The Nexus between Illicit Drug Trafficking and Terror: The PKK as an Example of Hybrid Transnational Threat

Yıl 2021, , 2513 - 2527, 20.10.2021

Haydar Karaman

https://doi.org/10.33206/mjss.896541

Öz

All terrorist groups need finance to operate. It is a means for certain groups to accomplish their objectives; for others, it is the aims itself per se. Terrorist groups are therefore involved in different levels of organized crime. One of them is illicit drug trafficking, which has a nexus with organized crime and terrorist groups. This study aims to demonstrate a better understanding of the Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) evolution into an organized criminal organization and its funding sources. From this point of view, the PKK is classified as a narco-terrorist organization with strong financial motives in this paper. As it will be analyzed on paper, its financial motivations frequently have weighed in the same level as its political motivation. It began to act as a hybrid organization through transnational offences, and it has steadily strengthened its criminal capabilities. Its members retain their deceptive political rhetoric to perform their illegal operations more easily. The organization can also be defined as a hybrid transnational organized crime group by UN standards, given the severity of its crimes and its criminal network spanning the Middle East, Turkey, and Europe.

Anahtar Kelimeler

PKK, Terrorism, Narco-Terror, Illicit Drug Trafficking, Hybrid Organization

Yasadışı Uyuşturucu Ticareti İle Terör Arasındaki İrtibat: Sınıraşan Hibrit Tehdit Örneği Olarak PKK

Öz

 Terörist grupların faaliyet gösterebilmeleri için finansmana ihtiyaçları vardır. Kimi gruplar için finansman hedeflerine ulaşması için bir araç iken; kimileri için de amacın bizatihi kendisidir. Terörist gruplar bu nedenle farklı organize suç düzeylerinde faaliyet göstermektedirler. Bunlardan biri de organize suç ve terörist gruplarla bağlantı noktası olan yasadışı uyuşturucu kaçakçılığıdır. Bu çalışma, ilgili bağlantıyı ortaya koyarak, Kürdistan İşçi Partisi (PKK) terör örgütünün söz konusu yasadışı finansal kaynaklar aracılığıyla gelişimini derinleştirmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Buradan hareketle, bu çalışmada PKK güçlü mali güdülere sahip bir narko-terör örgütü olarak sınıflandırılmaktadır. Çalışmada görüleceği üzere, örgütün finansal motivasyonlarının sıklıkla politik motivasyonları ile aynı derecede önem arz etmektedir. Her ne kadar örgüt siyasal söylemleri yasadışı işlemlerine paravan olarak kullansa da sınıraşan suçlar yoluyla melez bir örgüt olarak hareket etmeye başlayan örgüt zaman içinde suç işleme kapasitesini sürekli olarak güçlendirdi. Örgütün Orta Doğu, Türkiye ve Avrupa'daki suçları göz önüne alındığında, BM kriterlerine göre de uluslararası bir hibrit organize suç grubu olarak da sınıflandırılabilineceğini ortaya koymak çalışmanın bir amacıdır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

