drug trafficking as substantial amounts of heroin formerly transiting Iran were now re-routed through Iraq after the war in Iraq (Gulf War). The PKK had denied all accusations that their members had been involved in drug trafficking. Turkish authorities also claimed that the organization had been working on developing methods of drug-trafficking and according to Interpol's records, 298 people somehow connected with the organization were arrested for drug trafficking between 1984 and 1993. According to Aliza Marcus, an expert who has analyzed the PKK since the 80's, it doesn't seem that the PKK, as an organization, directly produced or traded in narcotics. With the increase of Turkey's activities to cope with the PKK, 10 percent of income was spent on fighting against the PKK. One year the military spent $8,000,000,000 in operational expenses, and PKK's activity was not curbed. The PKK succeeded to get support from Kurdish activists. Later in 1993, the PKK supporters allegedly launched coordinated attacks involving firebombs and vandalism on Turkish diplomatic and commercial offices in six West European, 3 Middle-East and 2 African countries. On March 19, 1993, PKK put an end to the long-standing PKK vendetta against the other Kurdish parties through an agreement with the Kurdistan Socialist Party. In a turning point in the organizations structure, during 1995 Turkish authorities claimed that 30% of the captured or killed PKK members were Syrian nationals of Armenian origin or other Syrians. The Gulf War changed the political situation. Turkey passively supported the war. The border with Iraq became the worst border. There was an authority that Turkey could communicate with in Syria and Iran, but the Gulf War left North Iraq with what Turkey has called a "vacuum of control". Also, Iraq assisted the organization as a retaliation for the passive support. The aid was meant to serve as a retaliation against Turkey due to its anti-Iraq policy. Later Operation Provide Comfort used Incirlik air base in Turkey to create an autonomous area for Iraq Kurds. Marking the border After the Halabja poison gas attack in 1988, 36,000 Kurdish refugees were located in Diyarbakir. Iraq began to spread out its problems to Turkey. After the Gulf War of 1991, the problem was not just PKK insurgency. It was a humanitarian problem that can turn into a regional war. Turkey didn't want to open border for Kurdish refugees. The "vacuum of power in North Iraq" refers to