LOOKING FOR THE BLUE PILL

"He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious."
~ Sun Tzu.

Pro-terrorist think-tank, The Jamestown Foundation, admits PKK is triumphant:

The PKK claimed victory from the withdrawal. Speaking from his still very much intact base in the Qandil Mountains, PKK leader Murat Karayilan announced that Turkey “attacked our forces on three fronts in the Zap region, but failed to achieve their goals even though the Turkish army has advanced technology and jet fighters that flew over the combat zone and bombed us non-stop” (AFP, March 1). While the Turkish army claims to have killed some 250 PKK militants and lost 24 soldiers, the PKK admits to only a handful of losses and claims 130 Turkish soldiers killed and one helicopter downed (which Turkey admits to as well). Karayilan also tried hard to portray the Turkish incursion as an attack on all Kurds, rather than just the PKK. Other Kurdish sources claim that in addition to the PKK’s stiff resistance, the heavy snows of this remote part of Iraqi Kurdistan forced Turkey to abandon the operation (Kurdistan Observer, February 29).

[ . . . ]

Although Turkey undoubtedly caused the PKK some damage with this latest incursion, guerrilla forces typically disperse quickly in the face of large scale attacks, leaving few casualties. Lost supply depots and recruits can then be replaced in short order, particularly if the fighting raises the profile and legitimacy of the guerrillas. In fact, Iraqi Kurdish leaders told Jamestown that they suspect that the latest round of fighting made a weak and isolated PKK more politically relevant than before (Interview with Qubad Talabany, KRG Representative to the U.S., March 1).

The tally of casualties for the PKK and Turkey in this latest round of fighting may remain difficult to determine conclusively. In the larger scheme of things, it may not matter much either: if the PKK manages to portray itself as having given the Turkish army a bloody nose this time around, the group will have burnished its Kurdish nationalist credentials, legitimacy, and stature – which are the main objectives in this kind of guerrilla war.

The fact is that PKK did give Turkey a bloody nose, as it has always done in the mountains. Turkey received another bloody nose at Oremar (Dağlıca) in October of last year when at least twelve Turkish soldiers were killed and eight taken prisoner. The Turkish military has managed to put a total media blackout on the real story behind that battle. Don't expect to see much more on the February invasion and don't expect to see any protests over the recent deaths of 125 Turkish soldiers.

Check more at the link to get an idea of the fiasco the Turkish military retreat precipitated with the AKP government and in the Turkish media.

Of course, none of this fighting is necessary:

It is now many years since the PKK expressed its willingness for talks and negotiation at any level. This party is prepared to change its ideology, methodology and policies; it is prepared to seek solutions within the framework of the Turkish state; it is prepared to abandon the armed struggle and to choose political methods to achieve its aims. It has declared a unilateral ceasefire many times. It has changed its ideological and political language to such a degree that it has lost the support of many Kurds who think that it is a setback for the Kurdish national movement.

In response to all this, Turkey has not taken even the smallest positive step. Its racist policies are still in action. Only in the last few days, the head of a Kurdish municipality was taken to court because he used the Kurdish language in his office.

And now, the Turkish state has received the PKK's decision to declare a unilateral ceasefire with the same old mentality.

Bahoz Erdal believes it would behoove the Ankara regime to ditch "the same old mentality":

"However, if the Turkish state persists in its policy of denying [the rights of the Kurdish people], and continues its military attacks on us, the millions of Kurds living in Turkish cities will be provoked into responding harshly - as was the case in the aftermath of the recent aerial attacks [of December 15, 2007], when Kurdish youths torched government vehicles in Turkish cities.

"Incidents of this kind may proliferate, and eventually, this may lead to the outbreak of a popular uprising in all the Turkish and Kurdish cities that nobody will be able to suppress or control..."

In response to another question about the PKK's reaction to the attacks on it, Dr. Erdal added: "...We have been compelled to use our special forces and the fedayeen battalions in battle. So far, we have been using only about 20% of our forces. We might reassess our defense policy, and this will tip the scales, intensify the clashes, and broaden the scope of the fighting, causing Turkey to become an exact replica of Iraq. But we do not want to reach that point..."

[ . . . ]

About past attempts at negotiations with the Turks, Dr. Erdal stated: "...Ever since the ceasefire expired, on June 1, 2004, we have tried to keep clashes [with the Turkish military] to a minimum. We have been careful not to intensify the clashes, in order to give the political negotiations a chance and in order to create a climate in which a peaceful resolution could be reached.

"Over the last four years, we twice initiated a unilateral ceasefire. We did not do so out of weakness, or because we were unable to face [the enemy], or because we had deteriorated as a military organization, as the Turks and others tried to claim. Not at all. Our [policy] was based on our historical responsibility not to drain [the strength of] our people.

"But the Turkish government did not heed our initiatives, and took advantage of the ceasefires to intensify its attacks and its military operations aimed at destroying us...

"We do not see our struggle as a strictly military struggle. Our cause is primarily a political one, and we believe that the real solution will [likewise] be political, and will be attained through peaceful negotiations..."

I couldn't have said it better myself. Nor could I have said this better myself:

"According to Aliza Marcus, the PKK has the support of the majority of the Kurds in Turkey, because the Turkish government was not and still is not treating them like true citizens."

Take the blue pill. Wake up in your own bed. Believe whatever you want to believe. Reality is difficult for so many to handle.