PKK, Terörizm, Narko-Terör, Yasadışı Uyuşturucu Kaçakçılığı, Hibrit Organizasyon

Kaynakça

• Abadie, A. & Gardeazabal, J. (2003). The economic cost of conflict: A case study of the Basque country. The American Economic Review, 93, 113-132. Erişim adresi: https://economics.mit.edu/files/11870
• Alexander, K. (2001). The international anti‐money‐laundering regime: the role of the financial action task force. Journal of Money Laundering Control, 3(4), 231-248. doi: 10.1108/eb027276
• Anadolu Agency. (2019). PKK earns $1.5b annually from drugs: Turkish minister. Erişim adresi: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/todays-headlines/pkk-earns-15b-annually-from-drugs-turkish- minister/1376112.
• Anderson, J. H. (2000). International terrorism and crime: trends and linkages. William R. Nelson Institute for Public Affairs, Virginia: James Madison University.
• Orhan, M. (2014). Transborder violence: the PKK in Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, 7(1), 30-48. doi: 10.1080/17467586.2014.909946
• Bauhn, P. (1989). Ethical aspects of political terrorism: the sacrificing of the innocent. Lund: Lund University Press.
• BBC (2002). 'Mafia' threatens UK Turks and Kurds. Erişim adresi: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2284780.stm
• Björnehed, E. (2004). Narco-terrorism: the merger of the war on drugs and the war on terror. Global Crime, 6(3-4), 305-324. doi: 10.1080/17440570500273440
• Byman, D., & Kreps, S. E. (2010). Agents of destruction? Applying principal-agent analysis to state-sponsored terrorism. International Studies Perspectives, 11(1), 1-18. Erişim adresi: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/44218618.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A059786d8f8ece051b35a3306923b293d
• Bush, G. W. (2002). Remarks by the president at United Nations financing for development conference, Cintermex Convention Center, Monterrey, Mexico, March 22. Erişim adresi: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relaeses/2002/03/20020322-I.html.
• Center, J. I. W. & Command, U. J. F. (2011). Irregular adversaries and hybrid threats. An assessment, July 12, Erişim adresi: https://publicintelligence.net/u-s-joint-irregular-warfare-center-irregular- adversaries-and-hybrid-threats-2011-assessment/
• Chaliand, G. & Blin, A. (2007). Zealots and Assassins. In Chaliand, G. & Blin, A. (Eds). The history of terrorism: from antiquity to al-Qaeda (pp. 55-78). London: University of California Press.
• Cilluffo, F. (2000). The threat posed from the convergence of organized crime, drug trafficking, and terrorism. Testimony of the Deputy Director, Global Organized Crime Program, Director, Counterterrorism Task Force, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Washington (DC) to the US House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime. Erişim adresi: http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju68324.000/hju68324_0f.htm
• Clark, P. (2008). Reassessing US national security strategy: the Kurdistan worker's party (PKK). Carlisle Barracks Pa: Army War Coll.
• CNN (1999). Ocalan reportedly implicates Greeks in supporting PKK. Erişim adresi: http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9902/22/kurds.02/.
• Crenshaw, M. (1981). The cause of terrorism. Comparative Politics, 13(4), 379-399. doi: 10.2307/421717
• Davids, D. (2002). Narco terrorism: A unified strategy to fight a growing terrorist menace. Amsterdam: Brill Nijhoff.
• Deeb, M. J. (1988). Libya. (Review of the book Qaddafi and the Libyan revolution, by D. Blundy & A. Lycett.). Middle East Journal, 42(1), 115-116.
• Di Filippo, M. (2020). The definition (s) of terrorism in international law. In Research Handbook on İnternational Law and Terrorism. Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Dishman, C. (2001). Terrorism, crime, and transformation. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 24(1), 43-58. doi: 10.1080/10576100118878
• Emniyet Genel Müdürlüğü (2018). 2018 Mayıs raporu. Kaçakçılık ve organize suçlarla mücadele Ankara. Erişim adresi: https://www.egm.gov.tr/kurumlar/egm.gov.tr/IcSite/kom/YAYINLARIMIZ/TÜRKÇE/2018-RAPORU-TURKCE.pdf
• Emniyet Genel Müdürlüğü (2003). 2003 Mayıs raporu. Kaçakçılık ve organize suçlarla mücadele raporu. Ankara: KOM Daire Baskanligi Yayinlari. Erişim adresi: https://www.egm.gov.tr/kom/raporlarimiz
• Erendor, M. E. (2016). Risk toplumu ve refleksif modernleşme çerçevesinde siber terörizm: tanımlama ve tipoloji sorunu. Cyberpolitik Journal, 1(1), 114-133. Erişim adresi: http://cyberpolitikjournal.org/index.php/main/article/download/94/92
• Erendor, M. E., & Tamer, G. (2017). The new face of the war: cyber warfare. Cyberpolitik Journal, 2(3), 53-70. Erişim adresi: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/418745
• European Union (Council of the European Union. (2002). Council framework decision 2002/475 on combating terrorism, 13 June 2002, 2002/475/JHA. Erişim adresi: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3f5342994.html.
• Evans, M. (2003). From Kadesh to Kandahar: military theory and the future of war. Naval War College Review, 56(3), 132-150. Erişim adresi: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi? article=2247&context=nwc-review
