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Kurds Fear a New War
9.3.2007
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March 9, 2007
QANDIL MOUNTAINS (Kurdistan Iraq
-Iran-Turkey), March 9, -- The fragile quiet in this
no-man's-land is broken by a young fighter shooting
into the air at a regular morning ceremony to
"commemorate martyrs".
The firing is more than ceremonial. A new threat of
war is looming in this mountain range in Kurdistan
region (the north of Iraq), cutting into Turkey and
Iran.
All three countries have large Kurdish populations,
and the governments of all three are worried about a
Kurdish uprising for a separate homeland. Only in
Iraq do Kurds have an autonomous region of their
own.
Over the past few months Turkey and Iran have been
threatening to sweep positions held by the Kurdistan
Workers' Party of Turkey (PKK) off these mountains.
They accuse the PKK of launching cross-border
operations from Iraq's soil into Turkey and Iran.
The PKK announced unilateral ceasefire Oct. 1 last
year, symbolically on world peace day, but it was
rejected by the Turkish government.
"We don't want to be forced to fight, and are still
expecting a positive response to our ceasefire
message from the relevant parties," Rostam Joudi,
member of PKK's leadership council told IPS.
"Otherwise, we are quite prepared to counter any
(Turkish) military operation. We can raise the level
of the conflict...and it may get bigger than Iraq
and Arab-Israeli conflicts."
PKK is on the terror list of Turkey, the United
States and the European Union. The group's fight for
a Kurdish homeland in Turkey since the early 1980s
has claimed more than 35,000 lives.
The prospect of a conflict between PKK and Turkish
troops has worried Iraqi Kurds who fear that a
Turkish attack on PKK bases may lead to long-term
occupation of their Kurdistan region in northern
Iraq.
It was mainly Iraqi Kurds who persuaded PKK to
announce the ceasefire, hoping it would open the
channel for diplomacy. But the move backfired; Turks
argued that it was a sign of Iraqi Kurds' relations
with PKK.
Turkish army chief Gen. Yasar Buyukanit accused
Iraqi Kurdish political parties last month of being
"the biggest supporter of the PKK at the moment."
Iraq's Kurdish political parties are now uncertain
how to deal with the PKK.
Kurdistan regional president Massoud Barzani told
the Turkish NTV channel that his forces will not
simply stand by should Turkish troops enter northern
Iraq. The Kurdistan regional government also rejects
military action against the PKK guerillas; a Kurd
attack on Kurds will be strongly opposed by the
public.
Kurd leaders in Iraq are well aware that the PKK
presence in Kurdistan imperils the stability of
their region and makes it a target for Turkish as
well as Iranian forces.
Since the spring of last year Turkish and Iranian
forces have occasionally shelled villages on the
borders. Several Kurds have been killed.
The Kurdish leadership in Iraq has frequently called
on the Turkish government for better treatment of
its own Kurdish population and a general amnesty for
PKK guerillas. This, they hope, would persuade PKK
members to go for a political struggle and leave the
Iraqi Kurdistan mountains.
But PKK leaders reject disbanding their party and
leaving Qandil.
"The presence of our forces in (Iraqi) Kurdistan
region is not something to negotiate over," Joudi
said. He said the PKK does not use Iraqi Kurdistan
soil to launch its attacks, and that it has fighters
inside Turkish soil for that.
Recent developments in the region have not been in
PKK's interest. Iran is seeking to build a regional
alliance with Turkey to defuse international
pressure on its nuclear programme. As a part of this
plan it has shelled PKK positions in Qandil in an
apparent bid to appease Turkey.
Iran has also been taking on the Kurdistan Free Life
Party (PJAK), an offshoot of PKK in the Kurdish
regions of Iran.
The PJAK, which PKK officials told IPS enjoys
limited U.S. support, has conducted several
guerrilla operations in the western, predominantly
Kurdish areas of Iran. The fighting has left dozens
of casualties on both sides.
PKK leaders are expecting a Turkish military
invasion in spring. They expect the attack to have
limited scope in terms of "the time and area of
operation."
As the likelihood of a fierce battle between PKK and
Turkey rises, the guerrillas' determination is not
shaken.
Heval Aslan, 24, joined PKK eight years ago after
his village was twice razed by the Turkish army. He
has a serious leg injury, but he says he can fight
-- if he has to.
"No one wants to die or to kill. Our motto is that
we are prepared for both peace and war."
IPS
** 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 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.
Turkey is home to some 20 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
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
**
Iranian Kurdistan (Kurdish: Kurdistana Îranę or
Kurdistana Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) or Rojhilatę
Kurdistan (East of Kurdistan) is an unofficial name
for the parts of Iran inhabited by Kurds and has
borders with Iraq and Turkey. It includes the
greater parts of West Azerbaijan province, Kurdistan
Province, Kermanshah Province, and Ilam Province.
Kurds form the majority of the population of this
region with an estimated population of 4 million.
The region is the eastern part of the greater
cultural-geographical area called Kurdistan.
More about Iranian Kurdistan
PEJAK (Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan) , took up
arms for self-rule in the country's mainly Kurdistan
province northwestern of Iran.
The present leader of the organisation is Haji
Ahmadi. According to the Washington Times, half the
members of PEJAK are women, many of them still in
their teens, and one of the female members of the
leadership council is Gulistan Dugan, a psychology
graduate from the University of Tehran. This is due
primarily to the fact that PJAK is strongly
supportive of women's rights. PJAK believes that
women must have a strong role in government and must
be on an equal level with men in leadership
positions.
More about PEJAK- Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan
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