JOURNEYMAN PICTURES LIMITED
2 The Woodlands Esher Surrey KTI08DB United Kingdom
A NEW WAR IN KURDISTAN
Telephone: 0813981495 Fax: 081 339 0502
PESHMERGER GATHER
In Northern Iraq Kurds are again at war, this time against other Kurds. And as the injured come back from the frontlines, its clear this is no brotherly squabble. Iraq's Peshmerger fighters last fought Saddam, now they march~to fight Turkey's Kurdish Freedom fighters - the PKK guerillas. Iraqi Kurds are angry because the PKK has been threat~ning their newly won freedom. Since the Gulf war the PKK has established military bases in Northern Iraq.:Now Iraqi Kurds want them out.
NATSOF RADIO OUESTION
"Are you facing any resistance?"
ANSWER
"They fired a couple of shots but then they ran away"
QUESTION
"Have you reached the smoke, or are you past it?"
ANSWER
"We haven't reached it yet."
PESHMERGER SOF
"There's a battle happening over there. Our soldiers will advance to support those already fighting. They'll organise a second attack against the PKK bases."
TRUCKS
What has really angered the Iraqi Kurds has more to do with their economy than territory. Kurds in Iraq have been operating a vast trade in contraband Iraqi fuel. In Iraq they fill huge tanks fitted beneath their trucks with Saddam's fuel. Trucks have been crossing the border by the thousand. The fuel is taken to Turkey where it's sold. Now the PKK has begun to attack the trade. They're angry about the Iraqi Kurds increasingly close relationship with their arch enemy, Turkey.
BURNED WRECKS
Burnt out diesel lorries litter the . Iraqi/Turkish highway. They were attacked by the PKK :Jueri1Ias. The PKK insists Iraqi kurds must stop trading with Turkey.
SCHOOL
In Iraqi Kurdistan schools are again working. Since the Gulf crisis Kurds here have moved closer than ever to 'some form of independence. But under economic blockade from Saddam, Turkey remains their only link with the world for both aid and trade. They say they can't~risk that link and that their KurdisQ brothers, the PKK, must go .
SOF
FAZIL BULUT SCHOOL MASTER
"We don't love war between Kurds and Kurds. Our aim is to put them in Iran, not to kill, or finish them. We just want them out of Iraqi Kurdistan in order not to affect the relationship between the Kurds of Iraq and the Turkish Government. The only way for us to get assistance from Europe and America is the way from Turkey to Iraq."
PKK SHOOT
And these are the PKK fighters the Iraqi Kurds are at war with - training near one of their bases in Northern Iraq.
SONG
A 13 year old PKK Guerilla sings of sacrifice and war. They're devout Marxists who welcome women into their ranks. Though they're Turkish they're fighting for an independent Kurdistan, throughout Turkey and Iraq. The Safe Havens established to protect Iraqi Kurds from Saddam also helped the PKK. Supplies and weapons were easier to cornE by and the empty mountains gave them a secure base from which to mount their attacks into Turkey. They're known for their harsh tactics, and their loyalty to their cause.
AZIMI
21 YR OLD UNIVERSITY GRADUATE
"Our people grow up alienated, even in our own beautiful country.
We're oppressed. Yes, I'm sad. It's not easy to kill someone.
But if it's necessary, I must do it. Even against my own family, I will do it."
PKK WALK
A PKK guerilla band moves into Turkey. In the high mountains along the border, they've proved a difficult target for the Turks to hit.
TURKISH HOUSE
They travel into Kurdish villages where they muster support, and new recruits. Turkish Kurds watched with envy as their Iraqi relations moved towards independence. Its gave them hope, and they've flocked to join their own gueril~a army.
EMPTY VILLAGE
The mou~tains of South East Turkey are littere~ with ruined villages. Turkey allegeqly forced the population of Deraves, this village, to leave. They suspected it of housing and supplying guerillas. This man used to live here. He brought us back and told us what happened. In doing so he risked a 4 year prison sentence.
TANK
But this year a stronger PKK has been taking the war into the towns. The Turks are nervous and everyone must show his papers on demand.
RUINED TOWN
After two days of fighting, this is the town of Kulp. Most of its 5000 inhabitants have fled. 3 weeks ago this was a busy commercial centre. Then, local people say, guerillas hiding in this ...
HOTEL
... hotel, shot and killed two Turkish soldiers. The army's retaliation was swift and harsh. The hotel owner was shot dead.
SOF VILLAGER
"Before, the military did warn us what would happen if they heard any gunshots. They said they would burn down the
town ... "
"There were 35 people hiding in the hotel toilet. They put petrol on the hotel and threatened to burn it with the people inside. Instead they took the hotel owner and shot him."
STREETS
The Turkish army has a different account of events. They claim the PKK launched a full scale attack on the town - and that the devastation was caused by a full scale battle. But if that was the case, it seems strange that ...
