With the prospect of an intervention by Ocalan in Parliament and the resumption of dialogue with the Kurdish movement, an attack followed with fatalities against the headquarters of the aeronautical company, near the capital. The authorities point to the rebels, but there are no official claims. The air forces retaliated with dozens of targets – and deaths, including civilians – across the border, in Syria and Iraq.
Istanbul () – From rumors of a resumption of dialogue in a perspective of national pacification to the stroke of Ankara and the subsequent bombings by Turkish aircraft, which attacked positions in Syria and Iraq, causing dozens of deaths, including at least 12 civilians. In just a few days, the long conflict between the Turkish government and the Kurdish rebel militias of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has taken a sudden and bloody turn, freezing the prospects for an end to the armed struggle.
These are the words of the leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, who, given the “fair conditions”, would have opened the possibility of “moving” the struggle of the Kurdish movement “from the terrain of conflict and violence” to that of “law and policy”. His words were picked up by a relative of the number one internal enemy – at least until now – of Ankara and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had signed a “military and security agreement» with Baghdad in mid-August with this objective.
Ocalan has been locked up since 1999 in a cell on the island of Imrali, in the Sea of Marmara, south of Istanbul, serving a life sentence. In recent days, after more than 40 months – the last was on March 3, 2020 – he received a visit from a relative, Omer Ocalan, who is also a deputy for the pro-Kurdish Hdp (Peoples’ Democratic Party). He entrusted him with a message of openness to dialogue and confrontation with the Turkish government, in response to the unusual call launched on October 21 by the leader of the far-right party Mhp (Nationalist Movement Party), and ally of Erdogan: in his speech , Devlet Bahceli proposed inviting Ocalan to Parliament to declare the end of the PKK’s armed and independence struggle, adding that he should benefit from the law on the “right to hope” that could lead to his release from prison.
Founded in 1978, the PKK first fought for an independent Kurdistan, but later diverted its fight toward autonomy. The group is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and Western allies, starting with the United States, and since the beginning of the year, the Iraqi government itself has included it on the list of banned organizations. In 2010 and later in 2013, the Akp and the government began peace talks, showing an openness that, however, did not lead to actual peace talks. On the contrary, the talks finally derailed in 2015, giving way to intense fighting in the southeastern areas of the country, as well as a series of attacks attributed to the movement from the capital until Istanbulwith a long trail of blood.
According to an diplomatic source, contacted on condition of anonymity, the rumors of an opening between Ocalan and the country’s highest authorities, up to his possible intervention in the assembly, are nothing more than “part of a political theater” and are not possible now to “predict evolution.” On the other hand, attacks and bombs also continue to occur against civilians on the other side of the border. The latest attack took place at the same time as the visit to the Ocalan prison and hit a headquarters of the Aerospace Industry (Tusas) in Ankara province, killing five people and injuring 22 others. A few days later, the attack – carried out by two assailants, a man and a woman who had arrived by taxi at the headquarters and were armed – has not yet been claimed, although the government immediately pointed the finger at the PKK. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya declared that two attackers, a woman and a man, had been “neutralized,” while the air force responded by attacking Kurdish movement bases in Syria and Iraq.
According to the reconstruction, after killing the taxi driver, the two assailants went to the company premises, evading the guards at the entrance, detonated explosives and opened fire on the staff, killing four people, including a mechanical engineer, and causing 22 injured. The PKK has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement, although the operational methods and objective are in line with the guerrilla operations of the Kurdish movement. After all, Tusas is one of the largest defense companies, producing armed drones and combat aircraft that are also used against the militias themselves.
In response, in the following hours Turkey launched a series of attacks against 47 PKK “targets”, of which 29 in Iraq and 18 in Syria, where positions of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), affiliated with the PKK, were also hit. . Ankara then announced a blockage of broadcasts and imposed strong censorship on social networks, justifying the measure with an effort to stop so-called “terrorist propaganda”, especially in times of crisis or political sensitivity. However, activist movements such as Amnesty International have criticized the decision, speaking of a “broader strategy by the Turkish government to exert control over digital communication channels”, as well as fueling an “atmosphere of fear and self-censorship among journalists and citizens.” . The truth is that this latest outbreak of violence seems to nip in the bud the last – in order of time – flame of hope on the path of dialogue and peace between the government and the Kurdish rebels.
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