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Possible Turkish attack on Kurdish rebels in Iraq
would hurt regional economy
2.6.2007 |
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June
2, 2007
HABUR BORDER CROSSING, Turkey-Kurdistan: As
Turkey gears up for a possible attack on Kurdish
rebels in Kurdistan (Iraq), residents along the
border are bracing for the negative impact of any
military action on cross-border trade.
"This border is my only hope," said Turkish Kurd
truck driver Suleyman Gidim, who was ferrying
gasoline to U.S. troops to Kurdistan-Iraq and has a
family of seven to feed.
The economic fallout of an attack could be huge for
both sides: Turkey provides electricity and oil
products to the Iraqi Kurdistan region, and the
annual trade volume at the Habur Gate crossing is
more than US$10 billion. The Turkish military has
been building up forces along the porous border,
where separatist rebels cross from safe havens in
the mountains of Kurdistan-Iraq to carry out
attacks.
The mostly Kurdish residents on the Turkish side of
the border fear that the boom times that returned to
the region after the liberation of Iraq by U.S.-led
forces four years ago could evaporate if Turkish
troops pursue rebels of the Kurdistan Workers'
Party, known by its Kurdish acronym PKK, who are
hiding out in Kurdistan (northern Iraq).
A string of small businesses, including bakeries,
groceries and car repair shops, are now fully
operational after the border was closed for years
during a U.N. trade embargo against Iraq that ended
after the fall of Saddam Hussein. During the
embargo, the border trade was virtually limited to
smuggling of crude oil and cigarettes from Iraq and
most of the small businesses had gone bankrupt. Now,
new hotels, restaurants and shops have mushroomed
and larger customs buildings have been built to
serve thousands of truck drivers and businessmen
involved in reconstruction projects in war-torn
Iraq.
"We are all worried. If Turkey enters Iraq, then the
border could be shut down," said Tekin Ozgen, a
27-year-old waiter at a roadside restaurant that
caters to truck drivers. "No border gate means no
patrons. If that happens, I might have to migrate to
the west to become a construction worker."
The border trade is the backbone of the regional
economy, and vendors descend on the crossing to sell
ice-cream, boiled eggs or T-shirts to truck drivers
waiting in line for hours to get past the border
gate. The crossing sits on a plain at the edge of a
river and is surrounded by barbed wires and military
watch towers. Sheep graze on a nearby field.
The Turkish military says its maneuvers on the
border are routine, but political and military
leaders have been discussing whether to stage an
incursion in recent weeks amid an increase in rebel
activity. PKK attacks usually rise in the summer,
but a recent suicide bombing in the capital, Ankara,
and a bomb that killed six Turkish soldiers — both
blamed on guerrillas — have tested Turkey's
diminishing patience.
On Friday, officials said Turkish troops killed two
Kurdish rebels in an overnight clash in the
southeast, bringing the number of guerrillas killed
in fighting this week to 16. In a separate incident,
rebels attacked a military vehicle near the border
with Iraq, injuring eight soldiers.
Turkey has urged the United States and Iraq to wipe
out rebel bases in Kurdistan (northern Iraq). The
United States opposes a Turkish incursion into
Kurdistan region (northern Iraq), fearing it could
destabilize one of the most stable regions of the
country.
At the Habur crossing, a large Turkish flag waved on
a high post and was easily visible kilometers
(miles) away. Much of the mountainous border area is
off-limits to journalists, but some tanks sitting on
trucks could be seen at a base in the border town of
Silopi, 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the border.
Southeastern Turkey is overwhelmingly Kurdish. Many
people have relatives in Kurdistan region (northern
Iraq), and some sympathize with the cause of the
Kurdish guerrillas, who took up arms in 1984.
"Turkey should not stage an incursion but consider
giving rights to the PKK," said teenager Sabri Sezer,
as he sold cold water at the sun-baked border
crossing. "Turkey is a state, but let the PKK to
have their own state too."
Pro-government Kurds said the PKK had not only
targeted soldiers or police, but also teachers or
government workers who were building roads.
"The knife has touched the bone," said Abdullah
Cite, owner of a makeshift coffee house near the
border gate. "Turkey should go in and finish off the
terrorists."
Turkey's military chief said Thursday his army was
prepared to attack Kurdish guerrillas in a
cross-border offensive and was awaiting government
orders for an incursion, putting pressure on the
government to support an offensive that risks
straining ties with the United States. Turkey is
NATO's only predominantly Muslim member.
Turkey last carried out a major incursion into Iraq
to chase PKK rebels a decade ago. The Turkish
military says up to 3,800 rebels are now based in
Iraq, and up to 2,300 operate inside Turkey.
AP
** 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.
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.
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
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