Latest news with #PKK
Kuwait Times
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Kuwait Times
Turkey breathes easier as truce eases fallout risk
ISTANBUL: As the fragile Iran-Zionist truce took hold, there was no letup in Turkey's diplomatic efforts Wednesday to prevent any return to a conflict fraught with risk for Ankara's domestic and regional policies. Hours after US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met him for talks on the sidelines of a NATO summit for their third conversation in 10 days. Erdogan's 'intensive diplomatic efforts' to curb the conflict also involved calls with Russia's Vladimir Putin, Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian and top Middle Eastern leaders. 'Turkey has been trying very hard to de-escalate the situation, but it's not seen as a credible mediator, neither by Iran nor by (Zionist entity),' Gonul Tol of the Washington-based Middle East Institute told AFP. Turkey's ties with Zionist entity have been shattered by the Gaza war and Iranians see Ankara as complicit 'because it hosts this strategic radar', she said of a NATO early-warning system at Kurecik base in eastern Turkey that can detect Iranian missile launches. Turkey has categorically denied radar data was used to help Zionist but its presence has rattled Iran—with several Iranian military officials warning it could be 'the first target' in case of a wider war, she said. Even so, Erdogan reportedly sought to set up US-Iran talks in Istanbul last week, which only failed because Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—in hiding due to assassination threats—couldn't be reached to approve it, the Axios news site said. Unsettled by the long arm of Zionist's reach, Erdogan upped Turkey's deterrence, ordering the defense industry to increase production of medium and long-range missiles warning Ankara was 'making preparations for every kind of scenario'. 'Concerns about a possible Turkish-Zionist confrontation in the short term seem exaggerated... (but) both would be wise to reduce tensions,' said Gallia Lindenstrauss, senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). Fears of Iran in chaos For Turkey, the big fear would be seeing neighboring Iran plunged into chaos as happened in Iraq and Syria, said Soner Cagaptay of the Washington Institute of Near East Policy. 'Ankara absolutely does not want to see Iran descending into chaos, decentralization or civil war which could create cross-border threats or fresh refugee flows,' he told AFP. In Iraq and Syria, destabilization had created a power vacuum that was used by the Islamic State (IS) group and Kurdish PKK militants 'to launch attacks into Turkey', fueling Ankara's efforts to support both nations' recentralization, he said. But 'the biggest risk' would be another flow of refugees: 'If Iran collapses, there's only one country the Iranians will flee to in large numbers: Turkey,' he said. On Friday, Erdogan warned Germany's Friedrich Merz the conflict 'could harm the region and Europe in terms of migration' although there was no sign of any influx at the Turkish border last week. Risk to Turkey's PKK move? Turmoil in Iran could also harm Ankara's efforts to draw a line under its decades-long conflict with the PKK, which last month said it would disarm, Tol said. Although most PKK-linked groups embraced the call to disarm, its Iranian affiliate, the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), did not, with Ankara concerned any unrest could embolden recalcitrant Kurdish separatists. 'The worry is that this chaos may strengthen the PJAK. There are PKK fractions who are not happy with (founder Abdullah) Ocalan's call who could think: why disarm now when there's so much chaos we can capitalize on,' she told AFP. A more immediate concern for Turkey was the economic implications of the conflict, she said, with its crisis-hit economy already 'struggling' with rising energy prices while fighting hard to bring down inflation. 'But if Iran closed down (the Strait of) Hormuz, that would mean a bigger jump in energy prices and that's something Turkey is deeply worried about,' she said. — AFP
BBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Turkey-PKK conflict: Hope, fear and anger for families waiting for war to end
When the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) announced last month that it would disband and end its decades-long insurgency against Turkey, Leila hoped she might soon be reunited with her years ago, the former sandwich seller left home to join the group - proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US, UK and EU - in the remote Qandil Mountains, near Iraq's border with Iran. Apart from two videos he's sent, the last in March, Leila hasn't seen him since."When I first heard about the announcement I was very happy," says Leila, whose name we have changed because she fears reprisals from the group. "But as time has passed, nothing has changed."For 40 years the PKK has been at war with Turkey in a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people, many of them civilians, and is one of the longest-running in the families the BBC spoke to bitterly condemned the PKK, while others spoke proudly of how family members had died fighting for the group and felt this sacrifice had paved the way for peace PKK's announcement that it would stop fighting was seen as a historic moment for Turkey, its Kurdish minority, and neighbouring countries into which the conflict has spilled since then, no formal peace process with Turkey has begun and there is no official ceasefire in place, with reports of killing continuing on both sides. Initially set up with the aim of fighting for an independent Kurdish state in Turkey, the PKK has, since the 1990s, shifted focus to demand greater cultural and political autonomy for the who lives in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which borders Turkey, says she hadn't even heard of the PKK until her son, an Iraqi-Kurd in his twenties, came home one day talking about the group's accuses the group of "brainwashing" her son, convincing him they were defending the ethnic Kurdish minorities in Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran. The Kurds are the fourth largest ethnic group in the Middle East but do not have a nation says over time her son started to become more independent, making his bed, washing his clothes and doing the dishes. She