Sorry for the late reply, I was away...
We have NO proof that offered that this is an authorized representative of the United States.
Hence the reason I said "allegations" and "supposed to be". The paper that published it says it has other proof. Perhaps they learned from their betters that it is possible to say "We have proof but won't show you" <g>
But if it is, might it be tantamount to sending a message to Ankara that the US will work with whoever provides it support, even if that might be Turkish Kurds??
That is a Very Bad Idea, indeed, which is probably why the US officials are vehemently denying anything to do with the PKK. Let me remind you that PKK is officially considered a TERRORIST ORGANIZATION by the US. If the US indeed collaborates with a known terrorist organization while engaging in a "war against terror", that would shoot down any credibility they have left.
It would be no different than collaborating with the IRA (Blair would not be a happy camper, I guess). The double standard inherent here ("Terrorists are bad, except the ones who kill others than Americans") is enough for decades of ridicule.
think about the repercussions of Turkey not providing support for the US overthrow of Saddam..
Are you suggesting that it would be acceptable to collaborate with and support a terrorist organization if it somehow benefits your own plans? I hope not, because it is VERY hypocritical.
If we are to believe Bush's assertion that Saddam supported/collaborated with Al-Qaeda, how is that any more damning than US supporting/collaborating with PKK?
The repercussions of not cooperating with the US at this point have mostly to do with the economic crisis the country is in and the billions of dollars it needs in aid this year. Refusing to ally themselves with the US means losing the USD 4 bn in proposed aids for this year, which Turkey cannot afford to do at this point.
This uncertainty/risk is in fact why the country currently has about 58% interest rate on its t-bills. Considering that the devaluation of the TRL against the USD was 15% in 2002, and that the country is currently in an IMF program, you can see there is serious real interest rates being offered even if 2003 devaluation turns out to be double that of 2002.
We took a significant position in Turkish t-bills last week, by the way, which is about when I started to follow news from Turkey this closely <g>
And possibly the removal of the PKK from the terrorist list (since they haven't been actively violent in years that I've heard of)
If I recall correctly, the timing of PKK's cessation of violent activities corresponds with the capture of their leader, which might go to show that Turkey was successful in figthing this organization. However, it does not show that they are now "nice guys" because they behaved while their leader was in jail condemned to death penalty (turned to "life imprisonment" a couple of months ago).
How about this: If Al-Qaeda did nothing for two years, would you be OK with it being taken off the list of terrorist organizations? Or would you still want them condamned and their leaders captured and punished? |
