The cost of white washing PKK

URDU TIMES

Just like it is the case in other countries and regions, the politics of the Middle East is shaped by constant pursuit of interests. This policy is known to have pitted brothers against brothers, citizens against citizens, and members of the same religion against one another. While most people in the region see their own interests as most important, certain external powers operate with the intent of ensuring their own safety, and protecting their own interests and gains. 

At the moment, there is a showdown between different powers in the region, but the current atmosphere is presented as ‘an effort to calm the current unrest’. In the mean time, the Middle East Project developed in 2006, which aims at a big, but divided Middle East, is playing a big part in all of that. 

Iraq is an important part of this project. As the IS threat in Iraq becomes even more horrifying by the day, the trust in the military force of the Kurdish federation, also known as Peshmerga, by the Bagdad administration, the regional countries, and even by the US is fading.  Peshmerga is no longer seen as heroic soldiers protecting people from danger, or where the Kurdish administration operates as an invincible region. IS came as a surprise and marched into the ‘invincible’ area; the Kurdish region. Even after Mosul was captured, and IS began progressing towards Bagdad, United States didn't want to get involved, and decided to take action only when the Kurdish region became a target. The reason for it is that the Kurdish region in Iraq was a part of the Great Kurdistan project officially drafted in 2006. 

Declaring ‘failure’ of Pashmerga against IS, was used only as an excuse to get the PKK involved. The ‘union of the Kurds’ project voiced by the US as a way to fight IS, required a sort of alliance between PKK and KDP, the party of the Kurdish administration. Subsequently the US and European countries brought up the idea of arming PKK, which meant that a group, which was designated as terrorist by the US and Europe would be armed by those very countries. 

Furthermore to sugarcoat this twisted scenario, some columnists offered justifications. They mentioned that the solution in Iraq depended on the PKK, and that as a group ‘that is used to fighting’, PKK can be successful against IS. For some reason though, nobody wants to mention the fact that this group ‘that is used to fighting’ is a terrorist organization that has ambushed Turkish soldiers for decades in Turkey.  

Denmark’s Berlingske newspaper made these intentions very clear with its headlines ‘It is no longer in fashion to label PKK as terrorists’ and claimed that Council of European Parliamentary Assembly as well as the parliaments of the European countries wanted to remove PKK from the list of terrorist organizations. It seems that some circles are testing the waters and making a deliberate effort to convince the world that PKK should be removed from the terrorists list. It would not be surprising if most of these people who are championing this idea, are communist and or have leftist backgrounds. 

This effort to convince the world into accepting the idea of ‘good’ PKK against an ‘evil’ IS with skilled political maneuvers, is in full throttle at the moment. Even in Turkey there are some columnists who are trying to make this scenario look plausible. Some sincerely believe that the PKK being armed by Europe and the US would be a step towards halting the advance of IS, while others advocate the idea only to serve the cunning purposes of the PKK, without thinking about the costs. 

Let’s just briefly explain what it will cost: PKK is a terrorist organization that has been fighting the Turkish army for the past 30 years. It hasn't succeeded but managed to continue its terrorism through ambushes. It operated as a guerrilla force with no rules, operating in stealth and striking cowardly. 

However, the PKK is not going to be facing a regular army in Iraq. IS is just as ruthless as PKK.  They backstab, strike covertly, and they have no rules of warfare.  Additionally they have no limits with regard to violence, they don’t fear death and they don't hesitate to adhere to all sorts of violent tactics without any reservations. Therefore, it is very deceptive to show PKK as a solution to IS. 

Arming violent-loving Stalinists and hoping that they will stop violent-loving radicals, is a logical dead end and only amounts to choosing a different method of death. The Great Kurdistan Project designed during the term of Condoleezza Rice in the US, is aimed to make the US stronger in the Middle East. It is a known fact that plans to divide the Middle East first emerged as a plan for ‘peace’. In that regard, it would not be appropriate to squarely put the blame on the US for these plans.  

It is a very serious matter that the US and Europe are seeking to arm PKK.  There is the risk that these weapons might soon be turned against the Turkish soldiers, and might giving rise to bigger conflicts in the region. The idea of founding the Great Kurdistan using the PKK, will eventually lead to the birth of a North Korea in the region. The US shouldn’t ignore the communism threat that it has fought for decades, while trying to eliminate radicalism. Otherwise, communism will turn into a bigger threat as time passes.  The communists will try to take on Europe first then move on to the US. The ‘Great Kurdistan’, which was planned to be an important ally in the Middle East, will rise as a regional, communist power and turn into the archenemy of the Western powers. This will bring the destruction of not the Middle East alone but the whole world. 

Today, when governments arm terrorist organizations, the US and Europe shouldn't forget the reason behind the nightmare the world experiences today.  It is nothing but the use of more weapons. They should prefer an ideological struggle over a physical one. And to do that, they should remember that there are reasonable people in the Middle East that they can cooperate with.