KURDS IN SOUTHEAST FEAR U.S. CRACKDOWN ON PKK

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 006140

SIPDIS


DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE


E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2008
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PTER IZ TU
SUBJECT: KURDS IN SOUTHEAST FEAR U.S. CRACKDOWN ON PKK

REF: A. ANKARA 5745

B. ANKARA 4787

C. ANKARA 4499


Classified by Polcouns John Kunstadter; reasons 1.5 b and d.



1. (C) Summary: Kurds in southeastern Turkey fear a possible
U.S. military action against the PKK/KADEK in northern Iraq,
and oppose Turkish participation in the Stabilization Force
because they believe Turkish authorities would use their
presence in Iraq to crack down on Iraqi Kurds. Most of our
contacts denounce recent PKK/KADEK violence, but say people
in the region have close family ties to the organization's
members. Our Kurdish contacts uniformly argue that the GOT
should offer a general amnesty to all PKK/KADEK militants and
say U.S. military action against the PKK/KADEK could cause an
anti-U.S. backlash in the southeast. End Summary.



2. (U) Embassy Human Rights Officer and EUR/SE Desk Officer
traveled to Diyarbakir, Batman, Sirnak, and Mardin provinces
September 23-26 and met with human rights activists, security
officials, mayors, governors, attorneys, doctors, and
religious leaders. Adana PO also participated in portions of
the visit as part of a longer orientation tour. This report
is based on these meetings.


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PKK "Our Sons"
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3. (C) Our Kurdish contacts across the board expressed deep
anxiety about the possibility of a U.S. military crackdown on
PKK/KADEK militants in northern Iraq. Batman Mayor Huseyin
Kalkan put it most bluntly, warning us that an attack on the
PKK/KADEK would cost the U.S. its new-found support among
Kurds. Most of our Kurdish contacts denounced recent
PKK/KADEK attacks and claimed southeastern Kurds generally
oppose armed PKK/KADEK activity. But they uniformly told us
that people in the region feel a close affinity to the
organization's members. "None of the families here are
neutral," said Nezahat Dagtekin, director of ART Radio/TV in
Diyarbakir. "We all have relatives with the PKK in the
mountains." Sheikh Abdulbaki Hasimi of Cizre, a major
political and religious figure in the southeast, was among
those who warned us that people in the region will react
harshly if PKK/KADEK leaders are killed. "They are our sons.
They did not come from the moon," he said. Dagtekin said
the reaction could become violent, though she declined to
elaborate on what types of violence might be used or where it
would be directed.


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Kurds Favor General Amnesty
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4. (C) All of our Kurdish contacts rejected the GOT's
Reintegration Law (reftels) as inadequate and called on the
GOT to issue a general amnesty for PKK/KADEK militants. They
argued that PKK/KADEK violence was a reaction to the
anti-Kurdish policies of the Turkish State, and that
organization members were therefore entitled to an amnesty,
provided they lay down their arms. Attorney Fahrettin
Karakoyunlu acknowledged that the continued presence of armed
PKK/KADEK militants presents a threat to human rights reform
and economic progress in the southeast. He said it is
especially important for the Kurds that the U.S. resolve the
problem. But, like others, he pleaded with us to pressure
the GOT to offer a PKK/KADEK amnesty. "We recognize that
Turkey is a U.S. ally, but so are the Kurds," Karakoyunlu
asserted. It was clear to poloffs that many Kurds believe
the U.S. can force the GOT to agree to a PKK/KADEK amnesty.


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Embassy: We Support Kurdish Rights, Not Terrorism
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5. (C) We replied that the U.S. will continue to support
Kurdish language and cultural rights, in the context of equal
rights for all Turkish citizens. We will continue to press
Turkey, as an ally, to enact and implement human rights
reform. But the U.S. considers the PKK/KADEK a terrorist
organization and cannot accept its presence in northern Iraq.
Of all the countries with large Kurdish populations, Turkey
is the only democracy. The GOT is engaged in an intense
EU-related reform process that holds the prospect of a new
relationship between the State and the Kurdish community.
Turkey is the country that has the best chance of solving its
Kurdish problem through peaceful, democratic means. Any
attempt to achieve these goals through violence will squander
this opportunity.


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GOT Officials: No Major Backlash
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6. (C) The governors, prosecutors, and security directors
with whom we spoke rejected the idea that Kurds in the
southeast would react violently to a crackdown on the
PKK/KADEK. Batman Security Director Tahir Bayindir claimed
that most people in the southeast do not support the
terrorist organization. Bayindir predicted that the
pro-Kurdish Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) would stage
some protests, but without great effect. Saban Erturk, chief
prosecutor of the Diyarbakir State Security Court, agreed,
averring that "people who tell you otherwise are not to be
trusted -- they are trying to convince you not to act"
against the PKK/KADEK.


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Kurds Oppose Turkish Troops in Iraq
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7. (C) Southeastern Kurds are also concerned about possible
Turkish participation in the Stabilization Force in Iraq.
They particularly reject the idea of Turkish troops in
northern Iraq, but fear that even a deployment through
northern Iraq to non-Kurdish regions could lead to
Turkish-Kurdish clashes in Iraq and a crackdown in southeast
Turkey. Kalkan accused the Turkish State of organizing
attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq, arguing that such
attacks were designed to convince Washington of the need to
bring Turkish troops into the Stabilization Force. "You must
not let the Turkish military trick you into letting them into
northern Iraq," he said.


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Comment
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8. (C) In the run-up to the Iraq war, Turkish Kurds opposed
the action, but for different reasons than critics elsewhere
-- they feared a crackdown by the Turkish military. When the
U.S.-led coalition toppled the Iraqi regime without bringing
Turkish troops into northern Iraq, many Kurdish leaders were
ecstatic. A number of them told us they were pleased with
their "new U.S. alliance," and let us know they expected to
benefit from a U.S.-led makeover of the Middle East. While
we have consistently warned against such unrealistic
expectations, the Kurdish public, desperate for solutions,
clings to its hopes. A U.S. attack on the PKK/KADEK will
challenge these hopes and expectations, and some of our
interlocutors hinted that such a military solution could
spark anti-U.S. sentiment in the southeast.



9. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.


EDELMAN