Ocalan headed the PKK a Kurdish terrorist group that committed violence all over south eastern Turkey during the 1980's and the 1990's. Though a Kurd, he didn't discriminate between Turks and Kurds in his murderous campaigns. He claimed he was fighting for a Kurdish homeland, Kurdistan. Ocalan escaped Turkey and went into hiding but then was caught by Israeli Intelligence in Kenya about six years ago. They turned him over to the Turkish government for trial and punishment.
While visiting Diyarbakir, Turkey (the unofficial capital of the Kurds) last summer we happened to stumble upon a political rally for Leyla Zana. Leyla Zana was a political prisoner for ten years. She was imprisoned for wearing the Kurdish colors and speaking in Kurdish during her swearing in ceremony. Since all things Kurdish were illegal at the time, the Turkish government immediatly arrested her. While we were in her home town of Diyarbakir we learned that she had been released five years early. We stood in 100 degree heat for over an hour waiting to hear her speak. Rallying the crowd during the wait was a woman draped in the Kurdish flag. I don't know what she was saying (I think she was speaking Kurdish), but I do know that every now and again the people would chant "Apo, Apo" the nickname for Ocalan or wave their hands with the symbol for the PKK (unbeknownst to us at the time the sign for the PKK looks exactly like the sign for victory. So what I thought was showing solidarity for victory of the early release of Leyla Zana, was actually support for the PKK. I figured it out eventually, but not before I felt a fool.) Many of the people we talked to didn't express hope for a separate Kurdistan though they dreamed of one. I think most of them just wanted the freedom to be Kurdish in Turkey meaning the freedom to speak Kurdish, hear TV programs in Kurdish etc. The Kurds are the largest ethnic group in the world without their own homeland.
Ok, sorry for the tangent...but the question of the Kurds is not going to go away. I'm sympathetic to their plight, but don't condone terrorism as the means to achieve their goal of a free state. The homeland they desire runs through Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria and includes the fertile and oil rich areas of all these countries. Call me skeptical but I doubt that they'll get this homeland any time soon.
How Turkey handles terrorism will determine how many other Kurdish groups will resort to violence to get their way. But back to Ocalan, why bring him up now? The prissy European Union has determined that he should be re-tried since he wasn't given a lawyer upon arrival in Turkey. The guy is a TERRORIST! Would the EU rather he go free? Should criminals and terrorists be treated the same? I think he was lucky enough to escape the death penalty and get a life sentence. And that only because Turkey abolished the death penalty out of respect for European sensibilities. If that didn't happen, there wouldn't be any talk today of a re-trial 'cause Ocalan would be dead. What is the point of the new trial? Won't it be just for show? After all, the body count of 30,000 from his past terrorism isn't going away. He's still the one responsible for the indiscriminate killing. Is this justice?
1 comment:
wow, unbelievable. you're not going to send this to aime are you.
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