Page 302 - America's Failure to Perceive the PKK

The Chairman of the Fraternal Association for
Preserving Rights of Temporary Village
Guards says: "While we were on duty, the PKK
was looking for a place to hide. There was no
such thing as the PKK."

The numbers given by Ümit Özdağ in his book are dreadfully
gruesome:

In this period when the PKK's revolutionary violence knew no

limits, a total of 799 civilians were massacred including 243
babies and children, and 172 women. At the end of this term, the
village guards had given 1,614 martyrs in total. And 1,856 of the
village guards turned out to be veterans. 117

The "Kurdism" propaganda of the PKK and how it manipulates

people through its exploitation of Kurdish nationalist sentiment is
completely invalidated with the fact of the village guard system. The
majority of our village guards are of Kurdish and Zaza origin. Ata
Altın, the General Coordinator of Temporary Village Guards Associa-
tion and Federation of Families of Martyrs, has stated that the village
guards incorporate a body of one million including their family mem-
bers, and "are of Kurdish origin and speak in Kurdish language. They live by

the Kurdish culture, but do not want terrorism or separation." 118

300 America's Failure to Perceive the PKK