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Turkish-US Relations Could Turn Sour:
Report
17.1.2007
Report by Tareq Bouhaimad |
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ANKARA, January
17, -- Turkish-US relations are going through a
period of instability due to Ankara's doubts about
US plans for the Kurdish people not only in
Kurdistan region (northern Iraq) but also in Kurdish
southern Turkey.
Up till now, Turkey has listened to Washington's
advices and abided by them. But The Turks are
realizing that the Americans are facing increasing
problems in Iraq and have little or no time to spend
on Ankara's concerns with regard to expansionist or
separatist designs by the Kurdish minority in both
Turkey and Iraq.
Now while Turks and Kurds are getting ready for a
possible clash, Turkey has given up hope that the
Americans would cut the Kurds to size and hopes
instead to get a green light from Washington to
launch a "limited strike against bases of the
Kurdistan Workers Party" (Kurdish: Partiya Karkeran
Kurdistan or PKK), in Iraqi provinces close to the
border.
Ankara also hopes that the US administration would
convince Iraqi Kurds to sit on the fence and watch
and not interfere with Turkey's action against the
PKK.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan had
confided to UA President George W. Bush in July
2006, during telephone calls between the two leaders
that the strikes against the PKK should be launched
as soon as possible or he (Erdogan) could lose
control over Turkish generals keen to launch such a
strike as soon as possible.
Erdogan's remarks were prompted by the growing
number of victims of PKK attacks against Turkish
targets.
Similarly, a senior Turkish Intelligence officer was
quoted as saying that the wait-and-see policy with
the Kurds was no longer tenable and action was
needed.
Meanwhile, a Turkish political analyst called Ehan
Bashi told KUNA that the question was, at present,
not whether or not the Turkish strike against the
Kurds would take place, but what would be the
response to such a strike by the US army.
"Washington is certainly not be happy about the
Kurds helping the PKK, which is not likely to give
up the fight and call it a day," Bashi said. He
added that Turkey was not just any country, but a
member of NATO and a major power in this part of the
world. Therefore, it (Turkey) should not be
overlooked in a political and military context, he
said.
He stated that the NATO base in Incirlik, in south
Turkey, was a non-combat base. But, just the same,
it was a base for military aircraft for NATO in
general, but for US forces in Iraq in particular.
Another analyst, Mehmet Ali Brand Feri, said in his
daily column that Washington was not convinced that
the problem (of the PKK) would be resolved by any
Turkish military intrusion in northern Iraq's
Kurdish provinces. Therefore, Washington would
dislike such an intrusion for its negative effect on
turbulent Iraq.
"Washington cannot afford such adventures that could
trigger more ethnic and sectarian hatred in Iraq,"
Feri said.
The worst case scenario for Turkey is the setting up
of a separate Kurdish state in Northern Iraq because
that would have a devastating effect on Iraq's
national unity.
Kirkuk in particular is a source of concern for
Turkey, in case there is a separate state, because
the city is made up of several ethnic minorities and
because of the oil wealth in that city.
kuna net.kw
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan"
Southeast Turkey. The Kurds have no rights in
Turkey.
Others estimate as many as 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan but
unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag is
banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it is
a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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