In recent days, we have been hearing from Western quarters complaints that Turkey is using excessive force against the PKK. We also observe with sadness that such claims are more vocal in Germany, where some people in responsible positions have sympathies with the PKK, which their own government regards as a terrorist organization.

Turkey is suffering losses every day at the hands of PKK militants, who are killing and wounding policemen and soldiers in terrorist attacks. The terrorist activities of the PKK in eastern and southeastern Turkey have been continuing for quite some time, much to the anger of the Turkish public. The killings have started recently, but the PKK has been on the rampage for nearly a year.

The government has been extremely patient with the Kurdish militants simply in order to give the peace and reconciliation process a chance. The Kurdish militants have exploited this situation to their benefit, harassing the people of eastern and southeastern Turkey.

Would any state tolerate PKK-style terrorism in their lands? What would the Germans do if the members of the Baader Meinhoff organization or the neo-Nazis set up roadblocks on German highways, harassed people, set up courts in various states or collected money in the name of taxes? What would they do if these militants burned down construction machines and kidnapped workers? What would they do if these militants also started killing German soldiers and policemen? Would they give them roses or would they fight back with excessive force and wipe them out? Knowing the Germans, our current use of "excessive force" against the PKK would look like a soft touch compared to what the Germans would do under such circumstances. The only thing anyone could accuse the government of is that it was too lenient on the militant Kurds who used the peace process to consolidate their presence in the townships and cities in eastern and southeastern Turkey.

Even the death of one soldier or policemen should have been enough to unleash a massive retaliation against the PKK. So when Turkish jets start hitting PKK camps in the northern Iraqi mountains where the Kurdish militants are holed up, no one should complain.

The fact that Turkey is now using its own home-made modern weapons to seek and destroy the PKK very effectively seems to have raised too many eyebrows in the Western countries. They now see that once the Turkish mind is set, it is now fully capable of weeding out the PKK in their hideouts and destroying them with great effectiveness. In the past, the military used to bomb empty areas with the pretense of combatting the PKK. Now that is not so. With sophisticated domestically produced weapons at its disposal, the military is putting up an effective fight - so much so, that it has created deep concern among the Kurdish militants, who are now pushing their allies in the West to criticize Turkey for using "excessive force."

The PKK had become too arrogant. They felt that by attacking Turkish soldiers and policemen, the caretaker government of Ahmet Davutoğlu would panic and just bow to them. They have miscalculated the resolve of the government and now they have to pay the price.