This all goes back to Turkey and ISIS and it is boiling over in the streets of Turkey to Europe as Turkish inaction to to adress a massacre in the making in Kobani as ISIS advances through the city after the 3 week siege. The fact that the outlawed PKK and thier allies in Syria the YPG have done more to stop ISIS than a NATO member country with the second largest standing army in NATO speaks volumes about the character of the Kurdish people and that perhaps we allied ourselves to the wrong people in the region as Turkey has consistently snubbed NATO and international pressure to stop a massacre on its doorstep as well as Turkeys history of not aiding NATO allies in military operations in the last 20 years. (outside of Libya where they had an interest in supporting the brotherhood allied opposition)
We live in a bizzaro world where our NATO ally does nothing to stop the most bloodthirsty terror organization in the middle east and those we call terrorists fight ISIS and have worked to protect minorities of every stripe. Even when we acted to strike ISIS because of the plight of the yazidis on Mt. Sinjar it was long after the YPG had moved from Syria to create a safe passage for those trapped on the mountain and escorted/protected thousands of them to safety before Washington lifted a finger. This Turkish inaction threatens to unravel the PKK peace process that was trying to put an end to the 30 year conflict in Turkey with the PKK.
But even as there is a growing media backing for the PKK, YPG and the KGR in Iraq western states at the highest level are refusing to support many of them because of the terrorist label and because of Turkeys billing as a NATO ally and friend in the region.
Just because the official stance has not changed does not mean that there has not been growing tension and friction between the United States and Turkey over the last decade that could indeed force a change in strategic thinking and lead to a reassessment of who really our our friends in the region.
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/08102014 (Kurdish Media) Article on the repercussions of Turkish inaction to stop ISIS and how it could derail the peace process with the PKK (Kurdish media)
http://video.foxnews.com/v/3832834621001/is-turkey-really-a-us-ally/#sp=show-clips News Clip from right leaning fox news about Turkey and if they are really an ally (American media)
http://www.politico.com/magazine/st...k-turkey-out-of-nato-111734.html#.VDloURb0Uus Article from centrist Politico (American Media) About kicking Turkey out of nato and the many reasons for doing so.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/07/opinion/barfi-kurds-isis/index.html?sr=sharebar_facebook Article from CNN a left leaning new source (American news)
There is an important and growing discussion in the United States being played out on the media about if Turkey is really an ally of the west and calls for Turkey to be kicked out of nato and this is important as Turkey is the main barrier to the creation of any independent Kurdish states outside of Iraq.
If anyone happens to follow the petitions on the white house website recently one of the mosy popular petitions is for the support of an Independent Kurdistan.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/support-kurdish-independence/wk7K9SSp (there is still no official responce from the President about this popular petition)
Sadly the whitehouse recently closed the petition that was for supporting removing the PKK as being listed as a terrorist organization but oddly left the petition open that was created about officialy arming YPG units in Syria that are fighting ISIS who happen to be allied with the outlawed Turkish PPK movement.
In related news is the lack of a responce to the most popular petition without a whitehouse responce is calling for listing the Muslim brotherhood as a terrorist organization. this is important because the current leadership in Turkey the Justice and Development Party (AKP)
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/pe...herhood-organization-terrorist-group/zGxCQ55g
There has been movement in Europe for the removal of PKK on the terror list in governments as well. Some examples are....
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/10062014 (Kurdish media)
EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC), an organization that monitors Turkey's compliance with rules for EU entry, supports removing the PKK from the terror list. Since 2004, it has organized 11 international conferences in the European Parliament, and PKK’s name on the terror list has been a topic each time.
Also mentioned in the article is that in 2008, The Luxembourg-based Court of First Instance decided that the group should be removed from the EU list, because it was illegal under EU law. The ruling changed nothing, and the PKK remained on the list.
The following are links to media sites that I do not know where they side on the political spectrum or what nation they are based in.
http://www.todayszaman.com/_west-mu...-terrorist-group-despite-concerns_357204.html (unknown ideaology and origin)
http://www.worldbulletin.net/haber/121006/removing-pkk-from-terror-list-out-of-question-eu (unknown ideology and origin)
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Midd...akes-Brotherhood-s-Islamic-partners-in-Turkey Article (Christian Media) **I am weary of this media organization so take everything with a grain of salt** Article about Turkeys links to the Muslim brotherhood government that for a short time ruled Egypt and how the AKP identify with them strongly.
Snippet taken directly from the above article: One sign of the close links between Ankara and Cairo is that the Morsi government chose to bypass Egypt’s official news media and struck a deal instead with Turkey’s state-run Anadolu News Agency to release all official statements in Egypt.
Another snippet from above article: Since Morsi’s fall, the Turkish news agency has live-streamed only pro-Morsi rallies. AKP officials have organized pro-Morsi rallies in Turkey, and some supporters have used Morsi’s photo on their Twitter account handles.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/per...relationship-with-the-Muslim-Brotherhood.html (english language Al Arabiya Media) About Turkey defending the Muslim Brotherhood government of Morsi in Egypt. Included are allegations of supporting the brotherhood with activists and weapons. Also included was the news about the Turkish Intelligence officer Irshad Hoz who was arrested in Egypt. ,
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/turkey-welcome-seven-muslim-brotherhood-exiles-qatar-1465700 (UK Media) Article about Turkey accepting Muslim Brotherhood exiles