MILITARY HQ
... the military headquarters, in the centre of the town are completely unscathed.
TANKS
What is clear is that the Turkish government is now desperate to defeat the PKK,Euerrillas. In the past month it has launched its biggest ever military operatipn against them.
In protest at the fierce attacks from the Iraqi Kurds, and the Turks, the Turkish town of Cizre went on strike last week, ...
CLOSED SHOPS
... closing all shops and businesses. The authorities claim the people are forced, under threat from the PKK, to close the shops. The people seemed to disagree.
SOF
TURKISH KURD LORRY DRIVER
"It's not the PKK who are organising the strike. It's the Kurdish people here. It's the Turkish injustice against the Kurds here. Iraqi Peshmerger and Turkey together are killing us. The PKK are not alone. The PKK are the people."
CIZRE TOWN
The army dominates the Kurdish town of Cizre, close to the Turkish - Iraqi border. From military bases near here, they attack the PKK inside Turkey, and also their Iraqi bases across the border. This week Turkish planes and helicopter gunships attacked the PKK bases in Iraq, and claim to have seized control of the region.
PESHMERGER
With a tradition of brutality towards their own Kurds, the Turks have found unlikely allies - in the form of the Iraq's Kurdish fighters. Two years ago it was across this border that Iraqi Kurdish refuqees fled from Saddam
Hussein's bombs. Then Turkey's Kurds supplied them with food and blankets weeks before the international community began to move ...
SHOOTING
PAUSE FOR GUNFIRE ..
Now they're killing each other.
PAUSE FOR GUNFIRE
SHOOTING
During the last fortnight Turkey's guer~llas have been decimated in a well co-orqinated pincer operation; the TurkiSh military and airforce on one side,:,and the Iraqi Peshmerger on the other.
PESHMERGER GO HOME
But this operation did not go so well for the Iraqis. with many Peshmerger wounded, and four dead, the group returns defeated and dejected.
TELEGRAM
The battle commander writes a telegram to his commanders telling them of the unfortunate operation.
SOF
BATTLE COMMANDER
"The enemy has attacked our bases. The fight lasted two hours. Because we were short of supplies and ammuni tion we couldn't continue."
PKK PHOTOS
But in the long run it's these fighters of the PKK who are outgunned and out numbered. Surrounded by a powerful two pronged offensive there seems little chance of escape. The Marxist fighters must be wondering what will become of them.
END
2 The Woodlands Esher Surrey KTI08DB United Kingdom
A NEW WAR IN KURDISTAN
Telephone: 0813981495 Fax: 081 339 0502
PESHMERGER GATHER
In Northern Iraq Kurds are again at war, this time against other Kurds. And as the injured come back from the frontlines, its clear this is no brotherly squabble. Iraq's Peshmerger fighters last fought Saddam, now they march~to fight Turkey's Kurdish Freedom fighters - the PKK guerillas. Iraqi Kurds are angry because the PKK has been threat~ning their newly won freedom. Since the Gulf war the PKK has established military bases in Northern Iraq.:Now Iraqi Kurds want them out.
NATSOF RADIO OUESTION
"Are you facing any resistance?"
ANSWER
"They fired a couple of shots but then they ran away"
QUESTION
"Have you reached the smoke, or are you past it?"
ANSWER
"We haven't reached it yet."
PESHMERGER SOF
"There's a battle happening over there. Our soldiers will advance to support those already fighting. They'll organise a second attack against the PKK bases."
TRUCKS
What has really angered the Iraqi Kurds has more to do with their economy than territory. Kurds in Iraq have been operating a vast trade in contraband Iraqi fuel. In Iraq they fill huge tanks fitted beneath their trucks with Saddam's fuel. Trucks have been crossing the border by the thousand. The fuel is taken to Turkey where it's sold. Now the PKK has begun to attack the trade. They're angry about the Iraqi Kurds increasingly close relationship with their arch enemy, Turkey.
BURNED WRECKS
Burnt out diesel lorries litter the . Iraqi/Turkish highway. They were attacked by the PKK :Jueri1Ias. The PKK insists Iraqi kurds must stop trading with Turkey.
SCHOOL
In Iraqi Kurdistan schools are again working. Since the Gulf crisis Kurds here have moved closer than ever to 'some form of independence. But under economic blockade from Saddam, Turkey remains their only link with the world for both aid and trade. They say they can't~risk that link and that their KurdisQ brothers, the PKK, must go .
SOF
FAZIL BULUT SCHOOL MASTER
"We don't love war between Kurds and Kurds. Our aim is to put them in Iran, not to kill, or finish them. We just want them out of Iraqi Kurdistan in order not to affect the relationship between the Kurds of Iraq and the Turkish Government. The only way for us to get assistance from Europe and America is the way from Turkey to Iraq."
