Who is joining the PKK?

Although the PKK Terrorist Organization has lost many of its militants in military operations since its first armed attacks in 1984, it still continues to exist. The main reason for this is that terrorists who were captured as dead or injured and surrendered are quickly being replaced by new participants. If the PKK is to be eliminated, it is an inevitable necessity to prevent participation in the organization.

In order to prevent participation in the PKK, first of all, it is necessary to determine who joined the organization, why they joined and how they joined. In this article, I will try to explain these issues related to participation in the PKK Terrorist Organization through the events that I learned from open sources and heard from people working in the region. Here, I will only describe the events without specifying the place and name.

The first event is connected with problems in the social structure of the region. A very beautiful girl was given to an old man by her father as the wife of who knows how many, in exchange for a high bride price just because she is rich. The girl had a girlfriend her age. The boy rebelled against this situation and joined the PKK. He sent word to the girl and told her to join the organization and that they could be together on the mountain. The girl believed this and ran away from home and went to the mountain with the person who brought the news. But soon she escaped from the mountain and surrendered to the gendarme.

According to the girl's statement to the gendarmerie, the reason for escaping from the mountain is as interesting as the reason for fleeing to the mountain. When the girl was asked why she had surrendered, she replied: “I ran away from home to get into the bed of the man I love, not an old man, but I couldn't be with him on the mountain. Moreover, I had to get into bed with many men I never wanted. That's why I ran away at the first opportunity."

The reason for the second case is family conflict. The man married multiple women. A son from his ex-wife had a fight with a son from his new wife. When his father took the side of his son from his second wife and tried to beat the boy, the boy stabbed his father and went to the mountains to join the PKK. Another similar case is the story of a wanted man for stabbing. A young man who stabbed and injured someone when the PKK was just beginning to appear in the middle, and was wanted by both the gendarmerie and the relatives of the injured person for this reason, went to the mountains and started banditry together with some outlaws like himself. When the PKK started restructuring in the region, he joined the organization with his friends.

One of the most common methods among those who joined the organization in the 90s was to join by persuasion. This is how it happens. Armed terrorist group in every region tours villages away from security forces in the evening. They gather the villagers in a house and give a propaganda speech. As a result of these conversations, the affected people join the organization. If there is no participation from the village, the terrorists begin to impose some sanctions. “You pay taxes to the state. You are serving in the army of the state. From now on, you will also pay taxes to us. You will also serve us as soldiers for a certain period of time.” they collect money from the villagers under the name of tax according to their income and take a certain number of children from each family with them according to the number of children.

Another very common method is the direct child abduction method. For example, a 13-year-old boy is cut off from the village to the city with his relatives, and the terrorists forcibly take the child with them. Since some of the child's relatives are village guards and the child does not want to join the organization despite all efforts, they imprison this child in a cave for about eight months. During this time, they send various terrorists, including some terrorists from his own village, to the cave to persuade him. However, when the child was not convinced, "We will try you to death!" They set up a fake court. The boy agrees to join the organization, fearing that he will be killed. After that, he is subjected to intense military and ideological training and is brainwashed.

You may think that such involvements are the most untrustworthy elements in the organization, but they are not. The members of the organization live in constant fear that the MIT or military intelligence will bring agents among them. For this reason, they always look at those who come and join the organization with suspicion. Terrorists who behave uneasy and somewhat unbalanced due to both fear and psychological problems are carefully observed. In the meantime, if there is an operation against them, the people under observation are questioned. During this interrogation, they say whatever they want under heavy torture and are usually shot.[1]

They trust the employees whom they kidnapped and brainwashed at a young age, thinking that it is not possible for them to become agents. Most of those abducted in this way are children of nomads or those who herd animals close to the village. Sometimes they kidnap the children who are herding the herd of a village of village guards with the herd. Once they kidnapped the shepherd and the flock in this way, The ends notice the situation. Together with the soldiers, they begin to follow the terrorists. When the terrorists realize this, they stab their necks with knives, injuring the whole herd and fleeing. Animals suffer and die from blood loss. But they do not leave the child at the head of the herd.

