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Turkey: Ankara Eyes Military Incursion
Into Iraq Against PKK
3.5.2006
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Turkish press reports say that Ankara is amassing
troops on its border with Iraq in preparation for a
possible operation into northern Iraq against
Turkish-Kurdish fighters of the Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK). The reported troop movements raise
tough questions for Washington -- which has warned
against any steps that could destabilize Iraqi
Kurdistan -- and for the future of the new federal
Iraq.
PRAGUE, May 3, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The Turkish
media for days has been reporting that Ankara is
planning a large-scale, cross-border operation
against PKK hideouts in northern Iraq.
Istanbul's "Ortadogu" reported on April 23 that the
Turkish armed forces had deployed two brigades to
the Iraq border in preparation for the operation.
It said the campaign would include air strikes
against six PKK camps in the Qandil Mountain range
along the Turkish-Iraqi border, where an estimated
6,000 militants are believed to be sheltering.
Media Reports Denied
However, Turkish officials have been equally
persistent in denying the media reports.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on April
25 in Ankara that the troop buildup is a part of a
routine, annual spring operation by Turkish forces
to prevent “terrorists” from “infiltrating our
borders.”
The reported buildup near the border is being
closely watched in Kurdish-administered northern
Iraq.
Saffin Dizay is director of International Relations
for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), one of the
two main parties in the Irbil-based Kurdistan
Regional Government. (To read the complete interview
with Dizay, click here.)
“As far as the Turkish military buildup, of course
it's within the boundaries of Turkey and it has not
spread or spilled over into Iraqi Kurdistan's
territory," Dizay said. "And we think and hope that
it will remain as such, because we have seen similar
buildups in previous years, maybe not so much in the
last five years, every spring there has been troops
built up after the winter conditions and there has
been times in the past [when there were]
cross-border operations.”
Dizay also said any incursion into northern Iraq
would be contrary to current agreements between
Baghdad and Ankara.
“Of course today Iraq is a sovereign country, Iraq
has regained its sovereignty and the agreement that
existed before between Baghdad and Ankara of the hot
pursuit by the Turkish military into Iraqi territory
is no longer valid," he said. "So, we do not think
that such operations are valid and we do not think
such operations are intended in any case.”
Wondering About Washington
The question now is how Washington would react were
Turkey to sweep into northern Iraq as it did
routinely during the era of former Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein.
The Turkish press says that Washington, which
considers the PKK a terrorist group, has given tacit
agreement to a Turkish military incursion.
But U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on
a visit to Ankara on April 25 that any such action
would threaten to destabilize Iraqi Kurdistan.
"We need to work with the new Iraqi government and
we will do that," Rice told Turkey's Gul. "We've had
a trilateral mechanism on this issue and I hope that
we can reinvigorate it when there is a new Iraqi
government [in place.]"
The new Iraqi government is now being formed by
Prime Minister-designate Nuri Kamil al-Maliki in
Baghdad.
And Then There's Iran
Meanwhile, complicating the scene further, Iran has
begun in recent weeks to shell bases along the
Iran-Iraq border used by Kurdish militants from the
Kurdistan Free Life Party, an offshoot of the PKK.
Iran, like Turkey, has a sizeable Kurdish minority
and worries that any successes for the separatist
Turkish-Kurd PKK could fan demands for greater
rights among Iranian-Kurds.
Both Turkey and Iran are also highly nervous about
the high degree of self-rule enjoyed by Iraqi Kurds
as they maintain a stable and functioning autonomous
region in the new federal Iraq.
If Turkey is now preparing an incursion into
northern Iraq, Ankara must weigh not only how the
United States and Iran might react, but also whether
it would damage Turkey’s own future relations with
the Kurdish autonomous region.
Those relations include trade and economic
investment that has grown substantially with
U.S.-led efforts to reconstruct Iraq.
Improving Relations With Ankara
Dizay characterizes ties between Ankara and the
Kurdish autonomous region as generally good.
“We are ready to talk to Ankara on a bilateral level
in Kurdistan within the KDP scope or within the
Kurdistan Regional Government scope...especially on
economic, social, and cultural developments, we
enjoy very good [relations]," Dizay said. "This
process has been developed a great deal. Turkish
firms are very much engaged in Kurdistan. Most of
the construction work, the tenders have been given
to Turkish companies. So we don't have any problems
in that field.”
Dizay says Iraqi-Kurdish officials are willing to
play a mediating role in Ankara’s conflict with the
PKK and in the larger issue of Turkey’s relations
with its Kurdish minority.
How Ankara will proceed next – and particularly if
it launches a military incursion – will tell much
about how Turkey views the new Iraq and its role in
the region.
Washington has repeatedly said its aim is to
transform Iraq into a democratic state that will
increase regional stability. A military intervention
by Turkey now could be a strong signal that Ankara
has only limited faith that Washington can achieve
that goal.
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