PKK SHOOT
And these are the PKK fighters the Iraqi Kurds are at war with - training near one of their bases in Northern Iraq.
SONG
A 13 year old PKK Guerilla sings of sacrifice and war. They're devout Marxists who welcome women into their ranks. Though they're Turkish they're fighting for an independent Kurdistan, throughout Turkey and Iraq. The Safe Havens established to protect Iraqi Kurds from Saddam also helped the PKK. Supplies and weapons were easier to cornE by and the empty mountains gave them a secure base from which to mount their attacks into Turkey. They're known for their harsh tactics, and their loyalty to their cause.
AZIMI
21 YR OLD UNIVERSITY GRADUATE
"Our people grow up alienated, even in our own beautiful country.
We're oppressed. Yes, I'm sad. It's not easy to kill someone.
But if it's necessary, I must do it. Even against my own family, I will do it."
PKK WALK
A PKK guerilla band moves into Turkey. In the high mountains along the border, they've proved a difficult target for the Turks to hit.
TURKISH HOUSE
They travel into Kurdish villages where they muster support, and new recruits. Turkish Kurds watched with envy as their Iraqi relations moved towards independence. Its gave them hope, and they've flocked to join their own gueril~a army.
EMPTY VILLAGE
The mou~tains of South East Turkey are littere~ with ruined villages. Turkey allegeqly forced the population of Deraves, this village, to leave. They suspected it of housing and supplying guerillas. This man used to live here. He brought us back and told us what happened. In doing so he risked a 4 year prison sentence.
TANK
But this year a stronger PKK has been taking the war into the towns. The Turks are nervous and everyone must show his papers on demand.
RUINED TOWN
After two days of fighting, this is the town of Kulp. Most of its 5000 inhabitants have fled. 3 weeks ago this was a busy commercial centre. Then, local people say, guerillas hiding in this ...
HOTEL
... hotel, shot and killed two Turkish soldiers. The army's retaliation was swift and harsh. The hotel owner was shot dead.
SOF VILLAGER
"Before, the military did warn us what would happen if they heard any gunshots. They said they would burn down the
town ... "
"There were 35 people hiding in the hotel toilet. They put petrol on the hotel and threatened to burn it with the people inside. Instead they took the hotel owner and shot him."
STREETS
The Turkish army has a different account of events. They claim the PKK launched a full scale attack on the town - and that the devastation was caused by a full scale battle. But if that was the case, it seems strange that ...
MILITARY HQ
... the military headquarters, in the centre of the town are completely unscathed.
TANKS
What is clear is that the Turkish government is now desperate to defeat the PKK,Euerrillas. In the past month it has launched its biggest ever military operatipn against them.
In protest at the fierce attacks from the Iraqi Kurds, and the Turks, the Turkish town of Cizre went on strike last week, ...
CLOSED SHOPS
... closing all shops and businesses. The authorities claim the people are forced, under threat from the PKK, to close the shops. The people seemed to disagree.
SOF
TURKISH KURD LORRY DRIVER
"It's not the PKK who are organising the strike. It's the Kurdish people here. It's the Turkish injustice against the Kurds here. Iraqi Peshmerger and Turkey together are killing us. The PKK are not alone. The PKK are the people."
CIZRE TOWN
The army dominates the Kurdish town of Cizre, close to the Turkish - Iraqi border. From military bases near here, they attack the PKK inside Turkey, and also their Iraqi bases across the border. This week Turkish planes and helicopter gunships attacked the PKK bases in Iraq, and claim to have seized control of the region.
PESHMERGER
With a tradition of brutality towards their own Kurds, the Turks have found unlikely allies - in the form of the Iraq's Kurdish fighters. Two years ago it was across this border that Iraqi Kurdish refuqees fled from Saddam
Hussein's bombs. Then Turkey's Kurds supplied them with food and blankets weeks before the international community began to move ...
SHOOTING
PAUSE FOR GUNFIRE ..
Now they're killing each other.
PAUSE FOR GUNFIRE
SHOOTING
During the last fortnight Turkey's guer~llas have been decimated in a well co-orqinated pincer operation; the TurkiSh military and airforce on one side,:,and the Iraqi Peshmerger on the other.
PESHMERGER GO HOME
But this operation did not go so well for the Iraqis. with many Peshmerger wounded, and four dead, the group returns defeated and dejected.
TELEGRAM
The battle commander writes a telegram to his commanders telling them of the unfortunate operation.
SOF
BATTLE COMMANDER
"The enemy has attacked our bases. The fight lasted two hours. Because we were short of supplies and ammuni tion we couldn't continue."
PKK PHOTOS
But in the long run it's these fighters of the PKK who are outgunned and out numbered. Surrounded by a powerful two pronged offensive there seems little chance of escape. The Marxist fighters must be wondering what will become of them.
END