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How will military operations against PKK affect Turkey’s internal security

Türkiye Materials 28 July 2015 23:00 (UTC +04:00)
The simultaneous intensified activity of the Islamic State (IS) militants on the border with Turkey, members of the ultra-radical left-wing groups, including the PKK in Turkey cannot be accidental. Moreover, at present, the negotiations on the formation of a coalition government are being held.
How will military operations against PKK affect Turkey’s internal security

Baku, Azerbaijan, July 28

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

The simultaneous intensified activity of the Islamic State (IS) militants on the border with Turkey, members of the ultra-radical left-wing groups, including the PKK in Turkey cannot be accidental. Moreover, at present, the negotiations on the formation of a coalition government are being held.

According to the statistics, more than 150 incidents involving different terrorist groups were fixed following the parliamentary election in Turkey.

This testifies to the fact that the activity of terrorists is mainly aimed at creating political chaos in the country. It is clear that neither the IS nor PKK is able to resist the Turkish army.
The Turkish authorities' opinion has been justified irrespective of the situation.

Earlier when a number of European countries considered an opportunity to exclude the PKK from the list of terrorist organizations saying that they are supposedly fighting against the IS, the prime minister, the president and all authorized people in Turkey said that for Ankara there is no difference between the PKK and IS.

In fact, a fight of a terrorist organization against other organization does not give grounds to make one of them a hero.
Is not the Jabhet al-Nusra terrorist organization at war with the IS now?

Turkey has initially had the same position against the IS and the PKK, as well as the Syrian wing of the PKK - Democratic Unity Party.

This is observed although a number of opposition parties accuse the country's current authorities of their inability to resist the PKK militants and alleged favorable conditions for the PKK. This is a democratic solution to the Kurdish problem.

Here one thing is forgotten: the most massive military operations against the PKK in northern Iraq were carried out exactly during the Justice and Development Party's governance in Turkey - to be more precisely in 2007.

And today, the Turkish president reiterated the determination to fight against any terrorist threat. As the president said, Turkey can resist the terrorists of the "Islamic State" and the PKK.

When looking thoroughly to Turkey's stance on the Syrian problem it is possible to see that Ankara, unlike the West, has a holistic approach to this problem.

Turkish authorities believe that the main reason for the formation of terrorist cells in Syria is the authorities in Damascus.

It is clear that Turkey will continue the military operations against the PKK and the IS, but not till their complete elimination as at the moment no ground operation against these organizations is being considered.

Those operations will continue until Turkey ensures its own safety.

Nevertheless, new terrorist attacks and unrests in the country aren't ruled out.

Turkish intelligence has evidence that members of the Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party - the Democratic Union Party (PYD) - infiltrated into Turkey from Syria under the guise of refugees and they are preparing attacks on police stations and military facilities.

It was reported that over 90 members of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) have penetrated Turkey from Syria.

Of course, the military operations against the PKK and PYD will first and foremost harm the process of democratic solution to the Kurdish problem.

Turkish authorities are already suspicious about this process because the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) which was considered a mediator between the government and PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan is not so active.

Today, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called this party a political wing of the PKK. Earlier, Turkish prime minister urged the HDP leader to call on PKK supporters to lay down arms. However, the HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas refused saying that the PKK members are not under his subordination.

Moreover, the military operations will directly affect the creation of the coalition government. Today, Erdogan hinted at snap parliamentary election in the country.

Indeed, early parliamentary election is a serious risk for the country's political parties, especially, for the Justice and Development Party.

It is unknown what surprises the AKP will face following an early election.

The main problem of the Justice and Development Party is that it has lost the electorate in almost all southeastern provinces of the country, since the opposition, namely the Peoples' Democratic Party won in the provinces ranging from Mardin in the country's southeast to Ardahan province on the border with Georgia. Currently, the PKK is active namely in these provinces.

Even if the AKP gains the required percent of votes in the early parliamentary election to form the government independently, it will be difficult to control the situation in the eastern provinces.

Edited by CN

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Rufiz Hafizoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Arabic news service, follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu

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