US embassy cable - 03ADANA136

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0136 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE AND NEA/NGA AND PRM 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, TU, ADANA 
SUBJECT:  KURDS IN SOUTHEAST OPTIMISTIC; HOPE 
FOR PKK KADEK AMNESTY 
 
 
(U) This cable is sensitive but unclassified; 
please protect accordingly. 
 
 
1. (SBU)  Summary: Recent meetings with our 
regular Kurdish contacts reveal SE Turkey Kurds 
are optimistic about the resolution of the 
"Kurdish question" and are pinning their hopes 
on the international community, most notably 
the United States.  They also believe an 
amnesty for PKK/KADEK members is critical to 
achieving peace within the country.  Local 
Turkish officials, nevertheless, maintain that 
while not opposed to amnesty in principal, such 
an amnesty will only antagonize the problem 
further.  In any event, Ankara seems willing 
only to consider a broadened repentance law, 
without attendant economic and social 
incentives.  End summary. 
 
 
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Hope for a solution? 
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2. (SBU)  Following the Coalition victory in Iraq, 
Southeastern Kurds are cautiously optimistic 
that a solution to Kurdish issues will be 
found.  While it will take time to fully 
resolve the situation, the war in Iraq and the 
United States' "improved attitude" towards the 
Kurdish people signal a beginning to stronger 
international involvement in their plight.  Our 
contacts vehemently state that only pressure by 
the USG on the GOT to solve this issue and 
inclusion of Kurds in the new Iraqi government 
will allow the Kurdish people the opportunity 
to live peacefully with a Kurdish 
identification in the region. 
 
 
3. (SBU)  Our meetings also reveal Kurds believe 
the first step to improving relations with the 
GOT is the freedom to identify themselves as 
Kurdish.  However, our contacts also suggest 
that until Turkey completes its democratization 
process, this issue cannot be resolved; 
Turkey's current procedures, institutions, and 
Constitution are not equipped to permit ethnic 
groups, such as the Kurds, the opportunity to 
practice their traditions and live peacefully 
with other groups.  Our contacts conclude that 
continued and strengthened pressure by the USG, 
as well as other international bodies such as 
the European Union, on the GOT, to fully 
democratize will give way to a peaceful 
solution to the tensions between the GOT and 
the Kurdish people. 
 
 
4. (SBU)  Prominent Adana Kurdish activists stress 
that amnesty would give PKK/KADEK members the 
opportunity to integrate into society creating 
peace in the country.  They emphasize that the 
Kurdish people have lived peacefully with their 
neighbors in the region, including Iraq, and 
the GOT must play a facilitating role to 
maintain this.  These Kurdish leaders believe 
amnesty would allow PKK/KADEK members the 
ability to live free of in fear of GOT 
repercussion for their previous acts, and allow 
them to fully lay down their arms and establish 
a peaceful role for themselves and their 
families within society. 
 
 
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"If they won't accept the Turkish Flag, they 
shouldn't integrate into Turkish society!" 
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5. (SBU)  Our local GOT contacts, however, say 
such an amnesty is not a feasible solution; 
nationalistic or ethnic identification only 
lends to the divisions within Turkish society. 
The opportunity to give such an amnesty would 
strengthen Kurdish identity and continue to 
divide the country.  According to one contact, 
Kurdish people prefer to identify themselves 
with the smaller, "Kurdish" identity rather 
than the "Turkish" national identity; 
consequently, this regional identity leads to a 
weakening of society by dividing the country. 
Other contacts add that amnesty only achieves 
its purpose if both the perpetrator and the 
victim are in agreement.  If the crimes are 
political in nature and hence committed against 
the State, the State may grant amnesty; but, if 
the crimes are against another person, only the 
victim or his/her family may grant amnesty. 
They argue that while some of the PKK/KADEK's 
crimes were political, many innocent families 
lost loved ones in the war; it should be their 
choice whether to grant amnesty. 
 
 
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Comment 
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6. (SBU) Comment: Kurdish contacts in the 
Southeast are optimistic that the 
disappointment suffered by the United States 
when the Turkish Parliament failed to pass the 
motion allowing US troops to be based out of 
Turkey will encourage the United States to give 
more credence to their plight and less sympathy 
to the GOT.  However, aspirations for an 
amnesty are unrealistic; the most the Turkish 
State might be willing to bear in a broadened 
repentance law.  Even that would not resolve 
the problem without attendant economic 
incentives and social measures.  In this regard 
we see no signs either that Ankara has any 
creative ideas or that Kurdish businessmen or 
groups in the Southeast are willing to take 
initiatives on their own.    End comment. 
HOLTZ