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US believes its message got through to
Turkey
28.2.2008
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February 28, 2008
ABOARD A US AIR FORCE JET,-- US Defense
Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that Turkish
officials had got the message to wrap up their
incursion in Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq'
quickly, even though they refused to give a pullout
timetable.
"In the sessions that we had, there was no specific
mention of a date. I think they got our message
through," Gates told reporters on a flight back to
Washington after talks in Ankara.
Asked what made him think that, he said with a
laugh: "Because they heard it four times."
Gates met separately with President Abdullah Gul,
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,www.ekurd.net
Defence Minister Vecdi
Gonul and chief of the general staff General Yasar
Buyukanit to press for a quick end to the week-old
offensive against Turkish Kurdistan Workers's Party
(PKK) rebels operating from northern Iraq. |
U.S. Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates |
"They made it clear they believe it is in their
interest to accomplish this operation quickly. But
they also wish to accomplish the objectives they set
out to," said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press
secretary.
Morrell described the sessions as businesslike and
serious but conducted in an atmosphere that
reflected the close relationship between the two
NATO allies.
The United States has
provided the Turks with near-realtime intelligence
on the PKK that has been crucial to their military
operations.
Gates said earlier after meeting with Gonul that it
would not advance US interest to threaten to cut off
the flow of intelligence.
Asked about the intelligence link on the flight
home, Gates said: "It did not come up. I did not
raise it."
In each session, Gates said he urged Turkey to
deepen its dialogue with the Iraqis, to be more open
about the scope of the operation, and the importance
of recognising military force along will not solve
the problem.
He emphasized the need for political, economic and
social initiatives aimed at taking away Kurdish
support for the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist
organization by Turkey, the United States and
European Union.
Gates told Turkish leaders that providing more
information about the numbers of troops involved,www.ekurd.net
and the limited area in
which the operation was taking place "would help
correct a lot of misimpressions and potential
misunderstandings."
"Based on what they told me it sounds like the size
of the operation is probably proportionate," Gates
said.
"They described the operation, and the president and
prime minister in particular, described some of the
initiatives they have taken in a non-military
arena," he said.
"And their concern is finding the balance in terms
of how much they can say publicly without
compromising their military operations, particularly
in the context of timing.
"They've clearly reached out to the Iraqis -- they
just had a special mission return late last night
from Baghdad -- so I think they are beginning that
part of the process," Gates said.
Over
10,000 troops were reported to have penetrated
20 kilometers into the autonomous
Kurdistan region in 'northern Iraq' on February 21.
Turkey rejects direct talks with Iraqi Kurdistan
government, Officially, Turkey does not recognise
the regional government of Kurdistan led by
president Massoud Barzani.
Turkey has never, and still does not, recognize the
Iraqi Kurdistan region government (KRG) and refuses to
meet with its representatives in any official
capacity. That reflects Ankara's fear that any
international respect shown to the autonomous Iraqi
Kurdistan region would only embolden Turkey's own
large Kurdish minority to seek similar home-rule
status.
The core of Turkey's "Kurdish problem" is not the
PKK. It is Turkey's denial of basic political and
cultural rights to its Kurds.
Analysts believe the Turkish raids inside Iraqi
Kurdistan region had a secondary purpose of
discouraging a referendum on Kirkuk city. Ankara
fears that if the oil-rich Kirkuk joins Kurdistan,
the Kurds will have the economic foundation they
need for an independent state.
Turks are also fearful of the autonomy the northern
Iraqi Kurdistan region enjoys with its own flag,
institutions and even oil exploitation contracts
with overseas companies.
Iraqi Kurdistan politician says, Turkey is using
Turkey's Kurdish separatist PKK rebel group (Kurdish
freedom fighters) as an
excuse to invade Kurdistan region 'Iraq' to prevent
the establishment of Kurdistan state in the Kurdish
autonomous region in 'northern Iraq', Turkey fears
this could fan separatism among its own large
Kurdish population in southeast Turkey.
Over 39,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas have been killed since 1984 when the PKK
took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey. A large Turkey's
Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish
PKK rebels.
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas, the party also demanded
an end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, ranting them full
political freedoms.
Information for this report was provided AFP |
Reuters | Agencies
**
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, a
large Turkey's Kurdish community 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)
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