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Not in Turkey's interests to attack
Kurdistan 27.10.2007 |
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October
27, 2007
This is what Saywan Barzani, Iraqi Kurdistan’s
representative in Europe, said in an interview with
AsiaNews. In his opinion a “large scale” Turkish
intervention against the PKK the Turkish government
and army aim at revamping their own fortunes on a
theme that can unify the country, the never-ending
Kurdish Question.
Paris ,-- It is not in the interests of
Turkey to invade Kurdistan because it would destroy
the economy and destabilising the entire region. An
attack by Turkey’s army has no or limited chances of
success given the terrain. PKK (Kurdistan Workers’
Party) fighters are present throughout the region
and can easily slip into Iran or Turkey itself.
This is what Saywan Barzani, nephew of Iraqi
Kurdistan’s President Massoud Barzani and its
representative in Europe, told AsiaNews in an
interview. For him the PKK is an internal Turkish
problem due to contrasts between the secular army
and the Islamist government and caused by the fact
that Ankara has deprived its own Kurds of any
breathing space, denied their very existence and
pursued policies of under-developing its Kurdish
region. |
Saywan Barzani, representative of Kurdistan
regional government in Europe |
How do you explain the
recent escalation in tensions between Turkey and
Iraq?
The ongoing Turkish escalation is due to an internal
conflict between Turkey’s powerful army and its
elected Islamist government. Both camps, the secular
and Islamist, are trying to revamp their fortunes on
a unifying issue, that of the Kurdish Question.
Rising violence in Turkey’s neighbours represents a
defeat for Ankara’s policies. Ever since modern
Turkey was founded it has faced revolts by Kurds
demanding a minimum number of cultural, political
and economic rights.
The government of Iraqi Kurdistan is not to blame if
there is extreme poverty in the Kurdish areas of
Turkey, if their existence is even denied. Kurdish
rebels are fighting a civil war that is largely
affecting civilians and the obvious underdevelopment
of Turkey’s Kurdish areas even when compared to the
rest of the country. About four thousand villages
have been evacuated and destroyed. The eastern
region of Turkey has become lawless, an area for all
sorts of traffic, starting with billions of dollars
in drugs as well as weapons and alcohol smuggling.www.ekurd.net
What is the relationship between Ankara and Iraqi
Kurdistan?
The creation of the government Iraqi Kurdistan in
1992 was a chance for Turkey. Initially violence
dropped by 80 per cent.
More than 32,000 trucks were moving goods destined
for Iraqi Kurdistan. The whole of south-eastern
Turkey survives essentially thanks to official trade
with our region. Last year Turkey’s exports in our
region were more than US$ 5 billion with some 700
Turkish companies operating there.
We too want the PKK to stop its armed struggle, not
because we believe it gained any rights for the
Kurdish people, but rather because in Turkey it can
use democratic institutions to peacefully realise
structural reforms.
Is the Turkish threat of “large scale”
intervention in Iraqi territory realistic?
Escalation and military threats from another age
have no basis today and cannot be of any interest to
Turkey except to carry on its 20th century
nationalism, the official doctrine of its state and
army.
First of all, the stated goal of eradicating the PKK
cannot be achieved. In the last few years the
Turkish army carried out 25 incursions into Iraq
without any tangible result. Turkish Kurdish
fighters are more than 130 kilometres from the
border at 3,400 metres. It would take a Turkish tank
15 days to get there whereas in a two-hour march the
guerrillas can be Iran.
Even if Turkey killed a few thousand fighters,
others would take their place. There are thousands
of PKK men in Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia and
Georgia.
The [Kurdish] Question needs a political solution,
not threats of extermination that have failed to
achieve anything so far.
Whatever military incursion Turkey can mount will
just ruin the Turkish and Iraqi economies and
destabilise the wider region.
How can the international community help solve
the crisis?
The only solution is though negotiations and non
interference in one’s internal affairs. For example,
Iraq’s neighbours ought not to interfere in how
Kurdistan’s borders are decided in the Kirkuk
referendum.
Moreover, as the protector of Iraq’s borders the
United States must clearly tell the Turks what their
position is and reject whatever baseless arguments
the latter can muster. The Americans must impose
peace and call on the PKK and the Ankara government
to stay away from Iraqi Kurdistan which is just
emerging from 40 years of war and genocide.
Western public opinion and governments are the only
ones who can get the Turks to pursue a peaceful
policy, stop threatening Iraqi Kurdistan’s nascent
democracy, and find a solution to their own
80-year-old Kurdish problem.
asianews.it
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