PM Erdoğan to submit detailed PKK report to Bush

Turkey has launched its most comprehensive and diplomatic crackdown to date on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has cost Turkey about 33,000 lives and $100 bln over the course of 21 years.

At a meeting of its influential National Security Council (MGK) held last Wednesday following the killing of 47 soldiers and civilians during the last month, Turkey put the recent status of the PKK on the table. Seeking to develop means for international cooperation against the PKK, Turkey has launched a diplomatic attack against the PKK. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan had talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and he will take a detailed report on the PKK's activities to a meeting with US President George W. Bush scheduled for Nov. 5.

The report, prepared by Turkish intelligence units, notes that recently there has been an increase in PKK violence as the terrorist organization previously would kill 60 to 90 security officers over a few years, but it has killed 147 people in the first 10 months of 2007.

The report also argues that the PKK uses northern Iraq as a weapons and ammunition depot and that a significant part of its weaponry is US-made, listing in detail the PKK presence in locations in the region. According to the report, the PKK is using caves in the Kandil Mountains as its arsenals and logistics centers, and it has seven arsenals in Hakurk, Bekur, Misalog, Zaro, Cemalurti , Armus-Ciya and Minazerdi; it has also spent $15 million in procuring weapons and ammunitions in the last year and possesses heavy weaponry. The report was drafted by the Turkish General Staff using information collected by Turkish intelligence units and contains evidence for how the PKK secures funds using associations established in Germany, Austria, Spain, Belgium, Greece, the US, Finland, Denmark, Romania, Russia, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Italy and the UK.

The PKK uses these funds to procure weapons and manages about $300 million yearly, according the report, which also contains evidence of the PKK's drug and arms smuggling, using Scandinavian countries as its base for drug trafficking.

Critical of the European countries' lack of sincerity in the fight against the PKK, the report elaborates on these countries' perspectives on the PKK and the terrorist organization's presence in them. According to the report, despite the fact that they recognize the PKK as a terrorist organization, none of these countries delivered PKK militants or leaders to Turkey, and Germany, France, Netherlands and Belgium are listed as the countries where the PKK's financing activities are concentrated.

The section on weapon procurement sources for the PKK seems to weigh heavily on Turkish-US relations. President Bush had already admitted that some weapons lost by the US Army were acquired by the PKK, and he is expected to provide some explanation for it in his meeting with Erdoğan. According to the report, the PKK has affiliated organization in the US such as the American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN), the Washington Kurdish Institute (WKI) and the Kurdish National Congress of North America (KNC).

The report also contains detailed information about the origins of 36,563 weapons captured by Turkish security officers from the PKK, giving their serial numbers, places of production and countries of origin as follows:

* The countries of origin for 4,500 of 11,297 Kalashnikov rifles could be fully identified using the data on them. Accordingly, the breakdown of their countries of origin is as follows: Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) (71.6 percent), the People's Republic of China (14.7 percent), Hungary (3.6 percent), and Bulgaria (3.6 percent).

* Of 5,713 Kannas, BKC, Dragunov, Arbiki, G-3, M-16, G-1, Mavzer and weapons of other make, 959 were found to come from Russia and CIS (45.2 percent), the UK (13.2 percent) and the US (9.4 percent).

* Of 1,610 rocket launchers of various makes, 313 were identified to be Russian-made (85.3 percent), Iraqi-made (5.4 percent) and China-made (2.5 percent).

* Of 2,885 pistols of various makes, 2,208 were found to come from former Czechoslovakia (21.9 percent), Spain (20.2 percent) and Italy (19.8 percent).

* Since some of 11,568 land mines were destroyed on the spot, the countries of origin of only 8,015 land mines could be determined. The majority of them were Italian-made (60.6 percent) while 28.3 percent were Russian-made and 6.2 percent German-made.

* Of 3,490 hand grenades of various makes, 136 were found to come from Russia (72 percent), the US (19.8 percent) and Germany (8 percent).

* The A-4 and C-4 explosives used in terrorist attacks in cities were found to be Portuguese-made.

Barzani-PKK connection

The report gives a detailed account of the relations between Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and the assistance and support he provides to the PKK terrorists in northern Iraq. According to the report, 30 PKK militants obtained loans ranging between $5,000 and $10,000 to set up businesses in northern Iraq, and these businesses were used to provide foodstuff and other materials to the PKK camps in northern Iraq. The PKK's businessmen, who are also Iraqi citizens registered at the Iraqi Chamber of Commerce, are actively operating in the foodstuff and transportation sectors. The loans provided by the KDP were used to open up 12 businesses in Sulaimaniya, 11 in Arbil, seven in Salahaddin and two in Baghdad. Some PKK militants have reportedly joined the peshmergas, and they were generally employed in regions close to the Turkish-Iraqi border. The report also mentions that some PKK militants who were trained in the camps in northern Iraq were settled in the villages of Rezge, Karna, Posht Ashan and Sheikh Ayesh.