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Iraqi Kurdistan region feels threat of
Turkish invasion
13.7.2007
By Abd al-Hamid Zibari
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July
13, 2007
Zakho, Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- In recent
weeks, Turkey has massed tens of thousands of
soldiers on its border with Iraqi Kurdistan and
repeatedly threatened to launch a cross-border
operation to pursue Kurdish PKK militants.
The reasons why many people in Kurdistan region
(northern Iraq) see a Turkish invasion as a real
possibility become ever more apparent as you near
the border.
There are abandoned villages, craters in the road
from recent shelling, some unexploded shells in the
fields, and fires that have been lit on the
mountainsides by artillery barrages.
Residents of the Zakho and Kanimasi areas in Dahuk
Governorate claim there is regular artillery and
mortar fire coming from the Turkish side of the
border. The targets are the militiamen of the
separatist Turkish-Kurd PKK, who have bases in this
mountainous area. But the locals say the shelling
and Turkish raids into Iraq to chase the militants
seriously threaten their own lives, too.
Between Shelling and Gunmen
Abdul-Rahman Mahmud, from the village of Kista,
three kilometers from the Turkish border, is the
head of a family of eight that makes its living by
keeping bees.
“Some villages have been abandoned in this area,"
Mahmud said. "The only ones remaining are the older
men who stay to care for the beehives, or to
irrigate peach, apple, walnut, and pomegranate
orchards.
The shelling has affected us to the point where we
can no longer look after the bees, and there is a
pasture known as Ayn al-Jawz to which we have been
unable to take our grazing animals. It forces us to
keep the cattle in hot areas.”
He says the local population has no contacts with
the PKK fighters who have hideouts in the area.
“All of their [PKK fighters] necessities come from
Turkey, across the border. We are occupied with our
own affairs. The PKK elements are armed. They pass
across the border and go into the mountains. We
cannot stop them, because they would kill us if we
tried,” Mahmud said.
If the fighting continues or grows in intensity, he
says, the villagers will have to seek refuge
elsewhere. Some of his own neighbors already have.
“Zubayr has already fled because of the shelling,
leaving behind his land. He took his livestock and
departed the region.”
Another village, known as Nuzduri, is four
kilometers from the Turkish border. It has 56 houses
but they are all abandoned now. Ramadhan Mir Ahmed,
who stayed in the area to look after his orchard,
claims the reason is the same – shelling.
“Since autumn we and our families have been raising
our cattle peacefully. Then they started artillery
fire, which came at us, and it continued for a
month. Just yesterday, an artillery round struck the
road, and the shelling continued on the mountain
areas,” Ahmed told Radio Free Iraq.
He believes that the Iraqi government, the Kurdistan
regional government, or the coalition forces will
have to reach an agreement with the Turkish
government to stop shelling the villages.
Some people come from time to time to check on their
homes, to irrigate the orchards, where the fruit is
beginning to ripen, or to look after their abandoned
crops. One is Majid Othman. He said that his family
resettled in the area earlier this year but had to
leave again because of the region's instability.
“We took our livestock away in four trips. And we
ask [the Turkish military] to stop shelling us
because we are neighbors and we must be
compassionate with each other,” he said.
The areas most targeted by shelling – which are also
the areas where PKK elements can be seen – are
sealed off by checkpoints. They are manned by
peshmerga -- soldiers linked to the autonomous
Kurdistan region’s authorities. They warn travelers
to proceed at their own risk.
A PKK Base in Iraqi Kurdistan
There is another checkpoint ahead when one reaches
the slopes of Qindil Mountain in the
Iraqi-Turkish-Iranian border triangle. Now the
checkpoints are manned by PKK fighters. Here PKK
flags are flying and there is a large picture of PKK
leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is imprisoned in Turkey.
Anyone going further is forbidden to take pictures
and must submit to a full search.
Jamil Bayuq is one of the PKK’s founders and
currently a party leader at the base. He denies that
his fighters are using the Iraqi Kurdish region as a
launching pad for attacks against Turkey.
"We have not attacked, and we have not decided to
declare war, and we are abiding by the cease-fire.
We are now in a legitimate phase of protecting
ourselves. If the Turkish government broadens its
attacks we will also extend our self-protection,”
Bayuq said.
He added, “Turkey cannot prevent us from going to
the Kurdish cities on the Turkish side [of the
border], because Kurds are also present in the
Turkish cities. And if they prevent us, that would
lead to an increase in the number of operations
inside Turkey.”
Bayuq says that the toughened security regime on the
Turkish side of the border is related to the
upcoming elections in Turkey. He dismisses the idea
that even a large-scale military operation across
the border could hurt the PKK leadership or
activities. On the other hand, the military
escalation is seen by Bayuq as unwanted by his group
because it may influence the election results in
Turkey by giving an upper hand to supporters of the
army.
The PKK has had bases on Qindil Mountain since 1985.
This vast area, which is difficult to access, has a
long history of providing refuge for armed Kurds.
The PKK, which is considered a terrorist
organization by the United States, the European
Union, and Turkey, is attempting to secure the
independence of the Kurdish-majority southeastern
Anatolia region.
An 'Unjustified' Threat
Authorities in Iraq's Kurdistan region have their
own concerns about the presence of PKK in the
mountainous border area.
Adnan Al-Mufti, a speaker of the Iraqi Kurdistan
Regional Assembly, told Radio Free Iraq that Turkish
threats of military operations against the PKK
fighters on Iraqi territory are unjustified and only
complicate the problems of Iraqis.
“We are busy trying to overcome many problems, with
terrorism topping the list. Any Turkish military
interference will add to the Iraqi people’s problems
and complicate the Iraqi issue. We hope that Turkey
will be supportive of the Iraqi people in solving
their problems, and not the opposite," Al-Mufti
said. He added that an incursion would harm
prospects for stability in the region.
Instead, he said, there is a need to deal with the
Kurdish issue in Turkey through dialogue and
negotiations, without resorting to a military
solution.
“We believe that resorting to arms and force was
never useful in the past, or at present, and will
not be useful in the future. In the end, if there is
a political issue, it needs to be solved through
diplomatic and peaceful means, and through
dialogue," Al-Mufti said.
The regional parliament speaker praises the position
of Turkish leaders who are opposed to using military
solutions against the fighters of the PKK inside
Iraqi territory.
Jabbar Yawar, the deputy peshmerga minister of the
Kurdistan government and the spokesman for the
peshmerga, told Radio Free Iraq that any foreign
military operation on Iraqi territory, including in
the Kurdistan region, falls under the authority of
Iraq's federal government.
In the event of a military operation, he said, “the
defense of these borders is primarily the
responsibility of the Iraqi federal government
forces, as it is the responsibility of the
multinational forces that are charged, in accordance
with an international resolution, with protecting
all of Iraq, including the Kurdistan region.”
Yawar adds that peshmerga forces will play a
supporting role to the Iraqi government and
multinational forces in case of an incursion.
rferl org
** 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.
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.
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
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