Former PKK member admits US complicity and released

[sabra]

Source: turkishdailynews

A former member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) who surrendered to authorities provided information on U.S. support for the group and was released yesterday on the basis of the repentance law.

According to the repentance law, members of a terrorist group who have not taken part in violent acts are eligible for amnesty if they provide important information on the group.

A spokesperson from the U.S. Embassy in Ankara said it was a "ridiculous idea" to think that the United States supports the outlawed group, speaking to the Turkish Daily News yesterday. "The PKK is a terrorist organization. We have been working with Turkish authorities for many years to defeat this organization. We are not dealing with terrorists," she said.

The former PKK member, who was a truck driver before joining the group, left the group and sought shelter with northern Iraqi authorities. Four months ago, he was handed over to Turkey at the Habur border gate. He was charged with being a member of an illegal group.

He told Turkish authorities that high-ranking U.S. military officers had visited PKK camps in northern Iraq to meet with senior PKK members.

Read more: http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=89743

[seemslikeadream]

1. July that they had seized American arms from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, rebels.

Feds probe whether Blackwater smuggled weapons into Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal prosecutors are investigating whether employees of the private security firm Blackwater USA illegally smuggled weapons into Iraq that may have been sold on the black market and ended up in the hands of a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, officials said Friday.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh, North Carolina, is handling the investigation with help from Pentagon and State Department auditors, who have concluded there is enough evidence to file charges, the officials told The Associated Press. snip

According to officials in Washington, the investigation grew from internal Pentagon and State Department inquiries into U.S. weapons that had gone missing in Iraq.

It gained steam after Turkish authorities protested to the U.S. in July that they had seized American arms from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, rebels.

The Turks provided serial numbers of the weapons to U.S. investigators, said a Turkish official.

The Pentagon said in late July it was looking into the Turkish complaints and a U.S. official said FBI agents had traveled to Turkey in recent months to look into cases of missing U.S. weapons in Iraq.

Investigators are determining whether the alleged Blackwater weapons match those taken from the PKK.

It was not clear if Blackwater employees suspected of selling to the black market knew the weapons they allegedly sold to middlemen might wind up with the PKK. If they did, possible charges against them could be more serious than theft or illegal weapons sales, officials said.

The PKK, which is fighting for an independent Kurdistan, is banned in Turkey, which has a restive Kurdish population and is considered a "foreign terrorist organization" by the State Department. That designation bars U.S. citizens or those in U.S. jurisdictions from supporting the group in any way.

[seemslikeadream]

2. Turkish security services in possession of videotapes of weapon deliveries by US military to PKK

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1327965

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38510

ANKARA, Jul 12 (IPS) - It seems now certain: No invasion of Northern Iraq by the Turkish army before the legislative elections scheduled for Jul. 22. Disappointed? Many in Turkey are, not least the military. Surprised? Not a bit. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's fingers are expert at navigating between buttons of the yellow and red traffic lights of the road to Arbil.

.....

The Turkish population, regardless of geography, political affiliation, or social class, is increasingly vocal in its anti-Americanism, as recent polls have revealed, and the press reflects on a daily basis. Ahead of the elections, some candidates adroitly use the "ugly American" card, and conspiracy theories abound.

Many analysts, including business executives and academics, seem genuinely convinced that the U.S. government is planning to create a Kurdish state, cutting into Iraq and Turkey, in a model inspired by the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

.....


Rumours on the streets of Ankara and other cities around the country, as well as in the editorial offices of newspapers and TV stations, purport that the Turkish security services are in possession of videotapes of weapon deliveries by U.S. military staff to PKK combatants in Northern Iraq. These, say critics of the Bush administration, are proofs of U.S. perfidy

[dipsydoodle]

5. Careful !

"planning to create a Kurdish state" ! It's sad enough having posts moved spuriously in the P & I Forum at the very mention of the word Israel. Next thing there'll be a Kurdish Forum. :rofl:

[Turbineguy]

3. The US involved with a terrorist group?

What a crazy suggestion!

Why that's almost as ridiculous as the charges against Col. Oliver North!

Oh...wait...

[downindixie]

4. Oh! How I wish they would show those tapes on T.V.

Rumours on the streets of Ankara and other cities around the country, as well as in the editorial offices of newspapers and TV stations, purport that the Turkish security services are in possession of videotapes of weapon deliveries by U.S. military staff to PKK combatants in Northern Iraq.

[LynnTheDem]

6. So it's "ridiculous" to think USA supports the terrorist group PKK, huh.

Well that's strange.

Coz the USA certainly did & does.