REPORTERNET.COM

The terrorist Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) and its armed wing, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), have entered the ranks of the world's biggest drug cartels, narcotics operations in recent years show.

Last week, in the predominantly Kurdish province of Diyarbakır in southeast Turkey, 44 tons of marijuana were seized, worth an estimated TL 28 million. This was the largest operation into the KCK/PKK's illegal drug business. This is important as KCK/PKK administrators have always claimed their struggle only concerns the Kurdish cause and that the financing was not illegal. Murat Karayılan, the PKK's number two after its jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan, once said, “Even smoking is prohibited by the PKK, let alone doing drugs,” which was met with an ironic smile by anyone familiar with the terrorist organization's multi-million dollar narcotics business in the region.

Karayılan’s statement, however, is highly inconsistent, as it is known that illegal narcotics have been one of the organization’s primary financial resources since its beginnings. The US lists Karayılan as a major drug baron; PKK leaders such as Sabri Ok are also listed as drug traffickers. The PKK has become increasingly dominant and important in the global narcotics trade and is now involved at every stage of narcotics production and trafficking. Weapons and ammunition are financed with drug money, but being in this business also makes the PKK the top dog in the Middle East, especially along important drug routes.

The PKK’s rise in narco-terrorism has a long background story. Its members once acted as couriers for important drug lords in the region. When Kurdish businessman Behçet Cantürk -- who was no stranger to the narcotics business himself -- was suspiciously killed in January 1994, a new era for the PKK began. They took over most of his business, forcing mafia lords dealing narcotics to cooperate with them. Even Cumhur Yakut, labeled by the US as a drug smuggling kingpin in 2008, had to smuggle narcotics for the PKK. Yakut, who is still at large, and many others, don’t have the leeway to take a single step without the knowledge of the PKK, indicating the influence of the PKK in the underground world of the long-time, established drug mafia.

In fact, police operations also show that there has been a major transition in terms of the average drug boss’ profile. There are new families, mostly Kurdish clans, who are in the drug business. About 350 smaller and 30 large clans are believed to be working with the KCK/PKK as their partners, according to intelligence sources. This basically means that the PKK is practically a monopoly in the Turkish and European narcotics trade.

They usually rely on individual couriers in narcotics trafficking, allowing the KCK/PKK to remain behind the scene. If anyone involved is captured, they testify that they are in the business on their own, but recent operations have established that many of those who have been captured are KCK/PKK members, even militants. A report prepared by İ.B., a suspect currently in jail on charges of membership in the KCK, that was seized by police during the investigation clearly indicates that many of the Southeast’s established clans and families as well as district mayors are also in the business, which takes place in Yüksekova, in Hakkari province. İ.B.’s report, which was written under the pseudonym Gever, also shows that Yüksekova, Çukurcu and Şemdinli -- all in Hakkari province -- are important transitional routes for drug traffickers. Experts say the only possible way to stop drug trafficking is to minimize taxes for trade conducted on Turkey’s borders. This would minimize smuggling, meaning that the PKK’s profiteering by money extorted from smugglers active in the area could not take place. As legal trade routes move to illegal lines because of high customs taxes, smugglers often include illegal narcotics in their cargo, which would normally include legal items.

(source: Zaman)