|
Turkey's troubling threat
22.10.2007
|
|
|
|
October
22, 2007
The long-standing enmity between Turkey and the
Kurds of bordering Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq'
is a conflagration waiting to happen, and the
Turkish parliament's authorization of cross-border
incursions to root out Kurdish rebels from their
mountain bases may ignite it. The United States has
little pull with Ankara, but the European Union,
which Turkey desperately wants to join, does, and
the member nations should use it to restrain the
government from actions that could be disastrous.
Among the many after-effects of America's toppling
of Saddam Hussein was the freeing of the Kurds from
Mr. Hussein's tyranny. The Kurds have largely
steered clear of the Sunni-Shiite civil war tearing
apart the country, and as they slowly carve out an
autonomous region on the Turkish border, Ankara
worries that Kurds in Turkey will demand similar
independence. Turkey accuses Iraqi Kurds of crossing
the border to assist restive members of the
Kurdistan Workers' Party in their periodic battles
with the Turkish military, which Massoud Barzani,
the president of the Kurdistan region in Iraq,
denies.
A Muslim nation and a member of NATO, Turkey, for
centuries a shaky bridge between Europe and Asia, is
desperately trying to keep a foot planted in both
the West and the East. It is a difficult trick,
which the Bush administration has made much more
difficult.
Ankara opposed the invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan,
refusing to allow the White House to launch planes
from its military bases, because it knew the
invasion would destabilize the country. Turkey wants
to maintain friendly relations with Iran and resents
White House efforts to pressure it to join its
sanctions campaign. The government's crankiness over
a House resolution declaring Turkey's World War
I-era massacre of Armenians to be genocide is part
and parcel of its unhappiness with Washington.
If Turkey invades northern Iraq it may create
another Chechnya. Its forces will have difficulty
rooting out the Kurds from the mountains they know
so well and Kurds in Turkey will become more
rebellious. Iran and Syria may follow Turkey's lead
and invade sections of Iraq that they have an
interest in exploiting or subduing.
President Barzani has urged Ankara to engage in
talks about the alleged border incursions and Ankara
should take up that offer. If Turkish leaders are
reluctant to do so, the European Union should not be
reluctant to lean on them. A Turkish incursion into
Iraq would have repercussions that will be felt
around the globe.
berkshireeagle com
Since 1991, the Kurds of Iraq achieved self-rule in
part of the country. Today's teenagers are the first
generation to grow up under Kurdish rule. In the new
Iraqi Constitution, it is referred to as Kurdistan
region. Kurdistan region has all the trappings of an
independent state -- its own constitution, its own
parliament, its own flag, its own army, its own
border, its own border patrol, its own national
anthem, its own education system, its own
International airports, even its own stamp inked
into the passports of visitors.
Iraqi Kurdish politician says, Turkey is using a
Kurdish separatist PKK rebel group as an excuse to
invade Kurdistan region
'Iraq' to prevent the establishment of Kurdistan
state in the Kurdish autonomous region in 'northern
Iraq'.
**
Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in
Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
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.
Others estimate over 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.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media.
The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and
2003
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
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 