Turkey's fight with the PKK is heading toward an end

A statement to German TV channels made on April 9 by Cemil Bay?k, one of military leaders of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK), could prove to be the strongest response to imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan?s March 21 call to end the armed campaign launched against Turkey in 1984, in which more than 40,000 people have been killed to date.

The news agencies focused on the ?apology to Germany? part of the interview.

It is indeed an important development for the PKK to regret that it had turned a country home to hundreds of thousands of Turkey?s Kurds into a major battleground for its activities - in activity second only to Turkey. This could be a major move in order for the PKK to be removed from Germany?s official list of terrorist organizations.

?I apologize to the German people on behalf of the PKK,? Bay?k said. ?That will never happen again.?
His words were referring to actions ranging from violence at demonstrations - such as PKK sympathizers setting themselves ablaze - to the bombing of Turkish and German targets, to massive extortion campaigns targeting Kurdish and Turkish business owners and workers in Germany.

However, perhaps it was most important for Bay?k to say that the PKK was fed up with fighting. ?The PKK is no longer aiming for an independent Kurdish state,? Bay?k said. ?We will try a political solution. We do not want to fight against Turkey any more. We say, that?s enough. Neither us nor the Turkish state has achieved our goals through war.?

To hear those words from one of most hawkish PKK leaders is a strong signal that the bloody three-decade long fight really could be coming to an end. The Turkish government has been in dialogue with Öcalan through its National Intelligence Organization ...