{"id":26478,"date":"2015-04-19T05:42:08","date_gmt":"2015-04-19T03:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/?p=26478"},"modified":"2015-04-19T05:44:01","modified_gmt":"2015-04-19T03:44:01","slug":"26478","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/26478\/","title":{"rendered":"Mules and Smuggling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Metan Gurcan writes:\u00a0 Mules are known for their tenacity and stamina.\u00a0Now they have also become “accessories to crime”\u00a0targeted by\u00a0the Turkish army. For hundreds of years for the people living in the Turkey-Iraq border\u2019s hard climate and rough terrain, mules have been the primary mode of moving cargo on the ancient trade routes. With the demarcation of the Turkey-Iraq border in 1926, this traditional cross-border trade was re-branded as cross-border smuggling\u00a0and the mules were made accessories to the crime of smugglling.
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Decadeslong socio-economic dynamics clashed with political dynamics recently in disturbing events on the Turkey-Iraq border. Kurdish-origin villagers living there said\u00a0that near the village of Ortasu, not far from Uludere (also known as\u00a0Roboski) Turkish soliders killed eight mules.\u00a0 At Uludere and nearby villages, people demonstrated for three\u00a0days, but soldiers, armed with a court order,\u00a0continued to shoot the mules.<\/p>\n

Since the end of February there has been significant growth in smuggling on the Turkey-Iraq border.. It has become\u00a0massive and\u00a0organized, using mule trains of 200 to 300. To keep psychological pressure on security forces serving the area, the PKK makes good use of smuggling operations and constantly provokes villagers against soldiers. There are also allegations that guns are sometimes\u00a0smuggled to terrorists strapped\u00a0under bellies of mules.<\/p>\n

The Turkish security sources point to visibly\u00a0improved living conditions of the villagers along the border as evidence of their allegations. They said\u00a0that in front of every village tenement there are\u00a0two or\u00a0three cars,\u00a0at least one\u00a0a luxury model.\u00a0According to the sources, mules have been shot when clashes broke out after smugglers reacted to the soldiers’\u00a0order to\u00a0halt\u00a0by opening fire.<\/p>\n

HDP Deputy Chairman Aydan Bilgen said the issue is not only about mules. \u201cBorders have become an obstruction to peoples\u2019 interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

The solution is simple. The state can legalize this trade, now classified as cross-border smuggling. Local people always point to the existence of a legal crossing point at Habur, which is about 300 kilometers\u00a0(186 miles)\u00a0away i Customs officials and security officials posted there can then regulate the cross-border trade\u00a0and collect taxes. He said, \u201cIf the state wants it, this can be done in one day.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a retired military officer\u00a0who has served in border units and become an expert on smuggling, the people running\u00a0mules are laborers who make little money. The real profit-makers are the middlemen.<\/p>\n

Border operations require a bit of diplomatic soldiering,\u201d adding that\u00a0no matter what the soldiers do, they won\u2019t be able to stop smuggling. To the contrary, the tougher the soldiers are, the worse their relations with the people of the area will\u00a0be. The state must target\u00a0the\u00a0smuggling barons at the top. He warned,\u00a0\u201cThe state should not tamper with the bread of the people living here. In these parts, people die for two causes: The first is honor and the second is his bread.”<\/p>\n

\"Mules<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Metan Gurcan writes:\u00a0 Mules are known for their tenacity and stamina.\u00a0Now they have also become “accessories to crime”\u00a0targeted by\u00a0the Turkish army. For hundreds of years for the people living in the Turkey-Iraq border\u2019s hard climate and rough terrain, mules have … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corruption","category-finance"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t