• Freeman, M. (2011). The sources of terrorist financing: theory and typology. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 34(6), 461-475. doi: 10.1080/1057610X.2011.571193
• Freytag, A., Krüger, J. J., Meierrieks, D., & Schneider, F. (2011). The origins of terrorism: Cross-country estimates of socio-economic determinants of terrorism. European Journal of Political Economy, 27, S5-S16. Erişim adresi: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/119352/1/diw_econsec0027.pdf
• Ganor, B. (2002). Defining terrorism: Is one man's terrorist another man's freedom fighter?. Police Practice Research: An International Journal, 3(4), 287-304. doi: 10.1080/1561426022000032060
• Gürel, S. (2015). Terör ve terör örgütlerinin finans kaynakları. Uluslararası Yönetim ve Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, 2(4), 16-27. Erişim adresi: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/492810
• Hammes, T.X. (2005). Insurgency: modern warfare evolves into a fourth generation. Strategic Forum, No. 214, Washington, DC: National Defense University Press.
• Haverty Jr, D. J. (2018). ‘Positive neutrality’: revisiting Libyan support of the provisional IRA in the 1980s. Global Histories: A Student Journal, 4(1), 46-65. doi: 10.17169/GHSJ.2018.166
• Held, V. (2008). How terrorism is wrong: morality and political violence. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Hoffman, F. G. (2010). ‘Hybrid threats’: neither omnipotent nor unbeatable. Orbis, 54(3), 441-455. doi: 10.1016/j.orbis.2010.04.009
• Horgan, J., & Taylor, M. (2003). Playing the ‘green card’–financing the provisional IRA: part 2. Terrorism and Political Violence, 15(2), 1-60. doi: 10.1080/09546550312331293027
• Interpol General Secretariate. (1999). Financing of terrorism. Paper presented at International Terrorism Symposium. Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• Klepak, H.P., Aureano, G. R., & Canadian Foundation for the Americas (1997). Hemispheric addiction: Canada and drug trafficking in the Americas. Canadian Foundation for the Americas: Foundation Canadienne Pour Les Amériques.
• Krueger A.B. & Pischke J.S. (1997). A statistical analysis of crime against foreigners in united Germany. The Journal of Human Resources. 32(1), 182-209. Erişim adresi: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/146245.pdf
• Laqueur, W. (1987). The age of terrorism. Toronto: Little, Brown and Company.
• Leong, A. V. M. (2007). Chasing dirty money: domestic and international measures against money laundering. Journal of Money Laundering Control. 10(2), 140-156. doi: 10.1108/13685200710746857
• Lowe, P. (2006). Counterfeiting: links to organised crime and terrorist funding. Journal of Financial Crime, 13(2), 255-257. doi: 10.1108/13590790610660944
• Makarenko, T. (2004). The crime-terror continuum: tracing the interplay between transnational organised crime and terrorism. Global Crime, 6(1), 129-145. doi: 10.1080/1744057042000297025
• Masco, J. (2014). The theater of operations: national security affect from the cold war to the war on Terror. Durham: Duke University Press.
• Masullo, J., & O’connor, F. (2020). PKK violence against civilians: beyond the individual, understanding collective targeting. Terrorism and Political Violence, 32(1), 77-99. doi: 10.1080/09546553.2017.1347874
• Miklaucic, M., Aaronson, M., Diessen, S., De Kermabon, Y., & Long, M. B. (2011). NATO countering the hybrid threat. PRISM, No. 4, 111-124. Erişim adresi: https://cco.ndu.edu/Portals/96/Documents/prism/prism_2-4/Prism_111-124_Aaronson-Diessen.pdf
• Mincheva, L. & Gurr, T. R. (2008). Unholy alliances iii: communal militants and criminal networks in the Middle East, with a case study of the Kurdistan workers party (PKK). In Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association, Panel on Ethnicity, Identity and Militancy in the Middle East, San Francisco.
• Ministry of Foreign Affair of Turkey. (2012). No: 221, 19 September 2012, Press release regarding operations carried out in Denmark against the PKK terrorist organization, Erişim adresi: http://www.mfa.gov.tr/no_-221_-19-september-2012_-press-release-regarding-operations-carried-out-in-denmark-against-the-pkk-terrorist-organization.en.mfa
• Netanyahu, B. (1986). Terrorism; how the west can win. New York: Avon Books.
• Online Etymology Dictionary (2021). The word of hybrid. Erişim adresi: https://www.etymonline.com/word/hybrid
• Oscapella, E. (1998). The relationship between illegal drugs and firearms: a literature review. Department of Justice Canada, Policy Sector, Toronto: Canadian Firearms Centre.
• Otis, J. (2014). The FARC and Colombia’s illegal drug trade. Washington: Wilson Center.
• Ozkan, O. (2016). Money-laundering activities of the PKK. New York: Springer.
• Passas, N. (2007). Terrorism financing mechanisms and policy dilemmas. In Giraldo, J., & Trinkunas, H. (eds)., Terrorist financing and state responses: a comparative perspective (pp. 21-38). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
• Peters, R. (2006). Lessons from Lebanon: the new model terrorist army. Armed Forces Journal, 114(3), 39-53. Erişim adresi: http://armedforcesjournal.com/lessons-from-lebanon/
• Picarelli, J. & Shelley, L. (2002). Methods not motives: implications of the convergence of international organised crime and terrorism. Police Practice and Research, 3(4), 305-318. doi: 10.1080/1561426022000032079
