Kurdish militants have launched a campaign to "turn Turkey into hell." A series of bombings by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (KFF) is part of a larger campaign to secure more autonomy from the Turkish government and the eventual creation of an independent Kurdish state. That ambition is not only opposed by the government in Ankara, but by all other countries in the Middle East as well. Creation of a Kurdish state would redraw the map of the entire region and plunge it into instability. That does not give Turkey a blank check against the Kurds, however; past excesses have fanned Kurdish nationalism, and Ankara's human rights record has barred progress on Turkey's goal of joining the European Union.
Kurds in Turkey's southeast have long demanded greater rights from the government in Ankara. Their grievances established the basis for the formation of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which took up arms against the government in 1984 to fight for the creation of a Kurdish state. More than 30,000 people have died as a result of PKK-related violence. The capture of the group's leader, Mr. Abdullah Ocalan, in 1999 was a blow to the Kurdish cause. The PKK declared a ceasefire, but violence resumed in 2004 and has been escalating ever since. Over 50 Turkish soldiers have been killed this year.
In recent weeks, bombings at tourist sites have claimed three lives and wounded dozens more. The KFF has taken credit for the attacks, and says it aims to cripple Turkey's tourist industry, which hosts some 20 million people and brings in at least $14 billion in revenue annually. Thus far, the violence has not had the desired effect: Tourists seem to be ignoring it.