Another common method is to persuade high school and university students to join the organization. While the participants were mostly from rural areas in the beginning, over time, the participation from schools started to increase in this way. In general, children join the organization en masse with the propaganda of a group of friends, a teacher or a janitor. Family problems are also effective in such participations. For example, a man who marries a young woman after his wife dies gives him to a boarding school because his new wife does not want him. Even after the girl goes to school, she never visits him. The depressed girl joins the organization, influenced by a boy she met on the street one day.

In universities, children whose fathers cannot send money or who have other problems fall into the organization's network. First of all, the trust of the children is gained with the help of money and the provision of accommodation. They are then persuaded to join the organization. Sometimes a crime is committed against children whose trust is gained in this way, and after that, they are told that they are under legal prosecution and are taken to the mountains on the pretext of escaping from the security forces.

Another method with high participation is convincing young people to go to the mountains through propaganda made in the party organizations, which are the political extensions of the PKK. In this way, the interrogation made when those who joined the organization were caught or surrendered did not yield any results. Because the persuasion team is different, the person who takes them to the organization is different. The names of these people are also often fake. These kids go on their own where the people who convinced them tell them to. The meeting place is different from the party building, and the meeting methods are so well-planned that they can beat spy movies.

People who are called militia, who make propaganda for the PKK in villages and towns, participate in demonstrations in nearby areas and deal with supply, also convince many people to go to the mountains. In addition, some imams also recruit many members of the PKK. For example, the father of a person who was one of the most important representatives of the PKK abroad, who was an imam, also worked for the KUK (Kurdistan National Liberationists) organization before 1980. This imam, who was listened to, convinced many people to go to the mountains with the speeches he gave after the PKK came to the region where he lived.

On the other hand, an imam in another village convinced the whole village to support the PKK. However, when it was determined that this imam, whose salary was paid by the villagers, was actually a Christian and had a Bible in the mosque, the villagers changed sides and became village guards. This bible finding happened by accident. Since the imam worked very carefully, he did not attract the attention of the security forces. For this reason, the military units that came to look for the village were not looking for the mosque and the imam's lodging.

The building I call a mosque is not one of the minaret mosques you know. It is a building made of stone and mud like the other houses of the village, the roof is covered with oaks, nylon is laid on it and clay soil is poured over it. Generally, lodging is a similar building adjacent to this building. Imams, on the other hand, are mostly not imams of the Diyanet. The Diyanet appoints imams in some villages, but the imams do not go to the village they are appointed to, using security as an excuse. For example, the Diyanet has appointed an imam to a village guard that has a battalion headquarters and two squadrons, but the imam master has not gone to his post on the grounds that there is a danger of terror and I have children, they cannot study in that village. Instead of sending him to his place of duty, the mufti assigned him to the mufti.

Since the imams of the Diyanet do not go to the villages, the imams in the villages are usually those who operate informally and receive religious education in places called madrasahs. Since they are not official imams of the Diyanet, they do not receive a salary from the state. Their salaries are paid by the villagers. For this reason, a salary bargain is first made in order to bring an imam to the village. When the salary is agreed, the imam comes to the village and starts work.

Perhaps the most interesting story I have heard about joining the PKK terrorist organization is the story of a boy who joined the PKK with the desire to become a pilot. PKK terrorist organization city staff said to a child who wanted to become a pilot, who took the military high school exam for this, but could not win, “We have helicopters in Iraq, we teach young people like you to use helicopters there. If you join the organization, we will send you to the pilot school in Iraq." they deceived. Of course, as soon as the boy went up to the mountain, he realized that he was being tricked because other terrorists made fun of him. He tried to escape, but was caught and imprisoned in a cave for a long time. Taking advantage of the turmoil during an operation, he escaped and surrendered to the security forces.

Sometimes there are people who join the organization for unexpected reasons. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard one of these. A young man shepherds the village flock and a middle-aged man with a relative.

PKK terrorists capture the man on the mountain. Since these two shepherds are from the village guards, they are first subjected to torture. Then they bring the two face to face so that they can see each other. They put a rope around the necks of the shepherds. Two terrorists hold the two ends of the rope that goes around each shepherd's neck and start pulling.

The shepherds are slowly suffocating to death as the ropes, to which two terrorists pull, tighten. They throw the shepherds' corpses into a cocoon (a deep rocky depression in the mountains made of chalky stones.) and cover them with stones. The relatives of these shepherds are looking for the body a lot, but they cannot find it. I have heard that even years after the event, every time their relatives went up to the mountain, they were digging burrows and burrows in the hope of at least finding their skeletons.

