Difficulties In Fighting Terrorism

CUMHURIYET- Columnist Mustafa Balbay writes on the difficulties of fighting terrorism. A summary of his column is as follows:
The current events in the Middle East demonstrate that it is harder to fight terrorism than is commonly believed. Israel has launched a harsh terrorist operation to stop the Palestinian terrorist bombings. The Jewish lobby, in reply to reactions to the offensive, felt the need to recall that in actions against the terrorist organization PKK Turkey has occasionally launched operations which went into northern Iraq. The two cases are different, but we have to stress that Turkey’s fight against terrorism in the’ 90s was a very difficult process carrying many hardships with it. We passed through a period which impacted our internal peace, regional balances, economy and democratic initiatives. There are two basic measures needed so that we don’t go through this again. First, we have eliminate all imbalances which foster terrorism. Second, we have to cut off the terrorist organizations’ ties in foreign countries. This task can be expressed by saying that we must keep our house clean while preventing any negativity coming from our neighbors. Today, we shall elaborate on the second factor. The uncertainty regarding the revelation of Cemil Bayik’s ties with Iran, as he is known to be the ‘second man’ of the terrorist organization, is continuing. Turkey told Iran that Bayik entered Iranian territory on March 21 and that it was established on April 7 that he was within the Iranian borders. The reaction from Iran was rather controversial. They hesitated about accepting his presence in Iran, and then flatly rejected the claim. However, the dialogue alone showed that Iran was capable of a cooperation unthinkable in years past. It is rather hard for Iran to change its policy all at once, while also having direct contact with four fundamentalist organizations in northern Iraq. The news coming from Europe suggests our terrorist-foes are trying to win battles by sitting at battle at the tables that they lost in the mountains. The PKK believes that in Europe it is taken seriously and may be seen as a player in negotiations. The next stage for them is to achieve legal and political gains. In line with this idea, the organization hopes to establish relations with all the countries during their EU term presidencies, and open special offices in these countries. There are ongoing efforts to have certain groups working in northern Iraq accepted by the EU. When we look over the last two years, we can see that fully every month 700 bilateral contacts, meetings or similar activities took place each and every month. There are preparations continuing for the start of a new era with the announcement of the so-called eighth congress decisions which also covered the terrorists’ name change. In the coming days the contents of news coming from northern Iraq and Europe will likely change. Clearly, there still is a great distance to cover with our European friends! As we stressed right from the beginning, trying to stay within the framework of the law while also fighting terrorism brings many difficulties and attrition with it. Turkey, which went through this gauntlet in the’ 90s, has to be vigilant so as not to be faced with the same situation again. In addition to exposing and blocking the support given to terrorism, Turkey has to formulate a ‘neighbors policy’ embracing both individual countries and regional situations. In the’ 90s, 80% of the logistic support for the organization was provided through Syria. If Iran has taken the place of Syria, there is no need to explain the necessity for such a policy.

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION