The 34-person group’s ‘returning home’ turned into a political show in the hands of the PKK and the Democratic Society Party. The images in the Turkish media have released the impression of victory won by the PKK, which might lead many people who do not know how terrorist organizations operate to actually believe that. The expressions such as “this is no good” and “what we have always feared is happening” demonstrate the concerns the Turkish society has after the alleged images of PKK victory. But is this the reality? Has the PKK emerged victorious from that decades-long bloody conflict as some have claimed? If PKK did not win, why all the show?
Since its inception the PKK, which aimed at establishing an independent United Kurdistan on a Marxist-Leninist basis has slaughtered thousands of innocent people. Yet, today, the terrorist organization has told its militants to “go downtown, surrender and do this without confessing any regret”. The list of demands those militants brought with them not only leaves out the previously cherished goals of confederation or federation and independent United Kurdistan but also includes only the constitutional recognition of Kurdish identity. The latter demand is the only different demand from what Turkey has achieved in the democratic opening process. Although this does not mean that the PKK has given up its previous demands the organization realized in today’s circumstances that the PKK had to retreat to a line where it could demand only the recognition of Kurdish identity in the Turkish constitution and Ocalan’s release, the imprisoned leader of the PKK.
Terrorist organizations operate on the basis of ‘propaganda by deed.’ The philosophical background of terrorism is also referred to as ‘propaganda by death.’ The terrorist propaganda derives its strength not from the power of its ideology but from the fear released by brutal deeds into the heart of and the pressure put on a society. In brief, terrorist organizations maintain their existence via violent deeds. However, today, the PKK has noticed that neither national nor international circumstances are conducive to such violent deeds. This has been due to the fact that the field the PKK could exploit to the fullest extent before has been taken away from it.
The other means of terrorist propaganda is having the language of communication realized over anger to polarize a society. But, because the PKK finds it much harder to do fearful deeds and its field of operations has been limited, it is using the process of surrender and submission to turn it into a show of strength for its own advantage. The PKK also aims at reversing the achievements of the democratic opening process and releasing an alarming psychology into the Turkish society. The reason why it has been trying to block that project through tactical shows can be better understood if the fact that democratization project is an outcome of new Turkish thinking is realized. That means the show downtown is testing the democratic opening process. Yet, it must be noted that such a strategy of tension will be short-lived. The terrorists’ siege of fear and violence for the last 30 years has met the will to live together in unitary Turkish state as 85% of Kurds surveyed by BILGESAM demonstrated. Turkey has eliminated terrorists’ most powerful weapon: the ability to control a society’s will by striking terror and pressure into people’s hearts and minds. The tactical show witnessed these days is, therefore, a step to impede the democratization process, not to prod a leap forward.
The PKK, which lost its operational superiority-the ability to determine the time and place of its ‘deeds’ and direct confrontation- has been pushed to the field of democracy. Yet, terrorist organizations whose rhetoric takes its strength from their violent deeds cannot compete in a democratic system. Because the PKK saw that it is in final decline it started to use provocative shows instead of bombs. However, theirs is a fruitless effort. Turkey with its new Turkish vision is well aware of the PKK’s strategic and tactic maneuvers. If the evaluation that Turkey has lost its struggle against the PKK is not due to lack of information it must be a product of assuming a past Turkey and conspiracy making sickness. New and ever stronger Turkey will win at the end of the day. The Democratic opening process must succeed in spite of the intense provocation in downtown to forestall it.
Ihsan Bal
The Director of Center for International Security, Ethnic Studies and Terrorism, USAK/ISRO
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