J. Correspondent
A senior Kurdish political source with close ties to the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party is calling on Jewish leaders throughout the world to pressure Turkey into seeking a political settlement.
The call comes after supporters of the #PKK#, as the Kurdish party is known, were killed by Israeli security guards when they attempted to storm the Israeli Consulate in Berlin last month.
Three died at the time. A fourth, a 26-year-old male, died of his injuries over the weekend.
The Feb. 18 attack on the consulate came in the wake of rumors that Israel had helped Turkey capture separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan in Kenya. Ocalan is now in Turkey, where he faces charges of treason stemming from the 15-year Kurdish struggle for autonomy from Turkey.
The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, conceded that it had been a mistake to target the Israeli consulate.
But he said the Kurds were convinced of Israel's involvement in Ocalan's capture — despite the repeated denials from Israeli officials.
The source said there had been a marked increase in Turkey's actions against the Kurdish party during the past two years, which he linked directly to the close military cooperation that has developed between Jerusalem and Ankara during that period.
But, he added, the party will understand it has made a mistake by making an enemy of Israel. And Kurdish separatist leaders will soon realize it is not in their interests to open a new front.
The source acknowledged that the separatists — which Turkish officials claim has been responsible for more than 30,000 deaths since the early 1980s — cannot continue fighting against the world.
In the very short term, this feeling against Israel will cool down and the PKK will once again focus on the right target — Turkey.
Just the same, he said, the PKK has expectations of the Israeli state. It will expect Israel and Jewish leaders throughout the world to put political pressure on Turkey to reach a political settlement with the PKK.
In a related development, Turkey is praising Syria for ensuring that its embassy in Damascus was not attacked during recent demonstrations protesting Ocalan's abduction from Kenya.
In October, Turkey threatened military action against Syria unless Syrian President Hafez Assad clamped down on PKK terrorists operating against Turkey from Syrian soil. Turkey had also demanded that Syria expel Ocalan, who had found a safe haven at the time in Damascus.
Syria is still reportedly refusing to hand over Kurdish separatist fighters held in Syrian jails, despite demands for their extradition by the Turkish delegation.[1]