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PKK's success in battling Islamic State
could boost image
12.9.2014
By Dorian Jones - VOA |
|
September 12, 2014
ISTANBUL,— Thousands of Kurdish rebel
fighters have joined the war against the Islamic
State group in areas of Syria and Iraq, and they’ve
become vital to the international community's battle
against the powerful Islamist insurgency.
While the deepening crisis is now being seen as an
opportunity for these fighters – members of the
Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK – Turkey remains
deeply suspicious of them and continues to enforce
an embargo against Syrian Kurds fighting the IS.
Last month’s stunning advances in Iraq by the
Islamic State group saw the jihadists move within
striking distance of Erbil, the capital of the
semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan.
What could have been an even bigger crisis was
averted by PKK fighters in the Sinjar mountains,
where thousands of members of the Yazidi religious
sect had fled to escape slaughter by the jihadists.
"PKK emerged as the most effective fighting force
against the IS," said Kadri Gursel, a writer on
Kurdish affairs and diplomatic columnist for the
Turkish newspaper Milliyet.
As columns of IS fighters advanced, the Kurdistan
Democratic Party’s "Peshmergas were leaving without
firing a shot," Gursel said. "… It was the PKK who
took the position on the mountains of Sinjar to
protect the Yazidis and stop the IS advance."
Thousands of PKK fighters have joined the war
against the Islamic State in Kurdish areas of Syria
and Iraq, and have become vital to the international
community's battle against the powerful Islamist
insurgency. While the deepening crisis is now being
seen as an opportunity for the Kurdish rebel group,
Turkey remains deeply suspicious of the PKK and
continues to enforce an embargo against Syrian Kurds
fighting the IS.
PKK fighting for rights
The PKK has been fighting the Turkish state for
greater minority rights for three decades. Most of
its estimated 6,000 to 7,000 fighters are primarily
based in neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan.
Both Washington and the European Union consider the
PKK a terrorist organization. And, even though the
PKK is involved in peace efforts with Ankara and
observes a cease-fire, the Turkish government
strongly opposes any talk of changing the group’s
terrorist status.
But political scientist Nuray Mert of Istanbul
University said international attitudes could be
changing.
"Fighting ISIL made the PKK kind of a legitimate
partner," he said, using another acronym for the
Islamic State group. "I am not saying the PKK will
overnight be stripped from the list of terrorist
organizations," he said, noting the challenge of
"how to define and how to deal with its Syrian
branch."
The PKK’s sister organization in Syria, the PYD, has
created a de facto autonomous region amid the chaos
of Syria’s civil war. Despite repeated attacks by
Islamic State fighters, and an embargo by Ankara,
the autonomous region so far has defeated the
jihadists – a feat largely unmatched in Syria.
Observers say the international community is already
unofficially reaching out to the PYD.
Such relationships may be part of the
conversation when U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
visits Turkey, where he’ll arrive Friday for a
two-day visit as part of his effort to build an
international coalition against the IS jihadists.
Despite its strategic ties with the United States
and its membership in NATO, Turkey remains wary of
involvement in battling the insurgency.
Ankara insists the PYD is no different from the PKK
and should be considered a terrorist group.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has voiced
concern over weapons pouring into the region to
fight the IS. He warns against the weapons ending up
in the hands of the Kurdish rebels. Ankara is still
insisting that the PKK disarm.
But such calls reveal how out of touch Turkish
officials have become, political scientist Mert
said: "It would be funny to ask PKK to disarm when
they fighting against ISIL alongside with all
international powers. I mean, Turkey has found
itself cornered from all fronts – from the Kurdish
issue, the Western alliance and regional alliances."
With Turkey bordering both Iraq and Syria, making it
a key gateway for jihadists, Ankara remains crucial
in international efforts to battle IS. But observers
say the extent Ankara can influence the
international community on continuing to isolate the
PKK could well depend on how much it cooperates in
cracking down on the jihadists.
For now, the PKK is one of few groups to have
defeated IS, without air support – and it offers a
secular outlook in a region of rising religious
intolerance.
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