Pubdate: Sun, 18 Jan 2015
Source: Today's Zaman (Turkey)
Copyright: 2015sFeza Newspaper Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.todayszaman.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4547
Author: Salim Avci, Ankara

PKK MAKES USE OF LEGAL LOOPHOLES TO MAINTAIN DRUG PRODUCTION

A General Directorate of Security (EGM) report on the fight against 
drug-trafficking and production has revealed that the outlawed 
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) makes millions of dollars growing 
marijuana in the southeastern provinces by exploiting the lack of 
effective legal measures to tackle illegal drug production in areas 
that are not monitored by the government.

The report also indicated that mines are placed around the fields and 
that snipers occupy high positions to protect the marijuana fields 
from outside intruders.

Speaking to Sunday's Zaman, Anadolu Atayun, a former chief police 
inspector and one of the officials who took part in the preparation 
of the EGM report, said that there are legal loopholes that serve to 
encourage the PKK to cultivate marijuana in these vast fields.

"The cultivation of marijuana is only punished with prison sentences 
of less than a year. Furthermore, the penal code lacks provisions for 
prosecutors to investigate the assets of individuals who are 
suspected of having acquired wealth through illegal gains. ... We 
spoke to prosecutors, gendarmerie forces and police who all 
complained about the lack of regulations deterring individuals from 
cultivating marijuana," said Atayun.

Atayun went on to say that if the fields were registered to 
individuals, the PKK's drug production would be hampered. He pointed 
out that as the fields that are not registered to anyone, no one is 
held responsible for the illegal use of the land, and the PKK 
continues to evade effective surveillance by the police.

Atayun went on to say that attempts by local state officials to 
conduct land surveys in the fields were prevented by the headmen of 
the villages where the marijuana fields are located.

He said that the village chiefs petitioned the state authorities not 
to open those areas to any activity.

When local officials informed Ankara of their inability to conduct 
land surveys in the villages, the government suggested that the local 
officials scrap their plans to open those lands for use, according to Atayun.

He said that the reason the government is not pushing for the opening 
of those unregistered fields to use is related to its desire to keep 
the settlement process on track.

In the EGM report, a village chief was quoted as saying in his 
petition: "We do not want any subsidy from the state. If the 
government registers [the lands in question] then the village as a 
whole will take to the mountains and join the PKK."

Police unresponsive to illegal drug production

In the report, the EGM levels criticism against the Diyarbak r and 
Bingoel Security Directorates for continuing to remain unresponsive, 
despite knowing locations where the PKK stores illegal drugs.

It was acknowledged by the EGM that police forces fear that 
interfering with the PKK's management of marijuana fields would lead 
to a clash with PKK forces and consequently hamper the settlement 
process. Thus, police prefer to launch operations that are small in 
scale, rather than raiding the major locations where the PKK stores 
drugs, the report says.

"An in-depth inquiry has revealed that [in Turkey] only 1 percent [of 
drugs produced domestically] were seized. In particular, it was 
uncovered that in 2014, 10 to 12,000 tons of heroin substances were 
produced. All of this production is consumed in the domestic market," 
stated the report.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom