WHILE THE FLOTILLA WAS BEING BOARDED, THE KURDISH PKK WERE ATTACKING A TURKISH NAVAL BASE

Killing six soldiers.

USAK Director Laciner Implies Link Between Israel and the PKK

Monday, 31 May 2010

* By Gamze Coskun

Sedat Laciner, head of the Ankara-based International Strategic Research Organization (USAK), has made comments on the rocket-attack on a military vehicle near a naval base in Iskenderun town of Hatay killing six soldiers and Israel’s strike against the aid convoy heading to Gazza.

Comparing these two attacks, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Laciner indicated that there can be a relationship between some of the Israeli groups and the terrorist organization, PKK. The PKK terrorist organisation attacked a Turkish naval base when the Israeli forces attacked the international civilian aid flotilla including Turkish aid workers.

Sedat Laciner said, “Some Israelies support the PKK. Even though the Israeli state does not support it as a state, the people who left Mossad or retired from the army advocate the PKK. All these were reported by the US and Israeli media in recent past”.

Highlighting the obvious relationship between Israel and the terrorist organization, Sedat Laciner stated that it was a known fact that the PKK militants who planned to make bomb attacks in some cities were trained by Israel.

Sedat Laciner iterated that the recent attack in Iskenderun, a Mediterrenean Turkish coast town, was far from being a typical PKK attack. Furthermore, by making an emphasis on the timing of the two attacks, Sedat Laciner said, “There is something weird. This was not a conventional PKK or terrorist attack.”

Sedat Laciner stated, “Israel is a small country and its power is hidden in dark places rather than conventional sources. Such a country traditionalized use of such measures can do many things to Turkey that is a country with many deficiencies. Turkey has several weaknesses and its political and cultural structure is open to any kind of interventions.”

Laciner indicated that Turkey had openly challenged Israel in “one minute” and Iran issues; thus the attitude of Israel was not something unexpected. He counted two main issues which could be used by Israel against Turkey: PKK and Ergenekon.

Stating that the PKK has become a subcontractor organization and been trying to get profit from speculative developments, Laciner said, “It is normal that the PKK is trying to ally with Turkey’s enemies at this level. However, the main problem here is that Turkish intelligence units and state units are not able to act together.”

“The attack against the Gazza aid convoy is tried to be made an issue of Turkey-Israel. Israel also wants to show the ruling party of Turkey as something equal to Hamas. Israel wants to create such a bias in minds.”

He also said that the bloody attack to the convoy was a conscious attack which was made in order to give a lesson to the rest of the world and Turkey.

Laciner defined the action as a breach of both international and national law and a crime. By stating that there is no way to justify the action, Laciner said that the crisis has not finished yet.

Reminding Murat Karayilan (one of the prominent figure of the PKK)’s statements calling for the U.S. to use them rather than abolishing the terrorist organization, Sedat Laciner said, “While Turkey is challenging both Israel and the West in issues like Iran, the statements of Karayilan may come true in response to Turkey’s actions. Therefore, the international conjuncture in favor of Turkey may change and a disadvantageous atmosphere may emerge. PKK can be used against Turkey and we may see the signs of it in the near future.”

Israel has supported the PKK against Iran. Israeli advisers also encouraged the Kurdish groups to uprise against the Baghdad to establish a seperate Kurdish state in the Northern Iraq.

Dr. Nilgun Gulcan also underlined the link between the PKK and Israel. Dr. Gulcan said "Many Israelis are active in Northern Iraq. They legitimate their existence with the help to the local Kurds yet everybody knows that they have hidden agenda and secret relations with the armed groups in the region".

[link to www.turkishweekly.net]