US embassy cable - 94ADANA532

C O N F I D E N T I A L ADANA 0532 
 
 
E.O.  12356:  DECL:  OADR 
TAGS:  PTER, PHUM, TU 
SUBJECT:  WHO PAYS THE PKK? 
 
1.  CONFIDENTIAL - ENTIRE TEXT. 
 
2.  SUMMARY:  ETHNIC TURKISH WIFE OF ADANA AMCIT BUSINESSMAN 
INFORMED ADANA POLOFF THAT HER BROTHER, OWNER OF A LARGE 
RESTAURANT NEAR BURSA, WAS KIDNAPPED BY THE PKK AND TOLD TO MAKE 
"FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS."  RELEASED UNHARMED THE NEXT DAY BUT 
AWARE OF THE PKK'S ABILITY TO EXACT REPRISALS, HE TOLD HIS WIFE 
NOT TO TELL ANYONE, ESPECIALLY THE POLICE, ABOUT THE INCIDENT. 
THE PKK'S EXTORTION NETWORK NOW SEEMS TO EXTEND TO TURKISH 
NATIONALS WITH FEW, IF ANY, TIES TO THE TROUBLED SOUTHEAST.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
3.  AMCIT BUSINESSMAN IN ADANA, WHOSE WIFE IS AN ETHNIC TURK FROM 
THE BURSA AREA OF NORTHWEST TURKEY, HOSTED A SMALL DINNER PARTY 
ON SEPTEMBER 8.  HIS WIFE WAS SOBBING AS SHE GREETED POLOFF AT 
THE FRONT DOOR.  SPEAKING IN A LOW VOICE SO THAT THE OTHER GUESTS 
COULD NOT HEAR, SHE SAID THAT HER BROTHER HAD BEEN KIDNAPPED BY 
THE PKK.  HE OWNS A LARGE SEAFRONT RESTAURANT THAT FACES THE SEA 
OF MARMARA AND HAS A PIER WHERE HIS YACHT AND OTHERS CAN DOCK. 
 
4.  THE HOSTESS'S SISTER-IN-LAW HAD JUST CALLED TO PROVIDE THE 
FOLLOWING DETAILS.  ON THE MORNING OF SEPTEMBER 7, SHE AND HER 
HUSBAND WERE GETTING INTO THE CAR OUTSIDE THEIR HOUSE.  TWO WELL- 
DRESSED MEN APPROACHED THEM.  THEY TOLD HER THEY NEEDED TO SPEAK 
TO HER HUSBAND PRIVATELY AND THAT NOTHING WOULD HAPPEN TO HIM 
PROVIDED THAT SHE DID NOT GO TO THE AUTHORITIES.  THEY THEN PUT 
HER HUSBAND INTO THEIR CAR AND DROVE AWAY.  SHE DID NOT CALL THE 
POLICE. 
 
5.  THE NEXT MORNING HE WAS RETURNED TO HIS HOME UNHARMED.  HE 
HAD BEEN TAKEN BY TWO PKK OPERATIVES, HE SAID, AND DRIVEN TO A 
LOCATION THAT HE COULD NOT (OR WOULD NOT) IDENTIFY.  THEY TOLD 
HIM THAT THEY KNEW HE WAS A RICH MAN AND THAT THEY EXPECTED HIM 
TO MAKE APPROPRIATE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PKK.  THEY CAUTIONED HIM 
THAT NO HARM WOULD COME TO HIM OR HIS FAMILY IF HE COOPERATED AND 
IF HE TOLD NO ONE OF THE APPROACH THEY HAD MADE TO HIM. 
OTHERWISE, THEY TOLD HIM, THEY "KNEW WHERE HE LIVED."  HIS WIFE 
DID NOT SAY THAT HE HAD AGREED TO MAKE PAYMENTS, BUT THERE SEEMS 
TO BE LITTLE DOUBT THAT HE DID SO.  HE URGED HIS WIFE TO SAY 
NOTHING ABOUT THE INCIDENT. 
 
6.  COMMENT:  PKK EXTORTION HAS BEEN PART OF THE LANDSCAPE IN 
SOUTHEAST TURKEY FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS.  CONSULATE ADANA REPORTED 
AS EARLY AS DECEMBER 1992 THE LIKELIHOOD THAT BUSINESSMEN AND 
ELECTED OFFICIALS--EVEN MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL COALITION'S TRUE 
PATH PARTY (DYP)--HAVE BEEN CONTRIBUTING, IN SOME CASES 
UNWILLINGLY, TO THE ORGANIZATION'S COFFERS.  PKK COLLECTION 
EFFORTS, AND RETRIBUTION FOR NON-PAYMENT, HAVE BECOME KNOWN IN 
ADANA AS WELL.  A LARGE ADANA LANDOWNER WAS TAKEN FROM HIS HOME 
AND KILLED TWO YEARS AGO, APPARENTLY FOR REFUSING TO PAY THE PKK. 
THE SITUATION OF THE RESTAURANTEUR NEAR BURSA IS A STRONG 
INDICATION THAT THE TENTACLES OF THE PKK NOW EXTEND TO ETHNIC 
TURKS WITH NO TIES EITHER TO THE SOUTHEAST OR TO THE INCREASINGLY 
"KURDIFIED" ADANA-MERSIN REGION.  IF HIS CASE IS NOT AN ISOLATED 
ONE, IT IS YET ANOTHER INDICATION WHY THE PKK SEEMS NOT TO BE 
CONSTRAINED BY A LACK OF FUNDS.  END COMMENT. 
 
RAPOPORT