Page 86 - America's Failure to Perceive the PKK

The tactic was a familiar one; Öcalan criticized Islam to curry favor
with the U.S., denies the presence of Kurdish people living by Islam
and appears to support Christian and Jewish belief, as if he had the
slightest faith or respect for any religious belief. Particularly note-
worthy was his cunning emphasis on Armageddon, which Christian
Evangelicals were expecting to see in Mesopotamia.

This impression was an exceptionally deceptive one. Indeed, 70
th
PKK camps suddenly sprung up north of the 36 Parallel, breaking
19
away with a special administration. The researcher Jay Walker set
out his observations in the PKK camps in a piece titled "Kurdish
uprising in Turkey"; "… I have seen 20 PKK training camps by the border.
In these camps, they were eating French cheese and drinking American cacao
and coffee." 20

During this time, the PKK was reinforced especially against Iran,
which the U.S. perceived as a major threat. The no-fly zone in ques-

The PKK grew stronger in the wake of the
Hammer Force and returned to its terrorist
actions, having rearmed, on Turkish soil.
Twenty PKK camps suddenly appeared to
th
the north of the 36 parallel, and by means
of a purely superficial change of tactics
they received backing from the U.S. and
the coalition.

84 America's Failure to Perceive the PKK