This is the first time the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) killed a cleric as publicly as in this case. It always refrained from messing with clerics. Did it do this out of its respect for religion or because of its sympathy for pious people? No. The PKK was established as a Marxist-Leninist organization. It was never on good terms with religion or spiritual matters. After the collapse of communism and the communist mentality of organizations, it saw a certain wear and tear of this salient character of theirs, but this did not bring PKK militants any closer to religion. Even according to a survey it conducted and publicized, the religion PKK militants feel the most sympathy for is Zoroastrianism. This is followed by Christianity and Islam.
Despite the fact that the PKK conducted and published this survey itself, it did not approve of this fact being voiced. Perhaps they were so disturbed by the publicity of their Zoroastrian and Christian image that they launched activities to dissuade Muslim Kurds from believing in this image. Still, they could not make that survey be completely forgotten. According to the survey, Prophet Muhammad ranked low among favored leaders. While virtually all Kurds are Muslim, what was it that the PKK was doing and what peoples was it fighting for?
Notwithstanding, the PKK has always refrained from getting into a conflict with religious groups. For them, it was the correct strategy as it would be impossible to garner any support from people in a war against religion and religious people. The people who they claimed to be fighting to liberate were Muslims with deeply held beliefs who would banish them away by all means. They had firmly held traditions, customs and reverence for religion. And it was for the exact same reasons the PKK management had avoided attacking madrasahs or mullahs, as the local people call them. This, of course, was the case until several days ago…
The organization is moving toward a point of suicide. Until now, it could produce some excuses for clashes it had with the military or police; unfortunately, there were certain practices from extraordinary periods that would justify those excuses, and the local people could justify the campaigns against the state to a certain extent. Yet, it killed an unarmed person who never engaged in an armed clash and who was popular among the people. We don’t know which wing of the organization conducted this devious ambush or whether it was part of a new and general policy. We cannot say much about whether the Zoroastrian wing of the organization was on a manhunt for imams either. But there are serious suspicions as to the connection of this horrible incident with the referendum.
The PKK recently increased its pressures on the locals. It has been working to ensure that the referendum is boycotted. In its current state, it is close to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Even this image is creating uneasiness among the grass roots. But the organization does not take heed of this. Instead, it goes on to conduct attacks just to scare opinion leaders and ordinary people. Don’t be distracted by the reverse propaganda in big cities that claimed the PKK’s votes are shifting toward a “yes.” The PKK is still exerting pressure on locals, urging them to say “no” in the referendum.
Their recent acrimony is attributable to their deep relations, for which they were caught red-handed. Those who feel sympathetic toward the organization are questioning these relations. Militants want to come down from the mountains. The world no longer supports this organization, which is being managed with Stalinist methods. As its logistic support diminishes, the militants start to become noisy about leadership, and even the cult of leadership cannot save the PKK. If they open up new fronts against religion, pious or conservative people with a mood of defeat or isolation, I can assure you this will be the end of the organization. Kurds still preserve strong ties with Islam. In refusing to accept this truth, the organization went down the wrong road, and if it continues going down this road, it will be the beginning of the end. The whole world has witnessed it countless times: No authority has become successful its way against religion because it has found the people resisting it.
