To whom do lions cast their gentle looks?
Not to the beast that would usurp their den.
The smallest worm will turn being trodden on,
And doves will peck in safeguard of their brood.
~ Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3.
Not to the beast that would usurp their den.
The smallest worm will turn being trodden on,
And doves will peck in safeguard of their brood.
~ Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3.
HPG's war balance from the February invasion:
125 dead from the TSK, with hundreds wounded.
1 Cobra helicopter destroyed.
6 individual hybrid weapons.
2 MP5 9mm machine guns
Numerous night and day vision devices.
3 telephones.
Much military ammunition and materials.
HPG also lists nine guerrilla şehîds:
Baran Urfa
Mahmut Manap
78/Hilvan-Urfa
Bedriye
Halil
2002
Cahit Kobani
İbrahim Ahmet
1972 Kobani
Leyla
Muhammed
1993
Gorse Ayhan
Ali Işık
1978/Pervari-Siirt
Tenzire
Ferman
1993
Tofan Botan
Ali Abbas
1985 Kobani
Zeliha
Mahmut
2002
Erdal Amed
Yılmaz Aydın
1980/Çermik-Amed
Agit Caf
Sirvan Ali
1983/Süleymaniye
Fatma
Ali
2006
Zindan Şiyar
Secat Miroyimilan
1985/Maku
Pervane
Ali
2005
Artêş
Faik Aslan
1974/Urfa-Bozova
İmhar
Mustafa
1999
Özkan Garisa
Aydın Işık
1975/Pervari-Siirt
Perihan
Cafer
1995
Mahmut Manap
78/Hilvan-Urfa
Bedriye
Halil
2002
Cahit Kobani
İbrahim Ahmet
1972 Kobani
Leyla
Muhammed
1993
Gorse Ayhan
Ali Işık
1978/Pervari-Siirt
Tenzire
Ferman
1993
Tofan Botan
Ali Abbas
1985 Kobani
Zeliha
Mahmut
2002
Erdal Amed
Yılmaz Aydın
1980/Çermik-Amed
Agit Caf
Sirvan Ali
1983/Süleymaniye
Fatma
Ali
2006
Zindan Şiyar
Secat Miroyimilan
1985/Maku
Pervane
Ali
2005
Artêş
Faik Aslan
1974/Urfa-Bozova
İmhar
Mustafa
1999
Özkan Garisa
Aydın Işık
1975/Pervari-Siirt
Perihan
Cafer
1995
Şehîd Namirin!
Cries of "Murderer Erdoğan," "Hypocrite Erdoğan," "Long live Serok Apo," "PKK is the people; the people is here" filled the air throughout Turkish-occupied Kurdistan as tens of thousands of Kurds rallied and protested recent TSK operations-turned-fiasco. Protests were held in Nusaybin, Derik, Siirt, Amed, Bingöl, Çukurca, Şemdinli, Tatvan, and Adana. Many clashes occured between protestors and police, including in Istanbul. Roj TV's Sunday evening news reported victory celebrations of the Bakûrî Kurds in Mexmur refugee camp.
Büyükanıt told an interviewer to let those who question TSK's retreat go and spend 24 hours in the mountains of Kurdistan. Apparently, the TSK could only take a week's worth of fighting Kurdish guerrillas.
Of course, since the Turkish general staff insists that it fulfilled all of its objectives (one of which included the annihilation of every last guerrilla), there is no further reason for the Ankara regime to engage in any more military operations in either South Kurdistan or North Kurdistan, and time will never be more ripe for taking Kerkuk.
In this last week it has become clear to the entire world exactly who it is that defends Kurdistan. Nêçîrvan Barzanî talks out of one side of his mouth, saying that civilians were not at all affected by the Turkish invasion. Later, from the other side of his mouth, he says, "The actions of the Turkish military in attacking bridges in the border areas, which are important to people there, makes us anxious."
With the exception of two groups of former peşmêrge, who went on their own to join HPG guerrillas in the fighting, the KRG sent not a single peşmêrge to defend the people of the South. Oil deals must be far too lucrative for the KRG to think about facing death, but the ones facing death in the future will be the children of South Kurdistan, as Hawlati reports several thousand land mines left behind by the TSK.
That's it--the kids will become the peşmêrge!
Kurdish imams in Amed (Diyarbakır) are arrested for speaking out against the attacks on PKK, and the Kurdistan Islamic Council sends greetings of congratulations to PKK, so that support for PKK spreads into the more conservative parts of Kurdish society. We may expect, at this point, to see an even greater increase in support for PKK throughout all of Kurdistan--and an increase in support will mean an increase in recruits.
The Ankara regime's stupidity in conducting operations against the PKK has backfired. US support for Turkish aggression has backfired. Israeli support for Turkish aggression has earned it another enemy in the Middle East . . . an enemy that has not yet been defeated by NATO's second largest army.
The worm is turning.
5 comments:
Mizgin,
I spent several hours last night translating this post from "Rubar Andok":
http://www.hpg-online.net/tr/guncel/guncel_28.html
It would be interesting to read your version of it.
g.
Mizgin, your implying that somehow the KDP has a patriotic duty to send out peshmerges to defend Kurdistan at that juncture is either naive or, you have once again prematurely jumped on the opportunity to criticize the KDP and PUK.
