Are PKK members terrorists?
Few people would argue that the PKK does not use terrorist tactics. Linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky says the PKK does commit terrorist acts, but he charges that the United States helped make it possible for Turkey to carry on a “horrendous counter-insurgency campaign” that victimized innocent civilians. “To our shame, Turkey could do that thanks to the huge flow of military aid from the U.S., which escalated as atrocities peaked, and the failure of the press to report it,” Chomsky says. Chomsky, who has been involved in Kurdish human-rights issues, says the Turkish army killed tens of thousands of Kurds and destroyed more than 3,000 Kurdish villages. The PKK is accused of atrocities as well, notably against Kurdish clans that resisted its control. The United States and other nations have branded the PKK a terrorist organization. What’s the PKK doing in Iraq? During the1990s, the Turkish military forced the guerrillas to move some of their operations out of the country. PKK
