According to a 1992 Gallup poll to determine whether "the PKK represents the Kurds of Turkey?," 28 percent of the nationwide sample in Turkey answered "yes." In the 20 provinces that make up "Turkish Kurdistan," 29 percent answered "yes."

Voting statistics also provide interesting data. In the 1989 local elections, in which the PKK gave no orders for blank ballots, 80 percent of the voters of "Turkish Kurdistan" (naturally, no distinction is possible between Turks and Kurds) actually voted. Only five percent of them turned in blank ballots. In the 1994 local elections, the PKK issued a public appeal for a boycott, or, at least, for blank ballots, and threatened to retaliate against those who refused to cooperate.

Of the approximately 4.6 million registered voters in "Turkish Kurdistan," the results were as follows: 88 percent of the voters went to the polls in the region. Fifteen percent of those turned in blank ballots. The statistics for several large cities are as follows: in Diyarbakir, voter turnout was 79.86, and 7.8 percent of the ballots were blank; in Hakkâri, voter turnout was 89.4 percent, with 7.8 percent blank ballots; and in Sirnak, turnout was 74.54 percent, with 8.3 percent blank ballots. Thus, assuming the number of registered voters remained fairly constant between 1989 and 1994, it would appear that the PKK's orders did have an impact, at least in terms of blank ballots, on approximately 423,500 voters in southeastern Anatolia.

In July 1995, Professor Dogu Ergil, a highly respected faculty member at Ankara's School of Political Science, published a study on the “Eastern Question,” financed and distributed with Turkish private sector funding (Union of Trade Associations and Exchanges). It contained an opinion poll conducted in "Turkish Kurdistan" and in the big cities in Turkey that have a large Kurdish presence. The study reveals the following:

- 65 percent of the respondents speak a Kurdish dialect at home, 21 percent in public;
- 85 percent oppose a Kurdish State independent of Turkey; 15 percent think such a State would be "useful or necessary";
- 4.2 percent of the sample said that the Turkish State must negotiate with the PKK;
- Of the 15 percent who support a Kurdish State in Turkey, only 9.4 percent feel the PKK should be the only group involved in talks with the Turkish State.

Finally, in Hakkâri and Sirnak Provinces, there are large Kurdish tribes that are hostile to the PKK, particularly the Jirki, Gevdan, Mamguran, Giravi, and Goran, whose men often serve as "village guards."

Finally, during the Spring 1995 Turkish offensive in northern Iraq, Ocalan himself admitted that there was no love lost between the number one Kurdish movement in Iraq and the PKK. "The Democratic Party of Kurdistan" is currently serving as a scout for enemy military units. It tells them our positions..."(1)

(1) Al-Wasat, London, quoted in Courrier International, April 27, 1995