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U.S. in the Crossfire


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Turkey thought that it had defeated the PKK, a Kurdish insurgent group labelled a terrorist organization by the U.S. Then the U.S. invaded Iraq, and now the PKK is back, attacking Turkey from Iraqi Kurdistan. U.S. standing in Turkey is at an all-time low. And now, Turkey is threatening to invade Iraq.
lauraling

20 responses // U.S. in the Crossfire

  • Without reports like this one, we would not have an understanding to what is going on there. Thanks Lisa
    snowjob
  • When Charles Darwin said that no two species can exist in the same ecological niche, he was also talking about cable/satellite television networks, such as Current. Therefore, when we set out to create a journalism department--Vanguard--for our new network, we tried to think about what we were offering you that you could not find elsewhere in your television spectrum. One thing that we decided to concentrate on in our coverage was the principle of cause and effect. That's because looking back across mainstream TV news coverage in this decade, it seemed like a lot of random announcements of random events, as if every major occurence were unrelated to events preceding it, so that each news event struck the American public as a shock. For example, the Iraqi elections in January of 2005 were covered on other TV news outlets as a "victory for democracy" without much reference to the fact that history shows us that when you hold a vote among a heavily armed population that is bitterly divided among religious/ethnic/sectarian lines, it sometimes is more a prescription for civil war. So the sectarian violence in Iraq in 2006 came to most Americans as a nasty shock, not as something that you could see coming... The return of the PKK from new strongholds in Iraqi Kurdistan was a further unforseen consequence of the Iraq War--so Laura Ling's story-telling in this piece tries to look at the interplay of the various factors that resulted in a resurgence of PKK attacks in Turkey after a lull of half a dozen years or so... From a technical stand-point in terms of film-making, looking at cause and effect requires an ability to dramatize the abstract, and I'm very proud of the power and command that Laura demonstrates here.
    MitchKoss
  • I would like to see more reports like this on current.com. You reflected more background information about the conflict there. Thanks Ralf
    filmstatt
  • Great report, thank you. I've seen and heard little about the Kurdish/Turkish history of conflict. Your report raises a lot of questions. Should we support the Kurds, but not the PKK faction, in their quest for self-determination, and perhaps a nation of their own? Are there talks taking place between Turkish authorities and Kurdish representatives? If Turkey invades Kurdish northern Iraq, how will that affect the US efforts in Iraq? Is it possible that, by providing weapons to Kurds, we not only want them to fight Iraqi insurgents but also launch attacks on Turkey?

    Again, thanks for the great report. I'm glad to have new questions to ponder.
    phidippides
  • This report was done very well. I'm half American and half Turkish so this conflict worries me more and more everyday. I am not sure what should be done and I don't really know what side the U.S. should take. But if we don't do anything, both the Turks and the Kurds will resent us and Turkey is the one and only Muslim Ally we have.
    MrEightyFive
  • http://current.com/items/85560871_portrait_of_the_kurdi...
    Here's a portrait of the Kurdish rebels.
    Here's a portrait of the Kurdish rebels.
    Terrific pictures -- almost TOO terrific, in a way.
    sloan
  • Very fine piece. Being part of a minority (québécois) that has managed to put to good use the possibilities offered by different political contexts (the last one being Canada, since 1867), I was left with many questions about Kurds nationalism and Turkish nationalism. I think links to web site providing texts analysing these larger questions would be extremely helpful.
    wintay
  • Very informative and insightful. I have read that the Turks are using the language of Israel and America--to put down terrorism--to justify potential incursions into Northern Iraq.
    CyberCitizen
  • as a turkish citizen I am glad to see this video reporting the situation in south east of turkey. I am living in Istanbul and even we dont know about the situation there properly. most impressive thing i witnessed in the video is the pkk supporter with the kurdish flag tied up to his face. its hard to believe for me to see a pkk supporter walking on the streets with the flag like a militan and tell you that he's gonna join pkk if its necessary.dont know what the turkish intellegence department doing and dont know how many supoorters like him is continuing promoting pkk. i hope not to see any more funeral news on tv because of the terrorist attacks. thanks for your informative report.
    tigy
    • tigy
    • 10 months ago
  • http://current.com/items/88123111_turkish_troops_fire_o...
    The Turkish Parliament have now given the greenlight for a full scale incursion into Northern Iraq to tackle the PKK.

