In the last two months, PKK, a terrorist organization according to Turkey, the United States and the European Union, killed 41 people in Turkey.
PKK's latest attack occurred today in an Istanbul neighborhood just a couple of kilometres away from my home. A pressure cooker with a bomb inside was remotely detonated on the roadside as a crowded shuttle which was carrying military personnel as well as their children was passing by. Five people, including a 17 years old girl, were killed and 14 people were injured.
The name of the slain girl is Buse Sariyag. She is the second civilian victim of PKK terrorism in this month. The first one was Pinar Akdag, 22.
PKK claims that it represents the Kurdish minority in Turkey and it legitimizes violence as a tool to pursue political goals. Though, in the last couple of years, nothing has changed dramatically in Turkey, in terms of domestic policies. Kurds have the same political rights with Turks and there has been no negative development in this sense. However, somehow PKK has suddenly started to kill people, including civilians in the cities.
The only change in Turkish policies have been recorded in the foreign policy recently, as Ankara fell out with the long-time ally Israel. So one may ask if the revival of PKK terrorism is related to this dynamic. Is Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan right this time? Does someone really use PKK as a subcontractor?
I don't want to take the bait so easily, so I have more questions: Hasn't PKK been always a political leverage for several countries anyway? Should we keep complaining about it or should we act against this sinister reality?
I believe that Buse and Pinar would like to see our politicians to take the latter way, instead of what Erdogan is doing nowadays.