• Prabha, K. (2000). Defining terrorism. Strategic Analysis, 24(1), 125-135. doi: 10.1080/09700160008455199
• Rand Corporation (2019). Americans' spending on illicit drugs nears $150 billion annually; appears to rival what is spent on alcohol. Erişim adresi: https://www.rand.org/news/press/2019/08/20.html.
• Roth, M. P. & Sever, M. (2007). The Kurdish workers party (PKK) as criminal syndicate: funding terrorism through organized crime, a case study. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 30(10), 901-920. doi: 10.1080/10576100701558620
• Roth, M. P. & Sever, M. (2008). Financial sources of the PKK. In Teymur, S., & Smith, C. J. (Eds.). (2008). The PKK: a decades-old brutal marxist-leninist separatist terrorist organization (pp. 67-86). Turkish Institute for Security and Democracy.
• Rudner, M. (2010). Hizbullah terrorism finance: fund-raising and money-laundering. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 33(8), 700-715. doi: 10.1080/1057610X.2010.494169
• Sahin, F. S. (2001). Case studies in terrorism-drug connection: the Kurdistan workers' party, the liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam, and the shining path (Doctoral Dissertation). University of North Texas, Texas.
• Shanahan, T. (2016). The definition of terrorism. In Jackson, R. (Eds). Routledge handbook of critical terrorism studies (pp. 103-113). Boston: Routledge.
• Sönmez, G. (2019). Factors behind the rise and fall of left-wing terrorism in Western Europe: the cases of rote armee fraktion and brigate rosse. Güvenlik Stratejileri Dergisi, 15(31), 469-496. doi: 10.17752/guvenlikstrtj.630849
• Sozer, M. A., & Yilmaz, K. (2019). The PKK and its evolution in Britain (1984–present). Terrorism and Political Violence, 31(2), 185-203. doi: 10.1080/09546553.2016.1194269
• TADOC-Department of Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime. (1998). Drug connection of PKK terrorist organization. Ankara: TADOC Press
• Tetik, Ü. & Görücü, K. (2019). The PYD/PKK’S drug trafficking & Turkey’s war on narco-terrorism, Setav /Analysis, 52, 12-19. Erişim adresi: https://setav.org/en/assets/uploads/2019/06/52_PKK_Drug.pdf
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey (2012). Turkey’s effort against the drug problem. Erişim adresi: http://www.mfa.gov.tr/turkey_s-efforts-against-the-drug-problem.en.mfa.
• The Ministry of Interior of Turkey (2017), Narko-terörizm ile mücadele uyuşturucu ve PKK/KCK. Erişim adresi: https://www.icisleri.gov.tr/kurumlar/icisleri.gov.tr/IcSite/strateji/deneme/YAYINLAR/ İÇERİK/narkoterorizm_web%20icin.pdf.
• The Ministry of Interior of Turkey, (2019). General directorate of police department of anti-narcotics crime drug report Turkey. Erişim adresi: http://www.narkotik.pol.tr/kurumlar/narkotik.pol.tr/TUBİM/Ulusal%20Yayınlar/.
• United Nations (1999). The 1999 United Nations international convention for the suppression of the financing of terrorism. Erişim adresi: https://www.un.org/law/cod/finterr.htm.
• United States of America (2006). The national security strategy of the United States of America. Erişim adresi: https://www.comw.org/qdr/fulltext/nss2006.pdf.
• United Nations (1988). the 1988 United Nations convention against illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Erişim adresi: https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx? chapter=6&clang=_en&mtdsg_no=VI-19&src=IND.
• Trapp, K. N. (2011). State Responsibility for International Terrorism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Turkish Anti-Terror Law (1991). Erişim adresi: https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/22104/96348/F146542622/TUR22104.pdf
• Turkish Criminal Code. (2004). Law no. 5237. Erişim adresi: https://www.legislationline.org/documents/action/popup/id/6872/preview
• Unal, M. C. (2012). Counterterrorism in Turkey: policy choices and policy effects toward the Kurdistan workers’ party (PKK). London: Routledge.
• United Nations (1999). Security Council resolution 1566 (2004). [concerning threats to international peace and security caused by terrorism], 8 October 2004, S/RES/1566 (2004). Erişim adresi: https://www.refworld.org/docid/42c39b6d4.html.
• UNDOC (1998). Economic and social consequences of drug abuse and illicit trafficking. Erişim adresi: https://www.unodc.org/pdf/technical_series_1998-01-01_1.pdf
• UNDOC (2020). Drug use and health consequences. Erişim adresi: https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/en/drug-use-health.html.
• Victoroff, J.A, & Kruglanski, A.W. (2009). Psychology of terrorism: the best writings about the mind of the terrorist. New York: Psychology Press Ltd.
• Vision of Humanity (2020). The 2020 global terrorism index. Erişim adresi: https://www.visionofhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GTI-2020-web-1.pdf
• Vittori, J. (2011). Terrorist financing and resourcing. Basingstoke: Springer.
• Williams, P. (1998). Terrorism and organized crime: convergence, nexus or transformation?. FOA Report on Terrorism, Stockholm, Defence Research Establishment, 69-92.
• Wilkinson, P. (2016). Political terrorism. London: Macmillan International Higher Education.
• White, D. P. (2015). The PKK: coming down from the mountains. London: Zed Books Ltd.