But interestingly, the middle-aged shepherd's son, who was killed, joined the PKK. This may seem silly, but take your time. The reason is much more ridiculous. The boy learned who the leader of the terrorist group that killed his father, that is, the terrorist who ordered his father's death, was and decided that the only way to avenge his father was to join the PKK. He thought that they would definitely meet that terrorist one day, and he planned to shoot him as soon as he did.

Do you know what the result was? The terrorist who strangled his father was promoted without meeting him and became responsible for a mountain. Naturally, the organization had some money with a backpack. One day, so much money came that the terrorist could not resist the lure of money and escaped from the organization by taking the money bag. It was even said that he escaped from Turkey and enjoyed the money in another country.

The terrorist, who went to the mountain to shoot him, could not escape from the mountain even though he learned this. Because he could not find a suitable opportunity, and as a result of a twist of fate, he was shot dead along with many members of the terrorist group he was in, in an ambush set up by the soldiers and the guards of his own village, very close to the area where his father drowned.

Sometimes there were unusual participations. I think there is no one who does not know Semdin Sakık. This person, who is from the Zengök Village of Muş, committed many crimes, including stabbing his own father, before the PKK was around. Naturally, he went to the mountain and started to live as a fugitive. When the PKK started to settle in the region, he joined the organization. The reason for his rise in the organization was that he was successful in surprise raids and ambushes and was extremely cruel to both the security forces, the people and his own men, as in the case of the martyrdom of 33 unarmed soldiers.

This terrorist, whom our state summoned to the courts as a confessor in conspiracy cases and arrested many officers based on his words, also had other skills. For example, this person is very fond of his own luxury. When the terrorists could not find food, even the chocolate was not missing. He usually does not sleep without drinking a double raki in the evening. Most importantly, he was very fond of flycatchers. “We liberate women.” he kisses the girls on the lips while kissing the boys on the cheeks.

While Semdin was in charge of the state, he was traveling with a bodyguard of 22 people. But none of the guards were men. When she was told to get some male bodyguards, she said "she doesn't trust boys, girls are more reliable". But everybody knew what he was doing with the girls. Of course, although rare, some girls refused to be his concubines.

It happened when he tried to rape a girl who resisted like that. The other girl terrorists took a stand against it. This took the girls' guns and sent them all home. When this incident reached Abdullah Öcalan's ears, he immediately said that he would find as many new female terrorists as the one who left, and recruit them to the organization, otherwise he would be held accountable. Thereupon, Şemdin immediately sent men to the nearest villages and forcibly took one young girl from families with more than one daughter and took her to the mountain.

Apart from these, there are also those who are attracted to the organization and go to the mountains on their own. Growing up in a family of 14-15 children, tired of no one's notice, unemployment and powerlessness, some children embark on a quest. Joining the PKK seems to be an opportunity for these young people, who are impressed by the fact that they will have weapons in the organization and the respect shown by the villagers to the terrorists who come to the village, mixed with fear. In addition, some young people who have nothing in their village and whom no one respects, join the organization with the expectation that when they join the organization, they will reach a respectable position as squad commander or team commander.

Being a squad commander in the PKK is as important as being a general in the Turkish army. That's why troop leaders, including squad commanders, are often complained to top terrorists by lesser terrorists who have their eyes on them. There is a subjective reason for being a commander and feeling important, as well as a practical reason for surviving longer. Because the terrorists, who are in command of the actions, are in a more secure place. Bthey just live longer than ordinary terrorists who do more dangerous jobs.

While most of the people who joined the PKK were from rural areas in the past, participation from cities (provinces and districts) has increased over time. Those who joined from the city were a little more polite and had difficulty walking on the land, so they were humiliated by the village terrorists at first. They called them "metropolitan boy" to make fun of them. However, after a while, this situation was reversed as metropolitan children reached significant numbers in the organization. Participants from the city began to humiliate those from the countryside with expressions such as "peasant cunning".

