Tahir D. OB
(Con'td) What is the PKK ? Who is Abdullah Öcalan ?
Mon Feb 27, 2006 02:36
Reports of Foreign Police and Foreign Officials
In January 1990, a PKK member was arrested in Switzerland for selling drugs on behalf of the PKK. In the same month a 13-year-old person, also linked to the PKK, was captured in the Netherlands and was released as being too young to prosecute. A Turkish citizen of Kurdish origin, apprehended in France on 22 January 1991, confessed that he had been trading drugs in France on behalf of the PKK and that the drugs were transported by trucks or sometimes by tourist vehicles and then distributed to different cities not only in France but in various other countries in Europe as well. After being arrested on 7 March 1991 in France, a "Kurdish" person confessed that the drugs he was selling belonged to the PKK.
Another Turkish citizen of "Kurdish" descent, captured with 48 kg. of heroin in Arnheim in November 1991, was found out to be a PKK member. The German Police reports underline the fact that l,103 kg. of heroin was seized by the police in 1991 and 400 of 735 suspects involved in the drug trading incidents were PKK members. This ratio mounted to 450/735 in 1992 and 300/457 in 1993.
The US Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics Matters expressed in its International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (1992) that the two-thirds of the people involved in drug trafficking incidents in Europe are PKK-oriented.
An active PKK member working as a truck driver, who was known to have stood as a candidate in Bonn in the 1992 elections for the PKK's so-called National Assembly, was seized in Troisdorf, Germany, while transporting substantial amounts of drugs.
In 1993, the police seized 200 kg. of heroin in London. Further investigation revealed that the drug traders were working for the PKK. A police operation in Offenbach, Germany on 7 January 1993, led to the seizure of 5 kilos of heroin. Among the seven people captured by the police was a person known as the "PKK's accountant."
As a consequence of the operations conducted by the German police in Hamburg, Bremen and Bad Bramstad during May-October 1993, 15.7 kg. of heroin was confiscated and 22 people were apprehended, including PKK members and supporters. The criminals turned out to have requested political asylum from the German authorities. 15 Turkish citizens with "Kurdish" descent were arrested in connection with 1.6 kg. heroin seized by the German police in Recklinghausen, Germany, on 27 October 1993. Among those were the participants at pro-PKK demonstrations in Turkey. A message by the German Interpol dated October 26, 1993, pointed out that six Turkish citizens with Kurdish origin were arrested on charges of laundering the proceeds from drug trafficking in the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Germany. Large sums of cash, thought to be laundered money, were captured by the German police.
Another Turkish citizen of "Kurdish" origin, captured in Caracas, Venezuela on 10 November 1993, while carrying 3.5 kg. of cocaine, confessed that she was a PKK courier.
This incident is said to prove the links of the PKK with the drug cartels even in Latin America.
The NCIS estimated that the 44 percent of 1993 budget of the PKK as 430 million French Francs, came from illicit drug trafficking.
During a six-week campaign initiated by the Stuttgart city police in January 1994, 76 people were apprehended, including some who had been formerly prosecuted in Turkey because of their links with the terrorist organization.
On 17 August 1994 the German Criminal Authority informed the Turkish Security Authorities that a political refugee, resident in Kiel, was engaged in drug trade and money transfer to the PKK.
The US Deputy Secretary of State in charge of narcotics, Ambassador Robert Felbard, answering a question at a press briefing in February 1994 regarding the PKK supervision of drug trafficking in Europe and the United States, stated that the US had quite a bit of information about the PKK's involvement in the trafficking of heroin into Europe. The Amsterdam police, during an anti-drug operation on 11 December 1994, seized numerous firearms, machine guns, bombs and PKK documents and arrested several PKK militants.
The Bavarian Minister of Interior, Günter Beckstein, referring to the 30 PKK militants captured in Europe during the last two years, stated that the PKK has taken control of the European narcotics market (Turkish daily, "Cumhuriyet," 31 July 1995). The Director of German Terrorism Research Forum, Rolp Tophoven, has stated that a large majority of the people arrested on charges of narcotics smuggling are of "Kurdish" descent, many of whom confess committing the crime on behalf of the terrorist PKK (Turkish daily, "Yeni Yüzyıl," 12 November 1995).
