Turkey has long feared that Iraq's Kurds could separatism among its own Kurdish minority (AFP)Despite Turkey's suspicion of the largely autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq, Iraq's Kurds could play a positive role in improving Ankara's relations with its own Kurdish minority.
Turkey has long feared that Iraq's Kurds could separatism among its own Kurdish minority (AFP)
As Turkey masses troops on its border with Iraq in preparation for a possible large-scale military incursion to eliminate Turkish-Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) hiding out in Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul in Ankara on April 25.Despite weeks of press reports suggesting that the United States has given tacit approval for a Turkish military operation, Rice maintained in remarks to reporters that any such action could threaten to destabilize Iraqi Kurdistan. "We need to work with the new Iraqi government and we will do that. We've had a trilateral mechanism on this issue and I hope that we can reinvigorate it when there is a new Iraqi government" in place," Rice said. Meanwhile, Gul quietly criticized the U.S. approach to terrorism. "Taking one [terrorist] organization more seriously while showing greater tolerance to another creates a weakness in the field of counterterrorism and in the international arena," he told reporters. Both the United States and Turkey have labeled the PKK a terrorist organization.But Gul denied that any operation is in the works, saying that the troop buildup is an annual spring exercise by Turkish forces.
"Our security forces are taking measures because with the arrival of spring the terrorists have become active and are infiltrating our borders," he said. "This is what is being done, and there is nothing new." U.S. Offers IntelligenceRice confirmed to reporters in Ankara on April 25 that the United States has stepped up its cooperation with regard to the PKK by sharing intelligence information with Turkey. "We believe that it is important that we make joint efforts through information sharing and other means to prevent any vacuum for being used as a way to inflict harm here in Turkey," she said, according to the State Department website.Istanbul-based NTV reported on April 21 that the United States was providing Turkey with "pinpoint" intelligence, adding that all of the PKK's communications have been placed under observation. The United States is also reportedly working with Turkey to cut off the PKK's financial support. Meanwhile, some Turkish media have maintained that the United States has given Turkey the green light to carry out reconnaissance missions inside Iraq.
Turkish military equipment at Bamarni Airport in Iraq's Dahuk Governorate in April 2005 (RFE/RL)
KURDISH AWAKENING: The ethnic Kurdish region in the northern part of Iraq has struggled in recent years to reestablish its cultural and political identity after decades of oppression under the regime of deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. In December, RFE/RL correspondent Charles Recknagel traveled to this area and filed several reports:
Relative Peace Underscores Issue Of Kurdish Region's Future
Kurdish Culture Begins To Flourish In Kurdistan Region
Kurds Ponder How To Strengthen Autonomy After Elections
Irbil’s Kurds Live On A Hill Of Undiscovered Treasures
THE COMPLETE STORY: