Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Feb 23 2007
US Retreats from Supporting Turkish Cross-Border Operation
Friday , 23 February 2007
Fearing that a possible Turkish cross-border limited operation into
northern Iraq to hit the PKK camps there could become another
destabilizing factor with the possibility of civilian casualties, the
US administration has reportedly stepped back from its earlier
assessment that Washington might give backing to a limited Turkish
operation provided that it would be strictly coordinated with the US.
Well informed Turkish intelligence sources speaking to Today’s Zaman
recalled a meeting that took place in Washington on Jan. 24 during
which both senior US intelligence and administration officials got
together to decide on the options available to stop the PKK’s
possible increased infiltration into Turkey as snow started melting
in the region.
Bearing in mind that Turkey has never ruled out a unilateral
operation into northern Iraq (though the US suspects that this
possibility has been used to put pressure on Washington to do
something concrete against the PKK), US top officials examined the
option of allowing Turkey a limited cross-border operation that would
not exceed two weeks and the set geographical boundaries.
But unlike the US military officials, civilians at that meeting
considered the possible collateral damage that such a limited
operation could inflict even if it was coordinated with the US. Thus,
the US dropped the limited cross-border operation option to the
bottom of the list, at least for now.
Some participants at the meeting raised concerns that a Turkish bomb
dropped during an operation, killing civilians even if accidentally,
could turn out to be a serious destabilizing factor in the region,
which is relatively calm compared with the other parts of Iraq.
"No one in the US will undertake such a responsibility. Possible
civilian casualties and their repercussions in the region was
understood to have made the US officials stall the idea of giving
backing to even a limited Turkish cross-border operation," said the
Turkish intelligence sources.
The US’s preference to seek other options to help Turkey’s fight
against the PKK, such as to increase cooperation between Turkey,
Iraqi government and the Iraqi Kurds, have appeared to have gained
priority on the list of options as evident by Tom Casey’s, deputy
spokesperson of the US State Department, remarks on Feb. 21 press
briefing.
Casey said that the Iraqi government adhered to the principle of
working closely with both Washington and Ankara to stop PKK’s
activities.
Casey also went on to say that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a
Kurd, as well as the regional Kurdish administration in northern Iraq
have been collaborating with both Ankara and Washington in the fight
against the PKK.
Through Casey, the US administration has also been responding to
General Büyükanýt, Turkish chief of general staff, who said during a
press conference in Washington lately that at least the Turkish
military would not talk to the Iraqi Kurds whom he blamed for
cooperating with the PKK.
Büyükanýt’s statement came soon after Turkish PM Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan’s remarks that if it was going to help for peace he was ready
to have a dialogue with the Iraqi Kurdish administration.
What next?
It has become obvious that there has been a serious rift between the
Turkish political authority and the military over northern Iraq and
on how to deal with the PKK, though the Turkish government’s patience
has also been wearing thin over the US’s failure to take concrete
measures against Turkey’s outlawed terrorist organization i.e. the
PKK.
As Turkey enters into presidential as well as national elections this
year, it was not ruled out that the ruling AK Party government would
like to see a cross-border operation sometime in late March to ease
Turkish ultra-nationalistic sentiments.
Meanwhile, it remains unclear whether the Turkish government, despite
objections from the military, will enter into a dialogue on the PKK
with the Iraqi Kurdish administration recognized by the newly
designed Iraqi Constitution.
Such a collaboration might force Massoud Barzani, leader of the Iraqi
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the head of the Kurdish regional
government to stop the supply of food, ammunition and other sorts of
logistic support to the PKK from northern Iraq while taking over the
control of the Turkish-Iraqi border form the PKK.
Additionally, the US might drop a bomb on a major PKK camp in the
Kandil mountains in northern Iraq bordering Iran and extradite senior
members of the PKK to Turkey.
Such measures, though impossible to know for sure, might satisfy the
Turkish side.
But the adoption of a so-called Armenian resolution by the
Democrat-controlled US Congress sometime in late March or early
April, and a possible major offensive to be launched by the PKK in
Turkey causing severe casualties might be important factors for the
Turkish unilateral operation into Northern Iraq.
The adoption of an Armenian resolution, which is a very emotional
subject for Turkey, might trigger Turkish unilateral action into
northern Iraq, said a Western military analyst.
Zaman