STAR- Columnist Semih Idiz writes on stance of the EU in releasing a list of terrorist groups, which fails to include the PKK or the DHKP-C. A summary of his column is as follows:
Nationalist Action Party (MHP) deputy Chairman Seket Bulent Yahnici is right in crying out that the exclusion of the PKK and DHKP-C from the new terrorist organizations list prepared by the EU is scandalous. The four EU ambassadors I have spoken to on the issue were unable to supply any clear answer to my questions. Their main argument was that the decisions were arrived at by a consensus process in the EU and that if even one of the countries was opposed to it, no agreement could be reached on the subject. It doesn't take to be a genius to guess who has opposed defining the PKK as a terrorist organization. First of all, Greece can be cited as the main proponent of this view. However, the Greek stance must be viewed as a result of the eternal rivalry between our two countries. For example, sympathy for the Kosovo Liberation Force in Europe cannot be seen in Greece, which feels closer to that region's Serbs. Therefore, they can at least be regarded as honest in expressing their enmities. On the other hand, other countries can be classified under a group falling prey to their historical prejudices. Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium can be put at the top of this list. None of the officials or for that matter members of civil society in these countries I have spoken to are ready define the PKK as a terrorist organization. For them, this murderous organization is an "inevitable" phenomenon which emerged as a result of the desperate situation of the Kurdish people. In fact, they pronounce these opinions on the issue through a conditioned reflex. When they feel to be cornered, they say that these organizations are not committing any crimes on their territory. When asked, is not the IRA a phenomenon emerging from the desperate situation of the Northern Irish Catholics, they struggle to give answers through every means possible without realizing the hypocrisy they are showing. The DHKP-C came into the spotlight with the prison hunger-strikes and its members immediately became people to be 'protected' from the Turks. In short, these countries have been caught red-handed. They have surrendered to their prejudices on issues which they cannot explain reasonably. What should Turkey do in view of these developments? I believe that those who excluded the PKK and DHKP-C from the list of terrorist organizations are trying to force Turkey to act illogically and thereby find an excuse for their own unreasonable behavior. However, this stance cannot be accepted by all EU member states, as there are countries, which have banned the activities of the PKK and DHKP-C on their own territory. They are distressed right now not because of Turkey, but because they believe that the global war on terror led by the US will be weakened and could backfire due to these double standards. Washington is angry at the vacillatating stance of the EU as it has excluded certain people and organizations defined as terrorists by the US. There is not a solid bloc against Turkey. There are countries like Britain, Germany and Spain which understand the situation Turkey is in. Therefore I believe that at every possible opportunity, Turkey should resolutely declare to the offending countries how wrongheaded their behavior is. This should be accomplished with the support of friendly, like-minded countries as well as constant pressure through diplomatic channels. Reason and ethics are the sources of our strength.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION