GUL REFERS TO HISTORY IN KIRKUK REFERENDUM DEBATE
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 10 2007
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, on a visit to the United States,
repeated Turkish concerns over the status of Iraq’s oil-rich Kirkuk,
and recalling that Turkey had agreed to give the disputed city to
Iraq as a unified country in 1926, said it should remain a multiethnic
Iraqi city.
"In 1926, we gave Mosul to one Iraq. Now, we want to see one Iraq,"
Gul said in a speech at the German Marshall Fund in Washington on
Thursday. He was referring to a deal in 1926 in which Turkey agreed to
recede from its demands on the province of Mosul, which then covered
several northern Iraqi cities including Kirkuk. For centuries, Mosul
was ruled by the Ottoman Empire before it was invaded by British troops
during the First World War. "This one city, this important city does
not belong to one group," Gul said. "There are no borders within Iraq."
Gul met with senior US administration officials including Vice
President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during
his week-long visit, brought up with them the Turkish nervousness
over a planned referendum on status of Kirkuk which is slated for
the end of 2007. US support for the Turkish demands to get the
referendum postponed was one of the main objectives of Gul’s visit,
but US officials were hardly receptive to the Turkish requests,
saying that although they understand Turkey’s concerns, it is for
the Iraqis to decide whether to go ahead with the planned referendum.
Ankara argues the referendum would do nothing but open the way for
Kurdish rule over Kirkuk, given that Kurds have flocked to the city in
great numbers over the past years to alter the demographic composition
ahead of the vote and calls for a postponement of the vote.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Gul warned that the
referendum on the status of the Iraqi city of Kirkuk should be canceled
or else the outcome might widen the sectarian violence that has so
far largely left the northern part of Iraq untouched.
"If Kirkuk is included in one region that would be a big mistake"
Gul told the Washington Post. "Some people want to escape from a
bad situation, but they should not fall into a worse situation." A
partition of Iraq, he said, "would be the worst situation."
Turkish officials have said they will not rule out military
intervention amid growing tensions among ethnic Turkmen, Arabs and
Kurds in the oil-rich region around Kirkuk. Kurdish leaders want
to annex the city, which lies just south of the autonomous Kurdish
region stretching across Iraq’s northeast.
Passage of the ‘genocide’ resolution would be an insult to Turks
Gul also sought to win the support of the US administration against
a resolution in the House of Representatives which urges recognition
of the alleged genocide of Armenians at the hands of the late Ottoman
Empire.
"If it passed, there will be a real shock in Turkey" and the Turkish
government would not be able to prevent popular demands to stop
co-operation with the United States, Gul said in an interview with
the Washington Post.
Speaking in the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Gul said
the Turkish nation would take it as an "insult" if the resolution,
which was recently introduced in the House of Representatives, is
passed. "Do you think the people in Turkey will understand when their
boys are in Afghanistan and are together with your troops?" he said
referring to the 800 Turkish troops operating in Afghanistan under
NATO command.
Nancy Pelosi, who chairs the House of Representatives and who is
expected to support the resolution, declined to meet Gul, citing her
busy schedule. The administration says it will work to stop passage
of the resolution.
‘Visit not a success’ In addition to the Kirkuk referendum and the
"genocide" resolution, Gul also tried to win a firm commitment from
the US administration to act against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK) in Iraq.
Commenting on the visit, the Financial Times said Gul had failed
to make significant progress on these objectives in Washington,
adding that Turkey’s relations with the US are set to worsen after
the visit. The newspaper said disagreements on Iraq and the "genocide"
resolution threatened to intensify anti-American sentiment in Turkey,
while raising concerns in the US about a possible Turkish military
intervention in northern Iraq.