An ominous incident in Paris is raising the very real, and horrifying, prospect that three Kurdish activists were murdered under the orders of the Turkish secret services.
That Turkey has a long history of fighting Kurds and Kurdish activity within the mainland is no secret. But if the brazen assassination of three Kurdish women in cold blood, on foreign soil, does turn out to be a direct result of orders from the Turkish government, then the NATO member and future EU member will have to suffer some consequences at the very least.
The possibility that the Turkish Intelligence services, and by association Erdogan's administration, could be involved in such a brazen incident- and evidence does point to it already- raises the question of why a country like Turkey, which is increasingly becoming totatlitarian and in violation of human rights, is still being courted and feted as a Nato and accepted future EU member.
In last year's month of January three women were gunned down in Paris. They were all activitsts in the PKK in France. Not long after the killing, investigators started to collect clues that are increasingly pointing to the possible involvement of Turkish Intelligence services.
A conversation analyzed by French investigators details how the murderer, speaking with two men believed to be part of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization, or MIT, discussed instructions on how to execute the murders. The killer, by the name of Omer Guney, who lived in Bavaria for 8 years, had actually stored the recording of the conversation as insurance in case he was found out and indicted for the murders.
In the 'instructions' given the murderer by the intelligence agents, Guney is told to wear gloves, among other things, in order to leave the weapon untainted by fingerprints. In addition, the discussion raised the need for two weapons to be taken to the ambush, just in case one jammed.
Although the Kurdish party, the PKK, is a banned organization, the brazen killing on foreign soil of Kurdish activists is a flagrant violation of sovereignty and human rights for a country that is supposed to receive full EU membership by next year.
To further consolidate the investigators' suspicions, an official MIT document was found that details how one of the three activists killed should be rendered 'ineffective'. There is no reason to believe that the euphemism employed by the Intelligence services is not a clear indication that the woman in question was to be silenced.
What this incident should engender, however, is a full blown investigation and a suspension of Turkey's EU membership application and a review of its human rights records. There are further violations of human rights in Turkey's recent policies and laws. Besides the illegal expropriation of land, new internet laws, and more worrying, the law that dictates who will and will not receive medical care, are all part of a series of measures that limit freedom and human rights which should have brought Turkey under further scrutiny by the EU commissioners.
More importantly, the actions of the MIT fall neatly in line with Erdogan's totalitarian rule, and the head of the MIT is a very close confidant of the Prime Minister. As Erdogan blazes an unfettered path toward almost unlimited powers in Turkey, there is no reason to believe that the action of the MIT, if proven true, were not a direct consequence of Erdogan's renewed attack on the PKK and his will to employ any measure to curtail the group's actitivies.
The investigation will now have to proceed in a completely different way. It has mutated from an inquiry into a murder first suspected to be the result of rival Kurdish faction, to a foreign country's possible hit on 'enemies of the state'. What is more telling, the murderer, a Kurd himself, was associated with Kurdish groups in his past, but he was suspected of being instead an avid supporter of Turkish Nationalist groups.
Only the day before the murders, Guney photographed the lists of applicants to the PKK in France, a list that he then erased after sending it to an unknown recipient. Guney was also paid 6000 Euro during his last stay in Turkey before the assassination and was allegedly instructed to make preparations for the hit.
Although the evidence could have been planted to derail investigations, German authorities aiding the investigation have examined the paperwork and deemed it legitimate. The document bears telltale signs that it is not a forgery, including official seals and watermark and agency specific language. The names on the document are also authentic and belong to high ranking officials in the MIT.
Germany is one of the EU countries that aids Turkey in its surveillance of the PKK. If the investigation shows that the evidence of the MIT involvement is true, that tie could be quickly severed. For a long time, such relations, and such collaboration was of great value to Turkey. Many European countries, in addition, were supportive or collaborated in monitoring the activities of the PKK in Europe. It is telling however that until the situation is clearer, and the investigation reaches a conclusion, Germany has chosen to 'interrupt' the mutual assistance on the matter of the PKK.
That in essence translates into the realization that Germany, or other European countries may have aided the MIT in identifying PKK members that were then targeted for assassination by the Intelligence services. And that is something no EU member wants to be involved in.
But besides the frantic hand washing, is the EU closing both eyes to individual countries' violations of EU charters, and specifically of Turkey's recent actions and legislation? Is the EU really committed to human rights violations prosecution, or are economic interests diminishing the EU charter's strength and validity? In the case of Turkey, the answer could be yes.
Op_Ed
Partial Source : Spiegel Intl/ 2.12.14
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