now believes the PKK was preparing him for the tough life he would soon be living in the the day he left, he came home with three "comrades" to tell his mother he was going to the mountains to begin six months of says she repeatedly tried to dissuade him from joining the PKK but he was determined to go."He was so determined. Arguing with him would have been of no use."Since then, Leila says she has regularly visited the Qandil Mountains in the hope of catching a glimpse of her son, but has never seen him."If they just let me see him once a year, I would be happy," she says. The BBC travelled to the Qandil Mountains, having been granted rare access by the PKK to film mountains, which are sparsely populated and known for their natural beauty, help shield thousands of PKK fighters from Turkish air journey took hours of driving up narrow, bumpy roads, in an area where there are few signs of inhabitation apart from a handful of farmers and the BBC approached a PKK checkpoint, we saw large pictures of the group's leader and founding member Abdullah Ocalan - imprisoned by Turkey in solitary confinement since 1999 - displayed across the mountains. But when the BBC reached the checkpoint, the PKK denied us were later told by PKK authorities that talks are underway with the group and they did not want media did not say what the talks were about, though Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Mohammed Hussein last month told the BBC discussions would be taking place with the PKK, Turkey, Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government to discuss how the group's weapons will be handed over. Disarmament 'not up for discussion' So far, the terms of a possible peace deal between Turkey and the PKK are PKK told the BBC in a written statement that it is sincere and serious about the process, insisting its leader, Ocalan, must be freed."The ball is now in Turkey's court. A peace process cannot develop based on unilateral steps," said Zagros Hiwa, the spokesman for the PKK-linked Kurdistan Democratic Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella group of regional Kurdish in a possible sign of the hurdles ahead, a senior local commander, who's part of the second line of leadership within the group in Iraq, told the BBC in a written statement that in his view disarmament is "not up for discussion".Still suspicious about Turkey's intentions, he adds that "when we address the reasons of the armed conflict, weapons will be of no use for both sides".Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's apparent willingness to bring an end to the conflict with the PKK has been interpreted by some as a bid to attract Kurdish support for a new constitution to extend his 22-year-rule, which he has described the PKK's decision to disband as an important step towards "our goal of a Turkey without terrorism".Writing on X, the Turkish president said a new era was about to begin after "the elimination of terror and violence". For some families whose loved ones were killed fighting for the PKK, the idea the conflict might soon end is Takoor was 21 when he was killed two years ago. His sister, Rondek Takoor, who lives in Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya, last saw him in the Qandil Mountains in from the family home, where photos of Kawa adorn the living room walls, Rondek says her brother's death changed the family's life. "I always dream about him," she says with tearful who is in her twenties, still remembers the last conversation they had together."I asked him if he would like to go back home with me and he said 'never'. He even asked me to join him in the mountains," she Rondek and her family, who are pro-PKK, the group disbanding would be both a moment of "pride and pain, especially after our huge loss".She believes that "it's the sacrifices we've made and the martyrs we've lost, that paved the way for leaders to talk peace". What happens next is are questions about what would happen to thousands of Turkish PKK fighters and whether they would be allowed to reintegrate into Turkish officials have yet to say whether these fighters will be treated as criminals and face prosecution. But Turkish media reports have suggested fighters who haven't committed crimes in Turkey could return without fear of prosecution, though PKK leaders might be forced into exile to other countries or required to stay in is also unclear what the group disbanding would mean for other Kurdish groups, notably in north-east Syria, which Turkey regards as being off-shoots of the PKK. During the Syrian civil war, Turkish forces and Turkish-backed Syrian fighters launched a series of offensives to capture border areas held by a Syrian Kurdish militia called the People's Protection Units (YPG).The YPG dominates an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias called the Syrian Democratic Forces, which drove the Islamic State group out of a quarter of Syria with the help of a US-led multinational YPG says it is a distinct entity from the PKK, but Turkey rejects that and proscribes it as a terrorist has said the PKK's decision to disband should "cover all extensions of the organisation in Northern Iraq, Syria and Europe". SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said the PKK's decision would "pave the way for a new political and peaceful process in the region". However, he has also said that the PKK's disarmament does not apply to the SDF, which signed a separate deal to merge with the Syrian armed forces in Iran, the PJAK group, which is also part of the KCK, has told BBC Turkish that it supports the "new process" in Turkey, but that it is not planning to disarm or disband is designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and Iran. There has been a de facto ceasefire between the group and the Iranian government since says the PJAK is the Iranian arm of the PKK, but the Kurdish groups deny this. 'This city has brought me nothing but pain' For mothers like Leila, all the complexities of politics and the intricate balance of military powers across the region are irrelevant. What she cares about is having her son with her again."He will come back home when he gets tired of the harsh life in the mountains, at some point he will realise that he can take it no more."If this happens, Leila plans to leave their home city where her son was recruited by the PKK."This city has brought me nothing but pain."