Olivier Foll, another expert on international terrorism, noted that the PKK members, when apprehended for illegal possession of narcotics, confess to smuggling drugs for the PKK and exploit the "political" dimension of the issue as an excuse for their crimes. Mr. Foll criticized the "Kurdish" policies of some European statesmen who grant concessions to the PKK (Turkish daily "Yeni Yüzyl," 12 November 1995). During the Sputnik operation of September 18, 1996, the Belgian police seized 350 million Belgian Francs that were thought to have been the proceeds from narcotics trafficking. Seven people having ties with the PKK were apprehended in connection with the crime. The Sputnik operation also revealed that the MED-TV, the mouthpiece of the PKK, is involved in PKK's money laundering activities. The MED-TV representative in Germany was taken into custody as he was unable to explain the source of the 500 million BF, used in financing the station. It was later found that he was using revenues from drug trafficking for financing not only the MED-TV but also the so-called "Kurdistan Parliament in Exile" (KPE). The Belgian police seized many firearms in the KPE building they searched.
In August 1997, the German police conducted a comprehensive operation against the PKK members in Cologne in which six members of the PKK were arrested. After the operation, Cologne police officers issued a statement emphsizing the fact that the PKK is involved in organized crime including extortion in Germany to finance its acts of terrorism.
The Göttingen police of Germany, after a 14-month investigation, managed to penetrate the drug smuggling network with two "Kurdish" informers in May 1998 and found out that the revenues from 40 kg. of heroin marketed were channeled to the PKK.
The KDP (The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Masud Barzani) forces discovered extensive narcotics farms in the Gali Pes Agha region of northern Iraq, captured from the PKK in May 1997.
Turkish Police Reports
A PKK member, captured by the police with 14.5 kg. of heroin on 1 September 1993, confessed that he was acting on behalf of the PKK abroad, and that he was a drugsmuggler, transferring 30 percent of the proceeds to the terrorist organization. Following the confiscation of 20.3 kg. of heroin in Duisburg, Germany, two PKK supporters were arrested by the German police. This triggered a police investigation in Turkey, which led to the seizure of firearms and munitions in a vehicle owned by the same family in the city of Mersin on 12 May 1993.
A PKK militant of Iranian origin confessed that the terrorist organization has drug production facilities in Iran and that Osman Öcalan (the brother of Abdullah Öcalan and a leading figure of the terrorist organization PKK) is in charge of the production of narcotics which are later marketed mainly in Europe to raise money for the organization. Two PKK militants, arrested with 30 kg. of heroin, expressed that they were aiming to sell the drugs to provide financial contributions to the PKK. The Turkish Security Forces seized 120 kg. of heroin and 40 kg. of hemp seeds (cannabis) in a PKK shelter in southeastern Turkey.
One PKK member, who was put in jail on 3 July 1993 for getting involved in the terrorist acts of the PKK in Hakkari and released on 20 October 1993, was captured with 36 kg. of heroine, 140 kg. of precursors and some other drug-producing material. Another member of the PKK, sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment, confessed that he was in charge of establishing the links between the drug smugglers and the terrorist organization.
During the operations conducted by the Turkish security forces, two people, captured with 48 kg. of hashish, were arrested as they were found out to be involved in narcotrade so as to provide financial support to the PKK.
Another Turkish citizen said to be of "Kurdish-origin", caught by the police in possession of 117 kilos of hashish in Istanbul, was later found to have participated in the PKK-led attack on the Turkish Consulate General in Frankfurt on March 1l, 1992.
One Turkish citizen of "Kurdish-origin" apprehended in July 1994 confessed that he was involved in drug trafficking to raise money for the PKK. The police, making use of the information he disclosed, were able to arrest some other members of the terrorist organization.
On 1 August 1994 a PKK member, apprehended in Diyarbakr with 2 kg. of heroin, acknowledged that he was selling drugs for the PKK. He also informed the police that some PKK members were cultivating drugs and gave the names of the places where hemp seeds (cannabis) were grown. In further investigation the police captured 120,000 roots of hemp seeds in a village named Dibek. On 21 August 1994 the Turkish security forces apprehended two people with 150 kg. of hashish and considerable amounts of hemp seeds and hashish growing material. The security forces also captured PKK documents and propaganda material and two machine guns.
Diyarbakır Police, conducting an operation against the PKK on 17 July 1994, apprehended three people with 80 kg. of hashish, PKK documents, a gun and three ERNK seals. These people confessed that the PKK ordered them to sell the drugs and purchase firearms and food supplies for the organization. The said people turned out to have participated in various terror acts such as the rocket attack to and storming of a police residence in Lice on 29 June, the bomb attack on the residence of a judge in Diyarbakır on 16 January 1994, and a bomb attack on a police patrol car.
