|
Analysts question US role in Turkey's
Iraqi Kurdistan withdrawal
1.3.2008
|
|
|
|
March 1, 2008
ANKARA, -- Turkey's top general said the
withdrawal of troops from Kurdistan 'northern Iraq'
was not based on
political concerns,
but analysts on Saturday questioned whether US
pressure had accelerated the end of a ground
offensive against Turkish-Kurdish PKK rebels.
In a decision that surprised many, the Turkish army
on Friday announced that it had
ended a week-long operation
to hunt Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
rebels in the autonomous north of Iraqi Kurdistan,www.ekurd.net
pulling its forces out
in the early hours of the day.
The withdrawal came a day after US President George
W.
Bush urged Turkey
to end the incursion "as quickly as possible" and
visiting US Defense Secretary Robert Gates
personally
put pressure on
Turkish leaders during talks in Ankara.
"What happened at the last minute?" asked the
popular Aksam daily, recalling Ankara's refusal to
set a timetable for a pull-out and assertions to
Gates that Turkish forces would stay in Iraqi
Kurdistan as long as necessary.
"Bush told us to leave and we did. One could not
vacate his hotel room so quickly, in such panic,"
commentator Yilmaz Ozdil wrote in the
mass-circulation Hurriyet daily.
The popular Vatan newspaper went so far as to call
the withdrawal "degrading" in its editorial.
In an interview published in the popular Milliyet
daily,www.ekurd.net
the head of the Turkish
general staff denied the "unfair" criticism. He said
the withdrawal had begun long before Gates's visit,
but had not been announced for tactical reasons.
"This was a decision taken on military reasons
altogether. There was not even a hint from
politicians or foreigners to withdraw," General
Yasar Buyukanit said.
"One third of our forces were inside Turkey on
Wednesday, but it would have been murder to announce
the withdrawal then.
"When you say your forces are withdrawing, it
amounts to telling terrorists to set up an ambush.
That would be an enormous mistake," he said.
But many here remain unconvinced.
Sceptics noted that a first text of Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan's monthly television address,
distributed Friday but embargoed until the evening,
said the operation was continuing even after Baghdad
had confirmed the pullout.
A few hours later, his office distributed a second
text of the speech that mentioned the withdrawal.
The abrupt end to the operation is a major setback
for the government and the army that could have
consequences in its struggle against the PKK which
has waged a 23-year bloody separatist campaign,
Vatan claimed.
"The unexpected withdrawal could embolden" the PKK
which has been waging a bloody campaign for
self-rule in Turkey's Kurdish-populated southeast
since 1984, it said.
Some analysts suggested that the United States'
image in the eyes of the Turkish public opinion
could take a turn for the worse, hitting bilateral
ties.
The Turkish government has long complained of US
failure to tackle PKK rebels based in Kurdistan 'the
north of Iraq'. In October, it secured parliamentary
approval to send troops
across the border against the PKK.
In November, the United States pledged to provide
NATO ally Turkey with real-time intelligence on
rebel movements, allowing for Turkey to take action
against an estimated 4,000 militants holed up in
mountainous northern Iraq.
Following two months of air strikes on rebel
positions, Turkish soldiers stormed
across the border on February
21 in a ground offensive that was
praised by almost all the press.
Even though Washington appeared to be on Ankara's
side, it was concerned that the incursion could
spill into a wider conflict between Turkish forces
and the Iraqi Kurds, its staunch supporters in Iraq.
Turkey has long accused Iraqi Kurds of providing the
PKK with a safe haven and weapons. Kurdish
authorities in Kurdistan region strongly reject the
claim.
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.
Iraqi Kurdistan politician says, Turkey is using
Turkey's 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', Turkey fears
this could fan separatism among its own large
Kurdish population in southeast Turkey.
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.
"The US was left between its two allies...When it
saw that its own interests were under risk, it told
Turkey to leave," Milliyet said.
"I hope this will not result in Turkey being
prevented from launching another incursion if need
be," it added.
Since 1984 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.
AFP | 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)
wikipedia
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 