Uneasy truce holds as Kurdish guerrilla forces withdraw from Turkey

THE WITHDRAWAL OF ONLY 500 GUERILLAS ?

The guerrillas have not issued figures, but one of their number spoke of “about 500” people who have reached northern Iraq since the withdrawal started on 15 May. This is close to the 20% cited by Erdogan. The process is expected to take until mid-October. “Operations will only stop once withdrawal is complete,” he stressed.

THE GUARDIAN

Guillaume Perrier   –  Guardian Weekly, Tuesday 3 September 2013 – Since May the air strikes by Turkish fighter jets and low-flying helicopters have stopped on the mountain ridges between Turkey and Iraq. In the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) camps, scattered all the way along the border, the rebels are enjoying the truce.

In their shelter, hidden by trees on the slopes of Mount Metina, young combatants are playing backgammon and watching the news from Syria on a television powered by a generator. From time to time they reach for another piece of watermelon. Only the occasional buzz of a drone reminds us this is a war zone.On 21 March the longstanding PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan announced a ceasefire from his prison cell, with an end to fighting and the withdrawal of troops. The news raised hopes of a peaceful end to the bloody conflict between the Turkish authorities and the Kurdish guerrillas. But the peace process has become bogged down and neither party is prepared to risk an initiative. “We’re ready to go back to war,” says Argesh, 26, who studied at Izmir University before taking up arms in 2009. Once or twice a week a small group of 15 or 20 people crosses the border and returns to one of the rear bases on the Iraqi side. “The Metina valley, which runs along here, is the route taken by all the combatants pulling out of Turkish territory,” Argesh explains. The journey from sometimes remote regions can take several weeks. They must use narrow tracks, go round developed areas, and avoid army checkpoints and patrols by “village guards”, Kurdish militia loyal to the Turkish state. Once they are safe in Iraq, PKK rebels disperse to various camps along the border.

We reached one of these camps, after an hour’s drive up a ravine in a pickup. About 50 combatants have been living here for the past few weeks. The day Le Monde visited they were celebrating. Men and women in uniform were dancing and playing music. But the rest of the time they attend “ideological training” sessions, according to Nupelda, 25. “It took us five weeks to reach here from north of Diyarbakir, with 17 other people. The drones followed us all the way,” says Khalil, 28, who has come home after 10 years in the field.

This week a larger group is due to go up to Metina. It is a gesture of defiance, in response to criticism voiced by Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish prime minister accused the PKK of “not keeping its promises”. He asserted that only 20% of Kurdish combatants had moved back over the border and most of them were children, invalids and old people. “He’s just saying that to delay the peace process,” says Khalil. The guerrillas have not issued figures, but one of their number spoke of “about 500” people who have reached northern Iraq since the withdrawal started on 15 May. This is close to the 20% cited by Erdogan. The process is expected to take until mid-October. “Operations will only stop once withdrawal is complete,” he stressed.

“The question is how many will go back to resume fighting in Turkey,” says Cemil Bayik, the new PKK leader, dug in further east in the Qandil mountains. Khaled Habur, a Kurd from Iran who joined the guerrillas after Ocalan’s arrest in 1999, is already prepared to go back. “I’ve been at war for 14 years,” he says grimly. Late last year he took part in attacks on barracks at Lice, in south-east Turkey. “Our aim is not fighting, but we are ready to carry on.”

The Kurds are wary, after previous setbacks, and think it is time for the Turkish government to initiate long-awaited reforms. In particular, this means redrafting the constitution and allowing their candidates to take part in the next general election. In any case, the PKK has no intention of disarming. If it stops fighting in Turkey, combatants may move elsewhere. To Syria, to combat the jihadi organisations? “Yes,” they all answer enthusiastically. “If a political solution is reached in the north, that won’t mean we’ll sit here doing nothing,” says Khalil. “We must defend the Kurdish people.”

This article appeared in Guardian Weekly, which incorporates material from Le Monde

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/03/kurdistan-turkey-erdogan-truce-peace-limbo