Counterterrorism Efforts

Counterterrorism Efforts By: Steven Stitt

Turkish Security Forces • Turkish National Police • Gendarmerie • Security forces capture Abdullah Ocalan in Kenya on February 15, 1999 • Turkish government had to pressure Syria to expel Ocalan • Hindered the PKK leaderless for a certain amount of time

Villages • Would set up militias to keep the PKK out • Didn’t want to thought of as sympathizers • Didn’t want PKK to destroy their homes • Report suspicious activities to security forces

Turkish Government • Helped to combat recruiting efforts by going after the grievances that PKK sympathizers felt instead of the terrorists themselves • Used the Repentance Law that passed in the 1980s to get ~2,400 terrorist to yield to police forces for a reduced sentence • Originally played by a “no compromise” or “no negotiation” policy • This changed in the early months of 2013 when the Turkish government and the PKK began talks of negotiation

Negotiations • Began talks of negotiations in late December 2012/early 2013 • Negotiations about autonomous region and disarmament • Ocalan helped sway the PKK to cooperate with the government • On March 21, 2013 Ocalan’s letter to the people called for a cease-fire, disarmament, and withdrawal from Turkish soil • On April 25 the PKK said it would be withdrawing its forces from Turkey to Northern Iraq

Counterterrorism Efforts