[lbo-talk] WSJ: Problems on the Turkish/Kurdistan non-border

Michael Pollak mpollak at panix.com
Mon Oct 2 11:52:09 PDT 2006


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



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