It seems apparent now that Turkey had given strict assurances to the Southern Kurdish Leadership as well as America that its operation would be limited in scope and duration. For the KDP to make bellicose statements and fall into the trap of provocations Turkey had planned for it would serve no one. Turkey invading southern Kurdistan would serve no one -- refer to Abdullah Ocalan's last notes from prison where he is strictly and emphatically against the progression of war in the region.
A more reasonable and more understandable critique would be the KRG's insistence on identifying the PKK as a "common threat". If the PKK had ever issued such a statement regarding the KDP or PUK and if its officials had propounded that message, it would make for a feeding frenzy. As well, it does not serve the KDP either as it undermines its own position (By admitting the PKK as an enemy, it legitimizes Turkey's actions in attempting to destroy "terrorists").
While no Kurdish party has adopted the attitude of being his brother's keeper, it is still not too late to encourage and hope that a party will display the right patriotic attitude. Of course, part and parcel of this is that it requires Kurdish patriots who are able to keep their parties honest.
Nistiman
No, Nistiman, it is not apparent that TSK intended to leave in a "short" period. Within the 24 hours before the retreat, Buyukanit said that "short" was relative and could be one day or one year. Within the 24 hours before the retreat, the AKP government didn't know about any order for retreat. Nor was it apparent to Turkish media, or they would not have been stunned by the retreat. Therefore, a limited invasion of 8 days was not apparent at all . . . except to PKK, which was already reporting a retreat on the 28th, even as Gates was talking to the Ankara regime.
KDP peshmerge admitted last summer that they didn't want to fight PKK because they remember how difficult it was to fight them in the 90s. Barzani knows this well, too, and that's why he's much more guarded in his statements than Talabani, who readily admits for his masters in Ankara that PKK is a terrorist organization--thereby "legitimiz[ing] Turkey's actions in attempting to destroy 'terrorists.'"
Then we have Nechirvan talking his two different stories with his forked tongue and Qubad sitting in on very questionable "scenarios" at the Hudson Institute, alongside a representation of Pashas.
If the KRG were so concerned about the situation, why is it not using every opportunity to point out the October 2006 ceasefire, engineered by Talabani? Why is it not urging Turkey to talk with DTP to broker a political solution within Turkey? Why doesn't it point out the democratic solution offered by PKK in August 2006?
The KRG, under the domination of the Barzani and Talabani clans, are continuing with the betrayal begun in 1971.
Gordon, I'm not sure which part of the article you are interested in. Most of it is information that we already knew. If you are referring to the section about crying Turkish soldiers, and a guerrilla's decision not to kill them, well, that is not so surprising either. You have quoted Nadire Mater's book before, so I'm assuming that you've read it. It was clear in that book that Turkish soldiers are not well trained, their officers don't care what happens to them (remember the Daglica 8?), they are not so well equipped. They have no purpose in fighting.
Turkish soldiers are kids left by their officers to die in the mountains of Kurdistan, either by exposure to harsh elements or by guerrilla bullets--proof of the fact that the Turkish military's reputation is VASTLY overrated. No amount of F-16s, F-35s, M-16s, or winter camouflage is going to change that.
Every single member of the Turkish general staff should be taken out and publicly executed for their gross betrayal of their own people. Especially when the offer of a peaceful solution still stands.
Mizgin, I said "It seems apparent now that Turkey had given strict assurances to the Southern Kurdish Leadership as well as America that its operation would be limited in scope and duration." I didn't say it was apparent that the operation would IN FACT be limited in such a way. However, the verbal assurances were given and I think a time frame of 6-8 days was also given at the outset PRIOR to the invasion. The Southern Kurds and America relied upon those statements and practiced self-restraint. They expressed their anxiety and waited. EVERYONE was suspicious that the Operation might lead to a full-blown Invasion -- including the PKK, whose commanders commented that the Invasion would last upwards of a year -- but no one wanted to fall into Turkish provocations and blow the fuse.
We do not know what happened behind the closed doors and what KDP's position or America's position was if Turkey overstayed their welcome. I believe that their position plus the defeat the Turkish forces suffered at the hands of the PKK guerrillas made them run back home. Something must have changed in the 24 hours prior to their retreat for Buyukanit to make such a statement regarding how a short period is relative and how it could take months then retreat within MERE HOURS...Why did they not wait 2 more days or 1 more day? Why did all the forces pull out at once? I think, I speculate, that some pretty convincing threats were made by America and possibly the KDP...
Barzani and Talabani are being pushed by Turkey to betray each other and the PKK. But, that is simply what Turkey will be pushing for, and the reality is different now than it was in the 70s or the 90s or at any time before in Kurdish history. Why should Barzani and Talabani have Turkey has a Master? They are merely trying to balance the powers and stay out of harm's way.
The Southern Kurds may end up making compromises to the Turks but as a Northern Kurd, I know all too well that for Peace compromises are necessary and we have to learn how to accept them without objections :) I just hope that they have the good sense to protect Southern Kurdistan in the process.
Nistiman
Compromises have been offered in the PKK's democratic solution of August 2006 and the ceasefire of October 2006.
Whoever is serious about peace will take up these offers.
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