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Turkish media target Barzani after Maliki
fails to agree to concrete measures against PKK
8.8.2007
By Gareth Jenkins
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August 8, 2007
The Turkish media have targeted Iraqi Kurdish
president Massoud Barzani following the failure of
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Kamel al-Maliki to agree
to take concrete measures against the Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK)
during his August 7 visit to Ankara.
Prior to al-Maliki’s arrival in Turkey, the Turkish
authorities had sent the Iraqi government a draft
agreement detailing the measures that it expected to
be taken against the PKK, which has long used its
camps in the Qandil Mountains of Kurdistan region
(northern Iraq) as a platform from which to launch
attacks inside Turkey. The proposed measures
included: the closure of offices associated with the
PKK in Kurdistan (northern Iraq), greater sharing of
intelligence, the detention and extradition to
Turkey of the organization’s leaders, cutting off
financial and logistical support to the PKK, and
preventing radio and TV broadcasts by the
organization (Radikal, August 8).
After protracted discussions, which led to a planned
press conference by al-Maliki and Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan being delayed by four
hours, the two leaders finally emerged to announce
that they had signed only a vague memorandum of
understanding rather than the list of concrete
measures prepared by Turkey. |
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (L) and his
Iraqi counterpart Nuri al-Maliki pose for media
during a welcome ceremony in Ankara August 7, 2007.
Maliki arrived in Turkey on Tuesday |
The memorandum of understanding explicitly described
the PKK as a 'terrorist' organization and expressed
the two countries’ commitment to isolating,
pacifying, and ending the presence of all terrorist
groups in Iraq, including the PKK.
But the practical measures it envisaged were merely
symbolic gestures, such as establishing a telephone
hotline between the Turkish and Iraqi security
forces for exchanging information about PKK
activities and doubling the number of Iraqi soldiers
deployed along the country’s border with Turkey from
400 to 800. Nobody believes that the measures will
have any impact on the PKK’s operational
capabilities.
Al-Maliki promised to send a high-level delegation
to Turkey in late August to discuss further measures
against the PKK (Turkish Daily News, August 8).
However, no detailed agreement on concrete measures
to be taken against the PKK is expected to be signed
until at least early October (Milliyet, August 8).
That is not only a long time given al-Maliki’s
current precarious domestic political position, but
it would also coincide with the beginning of the end
of the PKK’s campaign season, as the first winter
snows begin to block the mountain passes between
Iraq and Turkey.
The Turkish media was unanimous in blaming Kurdistan
president Massoud Barzani for al-Maliki’s reluctance
to commit Iraq to taking substantive measures
against the PKK, noting that, with his government
already in disarray following the resignation of its
Sunni ministers, al-Maliki was not prepared to risk
antagonizing the Iraqi Kurds as well (NTV, August
8).
Although the Iraqi Kurdish authorities have little
love for the PKK, they have resisted clamping down
on the organization for fear that a military
operation could create domestic instability.
Instead, they have been relying on the fear of the
possible reaction from the United States as a
deterrent to Turkey launching its own cross-border
military operation against the PKK.
Turkish journalists quoted unnamed members of al-Maliki’s
delegation as admitting that the reason for his
refusal to sign the draft agreement of concrete
measures drawn up by Turkey was opposition from the
Iraqi Kurds. “We want the text of any agreement to
reflect everyone’s wishes, including the Kurds,” one
was quoted as saying (Radikal, August 8).
The impasse has led to renewed calls inside Turkey
for the authorities to apply pressure to Barzani by
targeting what are claimed to be his business
interests in the country. Earlier this year, the
Turkish media printed lists of the names of 150
companies which they were said were owned by
Barzani’s friends and relatives (Aksam, May 29),
most of which were engaged in cross-border trade
between Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey (Aksam, July 3).
The publicity campaign followed the June
announcement that the Turkish public prosecutor had
launched an official investigation into Barzani’s
assets and bank accounts in Turkey, with a view to
their confiscation if it could be proved that
Barzani was aiding and abetting a
terrorist organization, namely the PKK (New
Anatolian, June 20).
In the immediate aftermath of al-Maliki’s visit, the
Turkish press began printing further allegations,
quoting members of the Turkish police as claiming
that a company owned by the Barzani family was
engaged in smuggling cigarettes into Turkey (Milliyet,
August 8). However, any attempt to apply economic
pressure to Barzani could come at a high price.
Annual bilateral trade between Turkey and Iraq is
estimated at $5 billion and Turkish contractors have
been eying the $15 billion in construction contracts
expected to be awarded over the next three years by
the Iraqi Kurdish authorities
jamestown org
* 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 flag,
its own army, its own border patrol, its own
national anthem, its own education system, even its
own stamp inked into the passports of visitors.
**Ankara is anxious to prevent the emergence of a
Kurdish state in Kurdistan region (northern Iraq),
fearing this could fan separatism among its own
large Kurdish population in southeast Turkey. Kurds
constitute about 20 percent of Turkey's more than 70
million people.
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). Officially, Turkey does not
recognise the regional government of Kurdistan led
by president Massoud Barzani.
***
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
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