have separated along political lines and won't be able to cooperate as easily as they did in the past.
The diplomatic and military legs of the comprehensive plan are being conducted successfully. Obviously, it also has a domestic policy leg. This is expressed with the term `bringing terrorists down from the mountains.' Of course, this term is ambiguous and contextual. This is how it was done in other countries facing ethnic terrorism. First, everybody should see that even during the '90s when the PKK seemed to have established dominance in the country's southeast, Turkey didn't give up. Today, Turkey is superior militarily, internationally and politically. Compelling Turkey to do something by force of arms is a futile and bloody dream. On the contrary, Turkey's military operations and the international community's stance on terrorism will be more intensive! The PKK has no choice but to lay down its arms. Ankara is signaling that there might be further arrangements to Penal Code Article 221 on `penitence.' Maybe the comprehensive plan includes these arrangements as well. The PKK should recognize these military, political and legal facts and unconditionally lay down its arms, and the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) should move in this direction.