I have been following with interest the discussions that began with Devlet Bahçeli shaking hands with members of the DEM party and then his call to Abdullah Öcalan to have the PKK disarm.
In terms of approaching the issue, politicians and commentators seem to be on opposite sides.
Partisanship has disappeared. So has the opposition. In contrast, in the face of the country’s most difficult problem, politicians overwhelmingly take a ‘solution-oriented’ stance, while commentators generally oppose the initiative. All they have left is to say, “Don’t you dare. “
MHP leader Bahçeli ‘s statement was followed by the words of President Tayyip Erdoğan , who is also the chairman of the ruling party AK Party, supporting his statements. In the CHP, where we are used to the government criticizing everything it does, the new chairman Özgür Özel surprised by supporting the initiative.
As for the DEM party members… When the first ‘resolution process’ failed, some of their leaders and mayors were imprisoned because of the events that followed. However, DEM also approached the initiative positively.
Among the parties represented in the Parliament, only the İYİ Party, through its leader Müsavat Dervişoğlu , opposed the approach and condemned the initiative.
Among the newspaper commentators I looked at, there were very few who gave my initiative a chance.
Commentators are invisible in their unawareness that the continuation of the problem could have dire consequences for Türkiye…
The general approach of “ armed struggle is met with arms” still continues.
Is this an appropriate approach?
Here is a comprehensive report on terrorist activities in European countries for the past year – 2023 – prepared by EUROPOL , the police agency of the European Union .
The report is exactly 90 pages.
Are there any separatist organizations and armed actions similar to the PKK in Europe?
PKK is also a threat to Europe
There were separatist terror and actions in almost every important European country. In England, France, Spain…
The most well-known are the IRA in England and the ETA organizations that left their mark on a period with their actions in Spain and France…
Each of the countries that were subject to terrorism responded to the organizations that waged an armed struggle against them in the language they knew – with weapons – but later, each of them resorted to different methods to stop terrorism.
The ETA organization, which was formed in Spain in 1959, was fighting for the Basque region to separate from the main body – its independence. Those who attempted to achieve results through armed struggle in other regions affected by the struggle in the Basque region established their own terrorist organizations. The Catalans EPOCA and Terra Lliure, the Canary Islanders MPAIAC…
The ETA organization, which shook the country with its actions after 1959, declared that it had given up on armed struggle in 2011.
What Devlet Bahçeli recommended to Öcalan happened in Spain in 2011.
The EUROPOL report records the number of people arrested for separatist terrorism across Europe in 2022 as 18, including 11 in Ireland, four in Germany, two in Italy and one in Spain.
According to the report, all of those detained in Germany and one of those detained in Italy are members of the PKK organization.
No political terrorist attacks were observed within the borders of the European Union in 2022.
Turkey’s fight against the PKK and YPG has the most extensive coverage in the EUROPOL report. The report also includes the following information:
“ PKK members with EU citizenship or permanent residence in member states travel to conflict zones in Syria and Iraq to participate in armed conflicts. Their travel is often facilitated by the mother organization , which also facilitates the return of PKK members to the EU .”
Our organization – the PKK – poses a more serious threat to Europe than the separatist organizations in our member countries. That is why the European Union has the PKK on its list of terrorist organizations.
It must be the primary duty of the state to ensure that the PKK silences its weapons and abandons terrorism. In Spain, the number of people who lost their lives in the fight against ETA did not even reach a thousand; we have lost more than 50 thousand of our people to PKK terrorism.
The cost of terrorism to the economy is also great.
The first attempt – after 2009 – failed; if a solution is to be sought, it would be beneficial to be more meticulous this time.
The national interest, not political interest, should be prioritized.