PKK Kidnappings an Isolated Initiative or a New European Strategy?

By Gareth Jenkins

The seizure in eastern Turkey on July 8 of three German mountaineers by a unit of the People’s Defense Force (HPG), the armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), was the first time in more than a decade that the organization had kidnapped Western tourists. The kidnapping is believed to have been a reaction to a crackdown by the German authorities on pro-PKK media outlets in Germany and appears to indicate a new willingness to explicitly target nationals of countries whose governments are regarded as being hostile to the organization. The three mountaineers, all male, were members of a group of 13 who had arrived in eastern Turkey on July 6 to climb the 5,137-meter high Mount Ararat. They received a permit from the Turkish authorities and were accompanied by a Turkish guide. At around 10 PM local time on July 8, after setting up base camp at around 3,200 meters, the group was approached by five HPG militants, who delivered a lecture in broken English on the PKK’s armed struggle before kidnapping three of the climbers at gunpoint. ....