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Turkey and the Kurds
23.4.2006
EDITORIAL
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Kurdish unrest in
Turkey, which has continued with bombings in
Istanbul in recent weeks and almost daily clashes
and rioting in the mountains, strains U.S.-Turkey
relations at a time when Ankara's support for U.S.
policy in the Middle East and against Iran is
crucial. Winning Turkish support to confront the
Iran issue will be a challenging task, as Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has tried to steer
Turkey toward friendly relationships with all its
Arab neighbors while continuing to pursue accession
into the European Union. Losing Turkish support
would be a difficult setback for the United States.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to
the region next week, where she will face the
challenge of maintaining the delicate balance the
United States has struck. Washington's approach must
include building a stronger alliance with Turkey,
keeping the Iraqi Kurds involved in the governing
process in Iraq and opposing acts of violence, which
are mostly the work of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),
a radical Kurdish faction that both the United
States and Europe recognize as a terrorist
organization.
Washington should also be concerned that Turkey, a
secular Muslim democracy and bridge between the
Western and Muslim worlds, has seen fundamentalism
rise and pro-American sentiment erode so much that
the overwhelming majority of Turks now consider the
United States as the biggest obstacle to peace.
Turks see Kurdish sovereignty in Iraq as a threat to
the integrity of their state: They regard a fully
autonomous Kurdish state in Iraq as a precursor to a
stronger push for independence and more divisive
civil strife among the Turkish Kurds. Playing on
these concerns, the Iranian ambassador to Turkey
asserted that "the U.S. will carve pieces from us
for a Kurdish state." The Turkish government is not
alone in its distaste for the idea of a Kurdish
state; Ayad Jamal al Din, a Shi'ite Iraqi legislator
who represents the southern city of Nasiriya, told
editors and reporters at The Washington Times
earlier this month that many Iraqis also want a
stronger central government and less Kurdish
autonomy. Mr. Erdogan's statements indicate he is on
the right track, proposing to engage the Kurds as
citizens and promising "more roads, more hospitals,
more schools and places of work," along with "more
freedom, more democracy, more welfare, more rights
and justice."
Relations with Turkey soured as a result of that
nation's refusal in 2003 to allow U.S. troops to use
Turkey's territorial border with Iraq for Operation
Iraqi Freedom -- a decision that low point in the
50-year alliance between the United States and
Turkey. The subsequent arrest of Turkish soldiers in
Iraq by U.S. forces, which has been inaccurately
interpreted in Turkish popular culture as a sign of
American support for the Kurds over the Turks, did
nothing to help rebuild the relationship. Today most
of the PKK clashes with Turkish military occur in
the Southeast mountain region, and reports abound of
PKK guerillas operating out of camps in Northern
Iraq and fighting with weapons supplied from Iraq.
Terrorism is a pressing issue for Mr. Erdogan and
his government, and Washington should not let Ankara
think that the United States restricts Turkey's
ability to fight the PKK. Such a conclusion would
risk pushing Turkey closer to its Muslim neighbors,
including Iran, at the expense of its Western ties.
The alliance has been on the mend, but the process
hasn't happened quickly enough. Polls show public
opinion regarding the United States in Turkey is
resoundingly negative, and Turkish opposition to
American action against Iran is strong. When Miss
Rice visits Turkey next week, ensuring that the
pre-Iraq failure was not an indicator of how the
alliance will function when tested should top the
agenda. Clearly, this is a daunting challenge, and
one that will require a Bismarckian level of
diplomacy.
washington Times.com
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