Shafaq News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Turkish shelling sparks wildfires in Kurdistan's Duhok
Shafaq News – Duhok On Thursday, Turkish artillery shelling sparked massive fires in northern Duhok province, the Kurdistan Region, burning farmland and forested areas after targeting suspected Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) positions in the mountainous al-Amadiyah district. Residents reported intensified bombardments along the slopes of Gara Mountain, a frequent site of Turkish strikes against the PKK, which Ankara considers a terrorist organization. Security sources confirmed to Shafaq News that Turkish artillery has been shelling the area daily in recent days. The bombardment caused extensive material damage to farms and pastures, the full extent of which is yet to be determined.
Middle East Eye
2 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
How supporters of 'Woman Life Freedom' in Iran rejected Israel's assault
The protests that followed the death in custody of Kurdish woman Mahsa Jina Amini in 2022 were arguably the most significant to rock Iran in decades. Tens of thousands took to the streets, enraged by the apparent killing of a woman arrested by morality police over how she wore her hijab, which exposed a range of other grievances that exploded into public view. The slogan "Woman Life Freedom", which has its roots in the pro-Kurdish groups associated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was taken up as the mantra of the movement and quickly spread among reformists and opponents of the Islamic Republic. When Israeli and US attacks began raining down on Iran on 13 June, some critics of the ruling establishment, particularly westerners and Iranians in the diaspora, began talking up the assault as an opportunity for regime change. That rhetoric was echoed by Israeli officials and even Donald Trump. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters But despite their animosity towards the Islamic Republic, few activists and critics in Iran see a change of governance being born from Israel or the US, or would welcome such a process. The East Kurdistan Free Women's Society (KJAR) is one of the most prominent Iranian groups associated with the Woman Life Freedom movement. Letter from death row Politically followers of PKK co-founder Abdullah Ocalan, the group is no stranger to repression in Iran. One of their members, Verisheh Moradi, who fought against the Islamic State group in Syria, is facing a death sentence for "armed rebellion" over her support for the 2022 protests. Speaking to Middle East Eye, Deniz Derya - a member of the group's coordination council - said Moradi was currently suffering from serious health issues, including a "cervical disc rupture and spinal canal stenosis". She also highlighted the deteriorating conditions facing their comrade Zeynab Jalalian, who has endured "years of severe torture" since being first arrested in 2008. Pakhshan Azizi, another KJAR member, was also sentenced to death in July 2024 over her involvement in the Mahsa Amini protests. Despite the hardships faced their activists at the hand of the state, however, KJAR has refused to back calls for the US or Israel to overthrow the Islamic Republic by force. Derya said a project is underway by "global powers" to "reshape the region" through Israel. 'Both the Israeli and Iranian states are fully aware of the transformative power of women' - Deniz Derya, KJAR "Wars between nation states have brought nothing but massacres, displacement, poverty and exile to the Middle East and beyond, because such conflicts are driven by state interests, not the interests of the people," she said. In spite of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran commencing on Tuesday under US pressure, few believe the conflict between the two countries is over, even if it has died down for the moment. Last week, Moradi joined fellow prisoners Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, Sakineh Parvaneh and Reyhaneh Ansarinejad to issue a letter, published by the pro-Kurdish Firat News Agency, from the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. They accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and said its goal was to create a "weak and submissive" Middle East. Israel then bombed the prison. Derya said there was no real understanding of the implications or desires of the Woman Life Freedom movement by those still wedded to patriarchal ideologies. "Both the Israeli and Iranian states are fully aware of the transformative power of women. One seeks to co-opt it; the other, to crush it," she said. "However, the revolutionary uprising [of 2022] showed that, by relying on their own will, the people can bring about profound changes." Co-opt or crush The most prominent figure in the Iranian opposition to throw his weight behind the Israeli assault has been Reza Pahlavi, son of the former ruler of Iran whose ouster in 1979 led to the rise of the Islamic Republic. He expressed a desire to take power in Iran in the wake of the collapse of the current regime, and has praised