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HAKKARI,
Kurdistan-Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey's mountainous
border with Iraq was witness in 1991 to the
desperate flight of some 400,000 Kurds seeking
refuge from Saddam Hussein's troops.
Fourteen years on, fear has given way to hope and
workers, goods and investment are flowing into
Kurdistan (northern Iraq), a region developing
rapidly in the wake of Saddam's overthrow.
The unemployed of Turkey's southeast are crossing
the border in growing numbers to work on building
sites or sell goods, frustrated by the lack of
opportunities in a region a world away from the
European Union that Turkey hopes to join.
"People have gone to work in northern Iraq because
there are better opportunities and a lot of work.
There are construction workers, engineers and
businessmen," said Adnan Elci, head of a local
chamber of commerce on the Iraqi border.
Changing views of Iraq in Turkey is not easy.
Kurdish rebels based in the Iraqi mountains
regularly stage attacks on Turkish soil and Ankara
remains concerned that Kurdish autonomy in north
Iraq could fuel separatism in the mainly Kurdish
southeast.
Workers have also had to overcome fears about
security as the Iraqi insurgency rages. Dozens of
Turkish truck drivers have been kidnapped and killed
bringing goods in for U.S. forces.
Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq has remained
relatively calm.
Some 5,000 construction workers went to work in Iraq
last year on U.S. bases or in projects in major
cities like Arbil and Sulaimaniya. Elci said they
earn up to some $1,000 a month.
Kurds along the border also engage in small-scale
trade in basic consumer goods which they take into
Iraq.
"In an economic sense, northern Iraq has become
Turkey's backyard," said Sabah newspaper columnist
Erdal Safak.
"Many small entrepreneurs from the southeast are
investing there, from restaurants to supermarkets.
Also many laborers from the southeast are working on
building sites," he said.
RESTAURANTS, BEAUTY SALONS
Among those to benefit is businesswoman Ferda
Cemiloglu, from the main southeastern Turkish city
of Diyarbakir, whose company won tenders to build
two ministry buildings in the Kurdistan
(northern-Iraqi) city of Arbil.
She has also opened a restaurant and beauty salon in
the city and speaks of her efforts to strengthen
solidarity with the women of Arbil, but problems
persist for intrepid entrepreneurs.
"Turkish banks don't give guarantee letters as they
view this a risky region. Banks need to be opened...
We also need flights to Diyarbakir," she told
Milliyet newspaper.
In a sign of Turkish authorities conquering their
concerns about northern Iraq, a budget airline is
set to begin flights between Istanbul and Arbil this
month.
Closer ties between the southeast and Iraq remain
fraught with concerns for the government in Ankara.
Several thousand PKK rebels are still holed up in
the Iraqi mountains. Turkey keeps several hundred
troops inside Iraq and has made repeated calls in
vain for Iraq to act against the outlawed militants.
There are worries that the separatism which the
group advocates could be fueled by increasing links
between the Kurds of southeast Turkey and their
ethnic kin across the border.
Strengthening links with Iraq would seem a way of
giving a boost the southeast's economy, but in
practice it has often been businessmen further west
who have benefited from the trade.
Hakkari, which absorbed the flood of refugees in
1991, illustrates the obstacles to economic
development in the region. It has been hit harder
than most provinces since the Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) took up arms in 1984. More than 30,000
people have been killed in the fighting.
Livestock farming was ravaged by the destruction of
villages during the conflict and its border crossing
to Iraq is closed. All trade goes through
neighboring Sirnak.
"If they opened the border here it would be a great
source of income. As it is, livestock farming has
suffered a heavy blow and we have 70 percent
unemployment," said Adnan Hatipoglu, a newspaper
editor in the province.
Violence dwindled after PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan
was captured in 1999 but has flared up again this
year, thrusting the Kurdish issue back into the
spotlight and underlying the importance of
addressing the region's desperate economic plight.
Per capita income at $800 a year is around a quarter
of levels in affluent parts of western Turkey
Reuters
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