Europe sees the crisis but does not understand it

This post I write in England. The tension on the Iraqi-Turkish boarder has been one of the main news in the European mass media. But here is not much understanding about the complexity of the Kurdish question.

The news concentrate on PKK. Before I came to London some journalists called me from the Finnish Broadcasting Company. It was easy to understand from their questions that they did not understand much about the problem. Their main interest was to know how many Kurds support PKK.

Some journalists write that if Turkey attacks North Iraq it might have also some other purposes than the destruction of PKK. They understand that Turkey would like to occupy North Iraq to prevent Kurdistan Regional Government to give independence declaration. But these news do not have any details. For example they do not tell about the Kerkuk referendum and Article 140.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in London on Tuesday the 23rd October. His program was kept secret opposite to what is the normal practice during such visits. Also the British government was afraid for demonstrations against his visit. And for good reason. The Kurdish community is preparing demonstrations against the war.

If Turkey really starts the war the demonstrations might became massive. In Europe there is strong peace movement and it has lots of experience in arranging protests against the Iraq war.

In Turkey the self censorship of mass media is reaching an alarming level. Whole the world is against Turkey's war plans but Turkish people do not know it. Instead television programmes tell them that Turks are now as strong than during the Ottoman times. Well, every one outside Turkey knows the truth.

On Sunday one week ago PKK captured eight soldiers in Hakkari. When it gave their pictures to the publicity, Turkish TV channels did not showe these pictures and only very Turkish news papers printed them.

One of the few Turkish journalists who has critised the war plans is Lale Sariibrahimoglu. She is columnist in Today's Zaman and correspondent of Jane's Defence Weekly's. It is one of the leading magazines in the world about military issues. Mrs. Sariibrahimoglu has been writing to it sixteen years. She says about Turkey's war plans that Turkey is shooting itself to the foot.

Last week Mrs. Sariibrahimoglu had a trial in Istanbul. The prosecutor claims that she has insulted the military by one of her articles. According to the Article 301 of Turkish Penal Code this is a crime.

Winter is coming but Turkey's army wants to send its sons to the Kurdish mountains. If the war really starts how the Turkish people feel when they learn the truth only by bitter experience? That the Ottoman time is over.

Whole the world speaks now about negotiations and a peaceful solution to this crisis. Turkish people should listen to these speeches. Also they would benefit if there would be political solution to the Kurdish question. Peace is not a defeat for Turkey.