Monday, November 30, 2015

PCG Confused About the Kurds in Turkey

Back on July 27, 2015 PCG's Richard Palmer made the following tweet about Turkey and the Kurds.


While Palmer expresses sympathy for the Kurds within Turkey it should be stated that this contradicts what PCG's Joel Hilliker said about the Kurds in Turkey back in 1997.

Back then Hilliker fear mongered about the Kurds and vilified the Kurdish PKK as one of several alleged "Islamic forces" threatening Turkey. This fact may be seen in a previous post.
In addition, the U.S.’s support for Turkey appears somewhat unstable, as America seems unwilling to offend Greece. By indirectly helping Greece, America is in effect also helping Syria, Iran, and Russia—and even the PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party] forces within Turkey. If the trend continues, these Islamic forces without and within her borders might take over. (Joel Hilliker, Turkey: An Act of Revenge, December 1997, p. 2.)
Is it accurate to call the PKK as one of several "Islamic forces" that "might take over" Turkey? I wrote the following in that post:
Also the Kurdistan Workers' Party is a far left, secular organization. Just look at the name, "Workers' Party." How much more left wing can you get? At the time the PKK had been waging an armed insurgency against the Turkish government since 1984. Later [Sic. I now suspect this happened before 1997] NATO listed the PKK as a terrorist organization because of its armed insurgency against the Turkish government. So much for the United States supposedly "helping" the PKK as Hilliker alleged here.
So what is going on? How should PCG members view the Kurds in Turkey?

Should PCG followers sympathize with Kurds in Turkey like Palmer?

Or should PCG followers view Kurds in Turkey negatively like Hilliker?

PCG cannot be right both times.

(Incidentally Richard Palmer once minimized the Srebrenica massacre in which about 8000 Bosnians were murdered as "a crime of passion".)

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