Oktay Eksi: Note re PKK: Don't cry, just do something!!
Güncelleme Tarihi:
What do you say? I think it would be better if we all gave up on this whole "the US will help in our ongoing struggle against the PKK" fantasy, which has long since turned from a comedy into a banal sort of hoax. Doing so would at least rescue us from being in the position of dummies, and would force us to use our own strength in this fight. The results would also then be tolerable, as they would be of our own making.
The words by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan two days ago on this subject, spoken as he was on his way to Lebanon for a day trip, were painful to hear....
This was perhaps the 20th or 30th time our Prime Minister has publicly compained about the US on the subject of the PKK. "There have been no concrete steps taken where the special representatives in the struggle against the PKK are concerned. We expected something serious from the US on this subject, but there has been nothing. They tell us they will put a hold on the PKK's finances....they say things should be done in Iraq, but there is nothing done."
Erdogan also added: "....They tell us that this group's bureaus have been closed down, but we see that they have in fact not been closed. In Turkey, terrorists who have American weapons are captured. There are still no concrete results though. If we are strategic partners, we must carry out a struggle against this terror group which causes us so much discomfort."
And now we learn from our correspondent Ugur Ergan that the latest outburst from Erdogan on this issue was sparked by the failure of US forces in Northern Iraq to capture two PKK leaders, Murat Karayilan and Cemil Bayik, who had gone to the hospital in the Northern Iraqi city of Erbil for check-ups. Turkish forces in the region had communicated with US forces there, letting them know of the whereabouts of these two men, and passing on the message of "Either you capture them and hand them over, or we will capture them without your interference." But the US apparently did not react to this information, which has led to Erdogan's latest words.
But Erdogan's latest words remain futile.
Whatever happened to promises made by the US to hand over to us up to 150 top PKK members caught in Northern Iraq for trial here?
Ok, let's just say that our own journalists made up that piece of news....but what about former US Secretary of State Colin Powell's statement that "the US would do what it could on the subject of the PKK," and the promises made by Bush too? What about all these statements made in the past on this subject?
Didn't the current US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, speaking as then-National Security Advisor, say "We are engaged in an unarmed struggle against the PKK"? (August 21, Vatan newspaper).
Two years after these words, the US sent an authority named Frank Urbanic to European countries to "cut off monetary funds" going to the PKK. But just as our Prime Minister pointed out two days ago, there have been no results from this either.
There is no room left today to go into details. But 6 months have passed since the US appointment of a retired general to the case, and the results are still zero!
There is nothing left to say to the US. It is now time to turn to our government and tell them "Don't cry, don't ache....Just do whatever needs to be done!"