Turkey - The Military (Turkey)

The military has, continues to, and will run Turkey. Despite a revolving cast of democratically elected politicians, the army steps in when things get too silly for their tastes. There have been three military coups in modern Turkish history, in 1960, 1971 and 1980. That is not to say there are not democratic freedoms, it just means only the people who play ball get to have them. The military sees itself as the guardian of Ataturk's secular and nationalist legacy. There are two things the military really don't like very much, toga wearing Islamists and cocky Kurds. The Kurds are officially considered no different than any other minority in Turkey and logically they are entitled to all the benefits Turkish citizens have. But quite frankly that's a load of bollocks.

The government feels it has a lid on the PKK problem and has an annual spring outing to their headquarters in Zap just to piss them off. The government is so confident that it has now lifted the state of emergency in 5 of the 11 Kurdish dominated provinces. It's all a bit of a con, though. If you visit the provinces, now supposedly no longer under emergency rule-as DP has done-you will see the difference between them and those under emergency rule are . . . er, nothing actually.

The man the PKK keeps out of the ranks of the unemployed is General Huseyin Kivrikoglu, who is the Turkish Chief of Staff, responsible for zapping as many PKK kids as possible. The largest foray into Northern Iraq was in 1997 (in which DP's Roddy Scott was in the wrong place at the right time and ended up being deported from Kurdistan). As many as 50,000 troops stormed after the PKK and left a supposed death toll of 3,009 guerrillas and 113 Turkish soldiers-a number the PKK vehemently deny. Since then the Turkish military has never really been out of northern Iraq, but rather rudely hasn't allowed any journos in either. Spoilsports. Special ops units under the control of the regional super-governor conduct raids against the PKK and are known for their brutality and treatment of villagers and Kurdish journalists. (In plain language, they beat the shit out of you, like they did to DP's Sedat Aral.) Their utilization of the latest American military hardware (i.e., Cobra helicopter gunships) against the PKK's guerrilla tactics and small arms (AK-47 rifles) gives the conflict a neo-Vietnam aura. The military was invited into Northern Iraq in October 1997 by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to help clean up the PKK and the PUK. Complicated? Read the Kurdistan chapter for more info. Journos who want to poke around should contact:

Prime Minister's Office

General Directorate of Press and Information

56 Konur Sokak Ankara Turkey

Tel.: (312) 417-6311