CUMHURIYET- Columnist Mustafa Balbay comments on relations between the PKK and some European countries. A summary of his column is as follows:
Prior to its so-called eighth congress, the terrorist organization PKK got in touch with certain European countries in order to set the agenda for that meeting's decisions. What emerged from that congress shows how closely the two are working together. Last month, Belgium Parliament Deputy Speaker Jam Meri Bigen and parliamentarians Predy Willems and Vinsit Vankiyulin met with Osman Ocalan in northern Iraq. During the meeting the Europeans reportedly suggested to the PKK the following: - To work on its relations with the Kurdish people, - To abandon its weapons, but not to disband its militant groups, - To drop the "PKK" name and adopt a new label. The new name should not offend anyone but should also set an image for the group, - To push for cultural rights, - Since Iraq's future is would also the PKK's interest, to avoid using words like "Kurdistan." Following up on those suggestions, the PKK took the following decisions at its so-called congress and sent word of them to its European supporters: - To refrain from illegal activity in Europe or Turkey, - To regroup the PKK's branches under new labels, namely the ones used by groups in northern Iraq, - To refrain from any action in Europe which would threaten public safety, - To disarm all its armed forces in northern Iraq. If Turkey lets it enter the politic arena, to give up its weapons, - Following disarmament, to announce to the public that it was abandoning its campaign of armed attacks, - To not aim at dividing Turkey, but also to leave open a discussion of confederation. We can clearly see that there are many similarities between the European suggestions and the PKK's final decisions. What should we do in response? Turn back to the European Union? The problem is, whatever we do we must act within the accepted conventions of international relations. We should act with our intentions not our feelings, and try to think with our brains not our hearts. In the 1990s, Turkey paid the price of a failing economy to overcome its terrorism problem. It didn't let this terrorism become an ethnic issue. Various Turkish groups, and especially the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), played a significant role in this process. Now we are in a position that may look easier but is in fact more complex to address. There are two basic conditions: One, to not forget the past. Two, to not darken our future.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION