“The characteristics and content of written statements Öcalan was scheduled to make are determined under the control of authorized Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) bodies. That is to say, they would be edited as the need arose. Instructions that were not seen fit to be included in those statements would be omitted. In a sense, Öcalan has been used as an instrument and a symbolic figure. Now, even those written statements are no longer of use to the PKK as it has opted to take the path of proving its power on its own by discrediting Öcalan.”

Noting that the PKK dealt Öcalan a blow with the recent attack, Aktay said: “This pro-Kurdish independence junta group has taken over the reins of the whole PKK. Time will tell how important a role Öcalan will play in Turkey's fight against the PKK.”

He interpreted the attempt to discredit Öcalan as proof of the presence of groups within the PKK that seek to prolong its armed struggle, some of which, he underlined, operate in Turkey.

According to Aktay, recent terrorist activities were obviously the outcome of cooperation between Ergenekon and the PKK. He finds the recent terrorist attack that killed 13 soldiers quite controversial, and points out that at the time of the attack the unit to which the soldiers belonged was on a mission to rescue three people who had been kidnapped by the PKK earlier, and was not making use of modern technology to aid its search and rescue efforts.

“They had traversed all the mountains in the surrounding area to find them. This is not how one looks for missing soldiers in a modern army. You don't look for a kidnapped soldier by sending your men on a search of the area. We have technology that could accomplish the same thing, and by employing such a primitive method an anachronistic and pathetic scene was created.”

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