Why nobody talks about PKK fighters?

This map has been published by the Institute for the Study of War on August 26. It is a report on Iraq. Airstrikes and major clashes are happening between Mosul and Erbil, claims the institute.  Pashmerga are fighting IS, with the help of “unknown gunmen.”  Everybody talks about the Kurdish fighters and of course about ISF – Iraq Security Forces. Very few people recognize the Kurdistan Workers Party aka PKK as a legittimate force on the ground, which is not just fighting but also rescuing civilians attacked by ISIS. It happened on Mount Sinjar, where, according to sources on  the ground, they were the only ones who pushed back IS and opened a safe passage for families and innocents to escape.

 

“We are alive just because of them. The Pashmerga left us there alone without even shooting a bullet,” said Faris, a 27 years old engineer, who is helping to set up a camp by the Iraq border with Turkey. Most of the Yazidi praise the PKK and some join their fight. About 2,000 of them are still on Mont Sinjar where US airstrikes are happening and coordinated with the help of some team on the ground . In the meantime PKK fighters are pushing back IS forces in Al Malakia, just at the border with Syria. The PKK is not fighting along side Pashmerga. The Kurdish soldiers are protecting Erbil while the PKK is on the field.

Neither the State Department nor Europeans governments are ready to admit PKK could be a force to collaborate with. Official reports deny this possibility. Why? “They are terrorist.” There is a lot of confusion about what is the PKK. Some might even call it a Sunni religious group. Not true.

Listed as a terrorist organization in October 1998, the Kurdistan Workers Party was founded by Abdullah Ocalan in 1978 as a Marxist-Leninist separatist organization. Since then it has evolved in a movement with a popular base across the Middle East and the Kurd s population. The PKK’s armed insurgency in Turkey that began in 1984 has gone through ups and downs marked by periods of serious bloodshed. The PKK is currently in a “state of non-conflict” as part of its engagement in the “peace and settlement process” the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government initiated in 2012. They are still demanding greater rights for 15 millions Kurds in Turkey. Their ultimate aim is to gain independence.

The US foreign terrorist organization -FTO-  list is reviewed every five years. Many critics believe the State Department included the PKK under Turkey pressure. But now the scenario has changed and some analysts working in the area claim the PKK should be recognized as a fighting force, maybe the one able to defy and resist IS forces. But the US is not ready to that. As stated by Marie Harf, Deputy Spokesperson, during the daily press briefing on August 25: “Our position on the PKK status has not changed. We are aware that there are many groups that are fighting ISIL in northern Iraq. Our efforts are focused on supporting the Government of Iraq, as part of Iraq the KRG, to provide much-needed security assistance to protect Iraq. So again, we know there are many groups here, but our position on the PKK has not changed.” Again the day after: “We don’t think that having a common enemy makes you a friend, so that would be the case here as well.”

As a result everybody keeps quite about the PKK. Little has been reported on what they are achieving and how important they became in defending Iraq. PKK female fighters on the front lines have circulated widely and many articles have been written on how much IS might hate that. Women has always fought in the PKK. So, is that the real story?