The PKK is a terrorist organization that was formed in the late 1970s and launched an armed struggle against the Turkish government in 1984, calling for an independent Kurdish state within Turkey. While Abdullah Ocalan is the leader of the terrorist organization, Kesire Yildirim, Haki Karaer, Cemil Bayik, and Kemal Pir are among the founders of the PKK. The main goal of the organization is to occupy the eastern and southeastern parts of the Anatolia Region of Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq on the lines of revolutionary Marxist-Leninist ideology and separatist ethno-nationalist principles, calling for Kurds to establish an independent state in the region.

The PKK chose to base its aim on armed struggle. It committed massacres against unarmed and innocent people in not only Turkey but across the region. Since its foundation in 1984, more than 40 thousand people lost their lives because of PKK terrorism. They’ve attacked tourists, tourist facilities and organizations. The terrorist organization has and continues to pursue sabotage-type attacks on facilities, institutions, and infrastructures in order to prevent investments and damage the economy, and to also make propaganda abroad. The PKK is also into organized crime, illegal human smuggling and drug trafficking. The organization is listed as a terrorist organization internationally by numerous countries, including the members of the European Union and other countries such as the U.S., Canada, and Australia. While the U.S. recognized the PKK as a terrorist organization in 1997, the EU designated the group as terrorist entity in 2004.  

Following the op-ed written by Cemil Bayik –one of the five founders of the PKK and the second-hand man of the organization- and published by the Washington Post on Wednesday, Turkey’s foreign ministry, top diplomats and politicians highly denounced and condemned the American newspaper for its level of hypocrisy.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, slammed the U.S.-based Washington Post for making “terrorist propaganda” during a live interview with Turkish state channel, TRT.

A statement made by the ministry read: “A head terrorist of the PKK –listed as a terrorist organization by many countries, including the U.S., and which has brutally massacred tens of thousands of innocent people- has brazenly engaged in terrorist propaganda by using The Washington Post.”

The statement also stressed that there should be no discrimination between terrorist organizations in the fight against terror.

Further, the statement read: This publication has violated the principle of “preventing the promotion of terrorism,” which is the most important commitment of the international community in the fight against terrorism.

Turkish Ambassador to Washington, Serdar Kilic, tweeted: The Post “took the profession of journalism to new lows” by giving a platform to one of the PKK’s “bloodthirsty” leaders.

“This is an affront not only to the Turkish people but also to the memories of tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children who became victims of terror at the hands of the PKK,” he stressed.     

“It should be noted that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that providing support to even nonviolent activity of a terrorist organization violates the anti-terror laws of the U.S.,” Kılıç added.   

Spokesperson to the Turkish president, Ibrahim Kalin said: “It is not possible to explain this with freedom of press and expression. To portray one of the leaders of a terrorist organization as the representation of Kurds is, above all, an insult to the Kurds.”

Kalin added: “It’s a grave scandal that an article written by a terror organization member has been published in the Washington Post.”

In the written statement, Kalin also stated: “The Washington Post, which provided space for a terrorist that is on the list of terror organizations of the U.S. and the EU as well as awarded a prize by the U.S. administration, openly makes propaganda for terrorism and violates the U.S. laws.”

*Written by Rahma Elfeky.

Since the beginning of this month, the U.S. has taken many positive steps toward Turkey. The first was the joint patrols with Turkey in Manbij. The U.S. also declared that Turkey would be exempt from the sanctions on Iran. The U.S., on the very same day, also lifted the sanctions against Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu with regard to the ban on their entry to the U.S. and their possible financial affairs in the U.S. Turkey quickly responded in the same way by removing its own sanctions against the counterparts in the U.S.

A new one was added to these steps last Tuesday. On November 6, the State Department listed the PKK’s three top executives in its ‘reward for justice ’program. ‘Reward for Justice’ is a reward program developed by the U.S. Department of State for counter-terrorism. The program lists the names and information of the most wanted terrorists and promises a reward if information provided is useful for the capture of these persons. The list includes 11 categories covering rewards ranging from 250 thousand dollars up to 25 million dollars. The names of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi are on the top of the list. The PKK leaders included in the list are Murat Karayilan ($5 million), Cemil Bayik ($4 million) and Duran Kalkan ($3 million). Three other familiar names are also in the list but none of them are new in the list. Musa Asoglu, Seher Demir Sen, Zerrin Sari, all from the revolutionary socialist DHKP-C organization, had already been in the category of 3 million dollars before last Tuesday.

Along with Murat Karayilan, Cemil Bayik, and Duran Kalkan, there are three other familiar names in the list of ‘Reward for Justice’ who are Musa Asoglu, Seher Demir Sen and Zerrin Sari, all from the revolutionary socialist DHKP-C organization.

One major aspect of this matter is about the significance of these positive steps, if they really are. Frankly speaking, there is not much going on here no matter how many steps the U.S. took toward Turkey. To start with, Turkey’s exemption from the Iran sanctions is not only for Turkey but also for seven other Asian countries, and is only temporary. And the main motive in this exemption is not about giving Turkey a relief but about controlling global oil prices. The removal of sanctions against two Turkish ministers is also no big deal. There was no real harm anyway, it was a sanction only on paper. The joint patrols in Manbij is good news but it came too late, much later than expected. Further, Turkey is still expecting the promises to be kept in its entirety, such as the removal of the PYD units from the city of Manbij.

The US bounty on the PKK’s top leadership is one thing. But Turkey-U.S. relations have much deeper issues to resolve ranging from the Halkbank Case to the ongoing American hospitality to coup plotter Fetullah Gulen and to the American support for the PYD.

If we go back to the bounty issue for the PKK’s top leadership, that’s another good sign, but just a sign, nothing more. It’s not as if the U.S. captured these three people and handed them to Turkey. It is still a mystery to many in Turkey whether the U.S. will use the expected information in favor of Turkey or not. Relations between Turkey and the U.S. have much deeper issues to resolve ranging from the famous Halkbank Case to the ongoing American hospitality to coup plotter Fetullah Gulen.

And perhaps at the deepest level, there lies the American support and shield for the PYD. Unless the U.S. shows a sign, a genuine sign, that it understands and respects Turkey’s concerns on these matters, other steps taken will be nothing more than noise. This should not be understood in the way that all these steps mean nothing for Turkey. They mean a lot if this is the first stage of a new path. But it does not really mean much, if at all, if this is the entire package.