Seven people captured in the city of Cizre on 23 March 1994 with 398.5 kilos of heroin confessed to smuggling narcotics on behalf of the PKK.
The security forces have had strong evidence suggesting that a network composed of PKK militants is involved in drug trading in Zaho, northern Iraq. The network is known to hand the drugs over to clients either in Zaho or in Turkey. Therefore, it was not very surprising that during the operation by the Turkish Armed Forces in northern Iraq against the PKK, the Turkish army discovered a large farm where the terrorists cultivated hemp (cannabis). The farm was located near the PKK's Pirvela Camp in the Bahara valley. The Turkish military officers announced that the amount of drugs captured during the operation in northern Iraq reached 4.5 tons.
In a raid on 7 March 1995 on the residence of a person, suspected by the police of having contact with the PKK militants, the Turkish police seized large amounts of drugs, drug precursor chemicals, firearms and ammunitions.
Three of the seven people caught with 21.5 kilos of heroin in Hamburg, Germany, have been found out to have been formerly arrested in Turkey on charges of PKK membership.
The two people caught by the police with 20.6 kilos of narcotics in zmir on August 5, 1996, have been found out to be running an association linked to the PKK in the Netherlands.
Another PKK sympathizer, who was captured with acetic anhydride, a heroin precursor chemical, by the Turkish security forces in the city of Van on March 24, 1998, was found to have been previously arrested for providing logistic support to the PKK. The Turkish security forces have strong evidence that the PKK militants, settled in the Iranian part of our common border, receive commissions from the narcotics smugglers called "taxes or donations."
The role of the PKK in incidents given above is undeniable, both because of the documents seized by the security forces and the backgrounds of the arrested people. Still, in certain Western countries, the activities of this terrorist organization, are
regrettably being tolerated.
After the prohibition of PKK in France and Germany towards the end of 1993, a wave of optimism emerged in Turkish public opinion that the rest of the European countries would follow suit by adopting similar measures. This, however, has not happened to date. Yet, it is clear that the prohibition of the PKK and its front organizations in European countries would also be in the interest of these countries. The PKK is responsible for narcotics trafficking, extortion, robbery, and illicit arms and human smuggling activities, and thus circumvent the rule of law and compromises the security and stability of the countries in which it operates. It is no coincidence that drug trafficking cases predominantly occur in those countries where the organization of the PKK is extensive and tolerated.
Is There A "Kurdish Question" in Turkey?
As the first melting pot and encounter point of many different civilizations and cultures, present-day Turkey contains a multitude of ethnic, religious and cultural elements. Turkey is proud of its great heritage. This centuries-long shared way of life is perfectly
second-nature for the people of Turkey.
Yet, different ethnic identities, including the Kurdish, are acknowledged and accepted in Turkey. The state does not categorize its citizens along ethnic lines nor does it impose an ethnic identity on them. Population censuses in Turkey never count people on the basis of their ethnic origins. But, this does not prevent an individual citizen to identify himself or herself in terms of a specific ethnic category. That is a private affair and ultimately a matter of personal preference. Public expressions and manifestations of ethnic identity are prohibited neither by law nor by social custom. Folklore is rich and colorful and local variations, customs and traditions are protected and supported.
Turkey is a constitutional state governed by the rule of law. Democracy rests on a parliamentary system of government, respect for human rights and on the supremacy of law. Multi-party politics, free elections, a growing tradition of local government mark the democratic way of life in Turkey.
Constitutional citizenship is one of the principles upon which the Turkish state was founded. The Turkish Constitution stipulates that the State and the Nation are indivisible, and that all citizens irrespective of their ethnic, racial or religious origin, are equal before the law.
For historical and cultural reasons, and under stipulations of binding international treaties, the concept of "minority" applies specifically to certain groups of non-Moslem citizens. In fact, the social fabric of Turkey is a unique real life case of the OSCE principle that "not all ethnic, cultural, linguistic or religious differences necessarily lead to the creation of national minorities". Our citizens of Kurdish ethnic origin are not discriminated against and they feel themselves to be equal members of the society. Many have risen to the highest positions in the Republic. They share the same opportunities and the same destiny as the rest of the population.
Ethnicity is not a factor in the political geography of Turkey. That is, the predominant majority of the Turkish citizens of Kurdish descent live in western Turkey, with the greatest concentration being in Istanbul. Even in eastern and southeastern Turkey, the
Turkish citizens of Kurdish ethnic origin
- (Con'td) What is the PKK ? Who is Abdullah Öcalan ? —Tahir D. OB, Mon Feb 27 02:44
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