    This could de-stabilize the entire region.
    phillyharper
  • great work here! another example of great journalism. The potential lethal launch pad in this region is staggering, great insight.
    dylcool23
  • i love this show. i cant believe that other stations havent done this kind of reporting. everything on cnn and msnbc is so random, and with an obvious bias. I love how they go to the places where the news is actually happening instead of putting some stupid clip from their vaults of the place.
    teodiaz
  • Very informative; I'll be headed to Turkey in a couple months so it's very helpful to gain as many perspectives as possible about what is going on in regard to the issue of the PKK. This is exactly the type of reporting lacking from TV and I aspire to this someday! Keep up the good work!
    weilvon
  • Wow if the PKK are responsible for preventing the Spread of Burger King. I'm all in favor.
    heliarc
  • I've been to Turkey several times. Both to Istanbul and the south western areas on the Lycian Coast. The sentiment in Turkey toward the PKK is often pretty hard for Turks themselves to understand, let alone us westerners.

    This summer i asked several people (wish i knew about this channel and had a camera!) who the kurds were and why they were attacking the Turks. As far as i have been lead to understand the kurds were one of many tribes living in the region when Turkey was established as a country. Those tribes were brought together under one government (by their own choice, i am lead to understand) and were told - from that point forward, you are Turks. Because of this belief many turks can't understand why the kurds decided in the 80's that they were suddenly entitled to secession. The PKK has been blowing up buildings and people and killing hundreds since that time.
    Turkey requires its male citizens to participate in the military to remain citizens. Many Turks do this after graduating from school. The turkish education system is such that few public high schools exist and the private ones are very expensive. Many young men have nothing to look forward to, as far as employment, after they graduate so they join the military to meet the required term and receive training they can use in as civilians.
    As a result, many of the "soldiers" killed in PKK attacks have been 18 year old children. Many more civillians have also been killed in houses that were burned and in car bomb explosions.
    The Turks have become fed up with the United States as it has repeatedly (since the 80's) denied that the PKK was a legitimate terrorist organization. It was for that reason that the Turkish government did not join Pres. Bush's coalition of the "willing". The U.S. would not help them with terrorists, they would not help us with ours.
    That decision has recently been regretted by many Turks, as it is widely believed that had they joined, the Turkish government may have had greater influence on handling Iraqi affairs, which greatly effects them - as they are neighbors and the destabilized region is bad for the Turkish economy and the security of its citizens...

    That's what the word on the street was from Istanbul to Fethiye, From Cesme to Bodrum...
    jonnat17
  • Please keep reporting on this
    reconmom
  • As a newbie to the Current TV family, I hold Laura’s (and the rest of the Vanguard and Current Journalism teams) in the highest respect, and as a yardstick against which I measure my own journalistic abilities. I appreciate that you had history and facts to help put the man-on-the-street interviews in context, and that you asked the hard questions. It was interesting to hear from Kurds themselves as to how they feel, and let them tell their own stories – I think that is the most interesting and meaningful way to learn about the world. Thanks for being such great role models, and for telling the stories that too often go unheard!
    lrudser
  • Wow - what a vantage point. Amazing how you shine the light on things we never get to see. We just read in the paper tht Turkish plnes bomb the Kurds and it makes no sense until you watch your pod. THX!
    nwintroub
  • whilst you do raise some interesting points, I find you overall anaylsis of the situation somewhat simplistic. I am travelling to Iraqi Kurdistan this summer for the first time to do some research for university, perhaps I could forward you some information, to carry on from this story.
    marty058
  • Great pod, however I continue to fail to ascertain how militant groups calling themselves "freedom fighters," come to the conclusion that murdering their own people and civilians is the best method in which to further their agenda. Further, this also provided yet another example for why I believe that the United States should, to be blunt, stay out of the affairs of other countries.
    UWAZell

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