The participants from the cities are usually people who have to join the organization after a well-planned process. These children are first engaged in activities that seem fun to them, such as throwing stones at military vehicles, participating in protest marches, and throwing Molotov cocktails. For this reason, from the moment they are interrogated by the police, the level of crimes they commit is increased and they spontaneously join the organization because of the fear of being caught and imprisoned after these crimes.

One of the reasons for joining the organization that may not attract attention is the historical and cultural background. A military unit in a region is conducting research on the tribes and villages of the region. The villages and tribes involved in the revolts in the last period of the Ottoman Empire, the National Struggle and the first years of the Republic are examined and it is determined that these are the villages that support the PKK and provide personnel at a rate close to one hundred percent. The tribes and villages that supported the state during those revolts were generally village guards. This finding is interesting in that it shows how important knowing history is in the fight against terrorism.

Another interesting finding in this direction was the behavior of those who were exiled from the west to the east during the Ottoman period. For example, they say that a nomadic tribe that was the biggest supporter of the PKK was a Yörük tribe that was exiled to the east due to an incident in the Isparta-Burdur region during the Ottoman period. In another region, there is a more interesting situation. Again, in the last period of the Ottoman Empire, some villages in Central Anatolia were persecuted by the state for the incidents they took. They fled the region out of fear and took refuge in a tribe in the east.

In the east, people who come from outside, not from the village or tribe, are called Kırmanç or Kırmançi. In this position, they joined one of the tribes and over time they forgot Turkish. Although the villages where the original members of this tribe lived were village guards, the villages founded by people of Turkish origin who later came and took refuge in the tribe supported the PKK.

In addition to these, there are those who are influenced by the ideology of the PKK by reading the newspapers, watching television and reading the books published by the PKK Terrorist Organization and thus decide to join the organization. Although these are the most loyal members of the organization, they are not very numerous. Most of the people who join the organization join for the reasons mentioned above, and the ideology of the organization is adopted by these people through the training given after joining the organization.

These trainings are carried out by one-way conferences or collective book readings. First, the foundation and historical development of the PKK are told, then the lives of Abdullah Öcalan and the founders are mentioned, and then books on Marxist ideology are read. Since the same books are constantly being read and memorized, almost all terrorists use words used in old left jargon and always say the same things.

In the past, since the PKK adopted a Marxist ideology, it was told during these trainings that religions were fabrications and that the Prophets were leaders of the society like Abdullah Öcalan. They also played theaters among themselves that made fun of the religion of Islam and prayer. It is even said that the national religion of the Kurds is Zoroastrianism. However, after Abdullah Öcalan was captured, the organization developed a discourse called reconciliation with religion, and even those who asked the militants were allowed to fast.

From the examples we have given so far, you may think that only people of eastern and Kurdish origin joined the organization, but this is not true. In some places, families said to be of Armenian origin are reported to be supporters of the PKK. Some young people of Turkish origin from western provinces who adopt the Marxist-Leninist ideology also join the organization. The sympathizers of small ultra-left organizations dating back to pre-1980 are also acting together with the PKK, either independently or as a team from their own organizations.

Assyrians, I think, operated within the PKK for a period with an armed group of 25-30 people under the name of the Assyrian Liberation Army. There are terrorists joining the organization from Syria and Iraq Yazidis. Terrorists, who are Lebanese and Syrian Armenians, also join the organization, albeit to a lesser extent. In the 1990s, when they raided villages that were once Armenian villages and now Muslims live in the 1990s, they were swearing at the village guards over the radio, saying, "We will take the lands of our ancestors from you."

From what we've said so far, If we classify the reasons for joining the organization, it is possible to list them as follows.

1. Problems arising from the social structure.

2. Economic reasons.

3. Individual reasons.

4. Ideological reasons.

5. Historical and cultural residue.

6. Ethnic and religious motivations.

7. Organizational propaganda.

8. Persuasion by deception by false promises and other methods.

9. Legal issues.

10. Emotional reasons.

11. Polygamy and crowded family structure.

12. Problems in the education system.

Footnotes

[1] These interrogations are quite brutal and inhumane. That's why the questioned say whatever is asked of him after a while. Because she can't stand the pain. For example, in some interrogations, nylon is melted and dripped onto different parts of the person being questioned. Sometimes, by going even further, a hole is made with a knife in the upper part of the shoulders of the person being questioned and nylon is dripped into his internal organs.