Israeli and US strikes on the country. At a speech on Monday hours before the beginning of Trump's ceasefire announcement, Pahlavi gave a news conference in which he mentioned speaking to a woman whose brother was killed during the Woman Life Freedom protests in September 2022. Deniz Derya, member of the Coordination Council of the Free Women's Community of Eastern Kurdistan (supplied) "When security forces raided her home, she cried out: 'Oh God, where shall we go? Where shall we go to flee from your tyranny?'" he said. "One by one, her neighbours began to respond to her: 'We're not going anywhere! They, the regime, are the ones who've got to go!' These words echo in my heart - and should echo in every corridor of power around the world." Yet many in the opposition, particularly inside Iran, are less than thrilled by the prospect of a Pahlavi returning to power - not least the Kurdish groups who remember the repression meted out against them by his father. 'The regime cannot be done in from the sky. It must be on the ground' - member of Kurdish Iranian party They have balked at the use of the "Woman Life Freedom" slogan in social media by Pahlavi, or by his wife Yasmine, or by Benjamin Netanyahu. A member of a Kurdish independence party - who did not want to be identified - said that Iran's non-Persian population looked on Pahlavi being promoted by foreign media and politicians with dread. "The non-Persian nations are afraid that he will massacre and oppress them like their fathers and grandfathers," she said. She added that the dominance of the Persian majority in Iran meant there was little prospect of a popular uprising in the country any time soon and that an "external army" was needed to "liberate" Iranians of other backgrounds. "The regime cannot be done in from the sky. It must be on the ground," she said. 'Civil society of Iran' Some supporters of the Woman Life Freedom movement, however, have been somewhat more nuanced in their attitude to the most recent developments. While refusing to back the attacks on Iran, there are some Iranians who squarely lay the blame for the destruction on the Islamic Republic. Kawsar Fattahi, a senior member of the left-wing Komala party, said Iran had spent more than 40 years playing up the prospect of war with Israel and the current situation was the result. 'Stop seeing Israel and instead hear the voice of opposition groups' - Kawsar Fattahi, Komala "Despite widespread opposition from the 'Woman, Life, Freedom' movement, many hold the belief that this conflict might potentially undermine the government even further," she told MEE. "But the Iranian people should put an end to the regime." She said that Komala had no desire for outside forces to overthrow the Islamic Republic - just for the international community to stop "compromising" with it. Fattahi, who also previously fought the Islamic State group in Iraq as a Peshmerga commander, said the Iranian people began to shatter the Islamic Republic's "gender apartheid" in 2022 with the Mahsa Amini protests The Israeli co-opting of the "Woman Life Freedom" slogan, she added, was irrelevant in this context. "Stop seeing them and instead hear the voice of opposition groups," she said. "Woman Life Freedom is the soul of the civil society of Iran. The movement that can lead Iran to democracy and peace." What now? Both Israel and Iran launched missiles on Tuesday after the supposed beginning of Trump's ceasefire. However, the US president has responded forcefully to Israel, warning Netanyahu against further attacks. The assault seems to have hardened some views towards outside intervention. Violins over violence: Tehran's musicians fought fear with music Read More » Narges Mohammedi, a Nobel Prize-winning women's rights campaigner and former political prisoner, who was under house arrest, advocated an end to Iran's nuclear ambitions and the "resignation of the current leaders" of the country during the strikes. In the wake of the attacks on Tehran, which forced her to flee the capital, she became much more forcefully critical of the strikes, warning like many others that "democracy cannot come through war". While few believe this marks the end of conflict between Iran and Israel, the pause is likely to lead to recriminations domestically in both countries. Iranian authorities are already thought to have arrested scores of alleged Israeli spies since Israel launched its attacks on 13 June. Fattahi said that she was concerned that in the coming days - assuming no more Israeli or US strikes were forthcoming - the Iranian state would come down on suspected collaboraters and opposition groups like a tonne of bricks. "For the time being, it is unclear what the outcome of this conflict will be, but if it does not destabilise the Iranian government completely, it will lead to even more repression of its own people, particularly Kurdish groups," she said. "For the simple reason that they are so terrified of a popular rebellion that they are willing to resort to extreme measures like mass imprisonment and executions of inmates to prove that they are still in control."
