ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Ankara should distinguish between the Islamic State (ISIS) and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in order to effectively counter jihadist threats, says a report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) released Monday. Turkey and the PKK have been fighting each other for decades, resulting in the deaths of over 40,000 people on both sides of the conflict, including civilians. Turkey regards both the PKK and ISIS terrorist organizations, but has only engaged in limited efforts to fight the latter as part of the US-led global coalition. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other senior Turkish officials have said more than once that they do not differentiate between ISIS and the PKK. "For democracy, rule of law and human rights, I invite the whole world to see, accept and take a position. The YPG/PKK is as dangerous a terrorist organization as Daesh," Erdogan said in Ankara late October 2019, when it launched a military operation against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria. Ankara claims the YPG is the Syrian extension of the PKK. The ICG released the report on Monday on Turkey’s response to ISIS detainees in the country, suggesting a number of steps that Ankara should take to de-radicalize those affiliated with ISIS. “First, Turkey should differentiate between ISIS, PKK, ‘FETÖ’ and ultra-leftist groups, each of which poses a different type of challenge to the Turkish state,” read the report, using ‘FETÖ’ to refer to Fethullah Gulen’s movement - a former ally of Erdogan who was accused of orchestrating a July 2016 failed coup. “Lumping them together muddles policy and hinders efforts to design an approach tailored to the jihadist threat,” it added. Other recommendations the report made include providing judges, courts and prosecutors resources to use when probing ISIS members’ crimes, ensuring the detainees have access to opportunities after release, and offering aid to families “deterring youngsters from turning to militancy.” ISIS has killed 300 civilians between 2014 and 2017 inside Turkey through 16 attacks. An estimated 5,000-9,000 Turkish citizens have left the country to live under ISIS-held territories in Syria and Iraq, according to the report which adds that despite this data “Ankara’s approach toward returnees or others suspected of ties to jihadism relies mostly on surveillance and detention.” The goals of Turkish institutions’ response to ISIS threat are “vague” and “the approaches of the ministries involved [are] uncoordinated,” says the report. Ankara has filled its prisons with people who have alleged links to the PKK, with most serving sentences of up to 20 years for “being a member of a terrorist organization.” The clampdown intensified after the 2016 failed coup, causing the detention and arrest of scores of officials, members and supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which Turkish officials consider the political arm of the PKK - a claim denied by the leftist party. The ICG report also says that people who are charged for having alleged links to the PKK “face tougher prosecution and sentencing,” compared to those linked with ISIS who receive three or years of imprisonment when found guilty. The PKK is an armed group fighting for greater political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey.
