October 2, 2006; Page A1
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Destabilizing Force
In Northern Iraq,
A Rebel Sanctuary
Bedevils the U.S.
In Wake of Kurdish Attacks
Against Turkey, Washington
Is Caught Between Allies
'Our State in the Mountains'
By PHILIP SHISHKIN
QANDIL MOUNTAIN RANGE, Iraq -- Kurdish guerrillas have used the remote
mountains of northern Iraq as a base to attack Turkey for years. Now
their presence has become a thorny problem for Washington.
Thousands of Kurdish fighters move openly in dozens of camps spread
throughout Qandil's scrubby mountainsides and tree-covered ravines. A
day's hike to the north lies Turkey, where most of these militants
were born and where they face terrorism charges for fighting for
Kurdish autonomy. Here in northern Iraq, with grenades clipped to the
belts of their matching olive-green outfits, the guerrillas conduct
combat drills, restock arms or watch satellite television. A few
months ago they honored their leader by painting his image on a giant
concrete slab they poured onto a hillside. It is visible from miles
away.
"We have our own state in the mountains," says Farman, the 42-year-old
area commander whose neck bears the indented scar of a bullet wound.
Like other militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, he
introduced himself by first name only.
The guerrillas' enclave in northern Iraq is at the center of a growing
diplomatic storm. As the U.S. begins to exert pressure on Iraq to rein
in the anti-Turkey fighters, it finds itself caught between two key
allies. On one side is Iraqi Kurdistan, which supported the U.S.
invasion of Iraq and whose leaders have deep ties with the Kurdistan
Workers' Party. On the other is Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization and a Muslim democracy, whose leaders say they are
committed to destroying the PKK.
Stakes for Washington are high. Iraqi Kurdistan is the safest part of
Iraq. Armed conflict between Turkey and Kurdish fighters would prove
calamitous, adding another front to the bloody Iraqi battlefield and
further stretching U.S. and Iraqi security forces. Turkey, which
maintains tens of thousands of troops on its border with Iraq, said
this summer it is drawing up plans to attack the guerrillas'
positions.
For the first time since these fighters began using Iraq as a base
more than two decades ago, Washington has appointed a high-level
diplomat to address the crisis. In late August, it named retired Air
Force Gen. Joseph Ralston to the post of Special Envoy for Countering
the PKK. Gen. Ralston, a former NATO top commander, took a whirlwind
tour through Turkish and Iraqi capitals in September, pressing the
U.S. point that Iraqi territory shouldn't be used as a PKK haven.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will raise the issue with
President George W. Bush when the two meet in Washington today.
Gen. Ralston's tour comes after a summer of heightened violence. In
one week in July, PKK militants killed at least 15 Turkish soldiers
and police. A month later, explosions in three Turkish cities killed
three Turkish citizens and injured 60 civilians, including foreign
tourists. The attacks against civilians were claimed by Kurdistan
Freedom Falcons, which Turkish and Western officials say operates
under the auspices of the PKK.
On Saturday, the PKK promised to halt attacks, the fifth time the
group has declared a cease-fire. However, the decades-old conflict
remains far from defused. Past truces have led to lulls in violence,
followed by intensified fighting. Turkey immediately dismissed the
cease-fire. Violence in the Kurdish area of Turkey continued
yesterday.
Marxism and Nationalism
The Kurds, who number about 25 million and speak their own language,
have never had a country of their own. Most of them live in contiguous
border stretches in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. The majority --
about 15 million -- live in Turkey, which has historically denied them
minority rights such as cultural recognition or Kurdish-language
education.
<snip>
In the aftermath of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, which Turkey
opposed, Iraqi Kurdistan has strengthened its autonomy. The home to
five million Kurds, the Iraqi region has gradually accumulated the
trappings of sovereignty from Baghdad's rule, serving as an
inspirational example to Kurds across the border in Turkey and Iran.
In early September, Massoud Barzani, the region's president, outlawed
the Iraqi national flag on the grounds that it symbolizes repression
of Kurds under Mr. Hussein. Only Kurdish flags, marked with a bright
yellow sun in the middle, now remain. The region's parliament just
approved a petroleum law that stipulates that revenue from future oil
production doesn't have to be shared with Baghdad. (Baghdad has
criticized the region's drive to set its own oil policy.) Boundaries
between Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq are reinforced with trenches
and patrolled by units of the regional government's own military
force, the Peshmerga.
In addressing the guerrillas sheltering within their borders, Iraqi
Kurdistan's officials find themselves with dual allegiances. While
Washington classifies the Kurdistan Workers' Party as a terrorist
group, Iraqi Kurd leaders view them as freedom fighters. Masrur
Barzani, the head of Iraqi Kurdistan's intelligence branch and the son
of the regional president, says Kurds "existed here long before" the
Turkic tribes from Central Asia began their conquest of modern-day
Turkey a millennium ago. Jafar Mustafa Ali, an Iraqi Kurd in charge of
many of the Peshmerga units, suggests the PKK fighters are cut from
the same nationalist cloth as Iraq's anti-Saddam Kurdish guerrillas.
"The PKK asks for the rights of its people," he says. "Why should
somebody be called a terrorist for that?"
At the same time, the region's administrators are eager to avoid the
sort of violence afflicting the rest of Iraq. As northern Iraq looks
to start pumping its own oil, it will require cooperation from Turkey
and Iran to ship it to international clients. Already, bilateral trade
between Turkey and northern Iraq has grown to an estimated $3 billion
last year, according to Turkish and Iraqi officials. A peaceful
resolution of the PKK issue will also help the area attract foreign
investment.
According to Turkish and Western intelligence, some 3,000 guerrillas
live in Iraq's Qandil mountains at any given time. A smaller force is
based on the Turkish side of the border. Western and Turkish
intelligence officials say guerrillas train and acquire weapons in
Iraq. The camps also serve as rest-and-recuperation sites for rebels
who have fought in Turkey, especially during harsh winters when
skirmishes usually die down. The PKK says it runs a hidden hospital
here that treats fighters wounded in clashes inside Turkey.
<end excerpt>
Michael