MURAT KARAYILAN: NEW YEAR'S PREDICTIONS

"All right, first order of business . . . go over to Hevallo's place and check out his report on the recent conference on the Kurdish situation at Chatham House in the UK. Even TDN picked up on the conclusion of the Chatham House conference:

Turkey can probably never defeat the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and cross-border attacks on its bases in Iraq are almost certainly futile, a leading think-tank said Wednesday.

Chatham House, noting that the Iraqi government is cautious about confronting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), added that Kurdish nationalism is experiencing a popular and "political renaissance" in the whole region. "The PKK is a well-motivated force that enjoys local support and the protection afforded by the inaccessible terrain of the border regions," it said in a report, released a day after Turkish troops entered northern Iraq.

"Turkey can probably never defeat the PKK and any further incursions across the border are likely to be futile," it added.

Futile, indeed. Hevallo himself called for the decriminalization of PKK and for pressure to be applied to the Ankara regime for a peaceful, negotiated settlement. Also of note from Hevallo's blog is the interview with Osman Baydemir, who says, among other things:"
Rasti