The Sun
3 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Turkey breathes easier as Iran-Israel truce eases fallout risk
ISTANBUL: As the fragile Iran-Israel truce took hold, there was no letup in Turkey's diplomatic efforts Wednesday to prevent any return to a conflict fraught with risk for Ankara's domestic and regional policies. Hours after US President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met him for talks on the sidelines of a NATO summit for their third conversation in 10 days. Erdogan's 'intensive diplomatic efforts' to curb the conflict also involved calls with Russia's Vladimir Putin, Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian and top Middle Eastern leaders. 'Turkey has been trying very hard to de-escalate the situation, but it's not seen as a credible mediator, neither by Iran nor by Israel,' Gonul Tol of the Washington-based Middle East Institute told AFP. Turkey's ties with Israel have been shattered by the Gaza war and Iranians see Ankara as complicit 'because it hosts this strategic radar', she said of a NATO early-warning system at Kurecik base in eastern Turkey that can detect Iranian missile launches. Turkey has categorically denied radar data was used to help Israel but its presence has rattled Iran -- with several Iranian military officials warning it could be 'the first target' in case of a wider war, she said. Even so, Erdogan reportedly sought to set up US-Iran talks in Istanbul last week, which only failed because Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- in hiding due to assassination threats -- couldn't be reached to approve it, the Axios news site said. Unsettled by the long arm of Israel's reach, Erdogan upped Turkey's deterrence, ordering the defence industry to increase production of medium and long-range missiles. warning Ankara was 'making preparations for every kind of scenario'. 'Concerns about a possible Turkish-Israeli confrontation in the short term seem exaggerated... (but) both would be wise to reduce tensions,' said Gallia Lindenstrauss, senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). Fears of Iran in chaos For Turkey, the big fear would be seeing neighbouring Iran plunged into chaos as happened in Iraq and Syria, said Soner Cagaptay of the Washington Institute of Near East Policy. 'Ankara absolutely does not want to see Iran descending into chaos, decentralisation or civil war which could create cross-border threats or fresh refugee flows,' he told AFP. In Iraq and Syria, destabilisation had created a power vacuum that was used by the Islamic State (IS) group and Kurdish PKK militants 'to launch attacks into Turkey', fuelling Ankara's efforts to support both nations' recentralisation, he said. But 'the biggest risk' would be another flow of refugees: 'If Iran collapses, there's only one country the Iranians will flee to in large numbers: Turkey,' he said. On Friday, Erdogan warned Germany's Friedrich Merz the conflict 'could harm the region and Europe in terms of migration' although there was no sign of any influx at the Turkish border last week. Risk to Turkey's PKK move? Turmoil in Iran could also harm Ankara's efforts to draw a line under its decades-long conflict with the PKK, which last month said it would disarm, Tol said. Although most PKK-linked groups embraced the call to disarm, its Iranian affiliate, the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), did not, with Ankara concerned any unrest could embolden recalcitrant Kurdish separatists. 'The worry is that this chaos may strengthen the PJAK. There are PKK fractions who are not happy with (founder Abdullah) Ocalan's call who could think: why disarm now when there's so much chaos we can capitalise on,' she told AFP. A more immediate concern for Turkey was the economic implications of the conflict, she said, with its crisis-hit economy already 'struggling' with rising energy prices while fighting hard to bring down inflation. 'But if Iran closed down (the Strait of) Hormuz, that would mean a bigger jump in energy prices and that's something Turkey is deeply worried about,' she said. Oil prices spiked during the 11-day conflict as concerns grew that Iran might disrupt supplies passing through Hormuz, peaking on Monday after US warplanes hit Iran. With the ceasefire taking hold, Turkey was breathing easier Wednesday -- although the Iran-Israel crisis remained high on the agenda at the NATO summit.
