It is regrettable that The Japan Times chose to reprint The Washington Post article "A rocky terrain for Kurdish guerrillas" for the March 20 Focus page. The article is misguided and misleading in many ways. It only serves to legitimize and even attempts to glorify an organization that has been recognized as terrorist by the community of nations.
The PKK is responsible for the brutal murders of thousands of people over the years, including women and children. In addition, the same terrorist group has been involved in other illegal activities such as arms and drug smuggling, human trafficking, extortion, and money laundering, which conspicuously are not mentioned in the article.
I believe the editors of the above article ought to understand that (1) terrorism is not a democratic right and (2) legitimizing and glorifying a terrorist organization cannot be considered within the scope of freedom of the press.
I am certain that neither The Washington Post nor The Japan Times would have dared print an article that romanticizes al-Qaida terrorists as legitimate freedom fighters with milk bottles in their hands feeding hapless bear cubs.
Terrorism today is a menace throughout the world; unfortunately no nation or country is immune from it. The struggle against terrorism requires determination, consistency and, above all, intellectual honesty. There should be no selective approach toward terrorism and it should not be justified under any circumstances.
We must all condemn the scourge of terrorism unequivocally regardless of where it originates rather than let ourselves be used as a tool for its shameful propaganda.