PanARMENIAN.Net
Turkey ignored the opinion of the `strategic partner and ally’
Practically in North Iraq there is the State of Kurdistan and the
Iraqi Kurds have a big influence on the Turkish Kurds. And this is a
very serious factor for Turkey.
18.10.2007 GMT+04:00
In spite of all the calls of George Bush, the Turkish army started a
wide-ranging military operation against the Kurdish militants in the
Northern border with Iraq. The army almost carries military operation
in the `triangle’ of the provinces of Shirnak, Khakyarri, and
Siirt. On October 17 the Turkish Parliament voted for granting the
government the power of holding military operations in the Northern
Iraq with a one-year-deadline. The truth is though, that the Prime
Minister Recep Erdoghan said, that the decision of the Parliament
doesn’t mean that the operations will at once be started, however a
recurrent war with the Kurds has been unleashed.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Nothing unexpected had happened. Turkey acted out
of its interests, not taking into consideration the calls of the
`strategic partner and ally’. The last call was made by George
Bush. During the unanticipated press-conference the American President
explained that it is of no interest to Turkey to send extra troops to
the northern part of Iraq. But at this very moment the Turkish
deputies voted in favor of the resolution allowing attacks on the
Kurdish separatists of Kurdistan Workers Party.
Kurds, as it is known, live in Syria and Iran, and it is not by chance
that Turkey has decided to support Syria in its fight with the Kurdish
militants. During his visit to Ankara the Syrian President Bashar Asad
announced that Turkey has the legal right to attack `certain
groups’. Then he also said that this is the problem to be solved by
the Americans. Indeed, the times his father Hafez al-Assad guaranteed
shelter for the separatists are long gone. Iran is not interested in
Kurds’ strengthening either. Practically in North Iraq there is the
state of Kurdistan and the Iraqi Kurds have a big influence on the
Turkish Kurds. And this is a very serious factor for Turkey.
Military analysts believe that the Turks will strike a triple blow:
air raids, operations of landing parties, expansion of the safe haven
(20-30 km) towards the Iraqi border. Large-scale mopping-up on the
principle called `find and destroy’ will be held among all the
units. In this area bases are established, where militants and future
kamikazes are being trained. However, the Kurdistan Workers Party
doesn’t wait without actions. The leadership of the Party has cut down
the number of `columns’ and sent them out to different areas, getting
ready for `make a hell’ in Turkish towns. However, the observers think
that the attack cannot be decisive. Winter is not far and more
problems arise, the Kurds are very decisive. Several days ago the
Turks asked the Iraqis to allow them to pursue the Kurdistan Workers
Party beyond their borders. Baghdad turned down their request. Ankara
began the offensive with the hope that Washington will find a way to
solve the problem.
Meanwhile Baghdad is seriously concerned with the situation. The Iraqi
Kurds make the important part of the New Iraq and the current
President Jalal Talabani is Kurdish as well. The truth is though, that
Talabani during his visit to Paris made an ambiguous statement turning
to the Kurdistan Workers Party; `Stop the attacks, otherwise we will
demand you to leave our territory’, and this is impracticable, because
in the Iraqi Kurdistan the Party feels very much home.
This story has been lasting for more than 30 years with changeable
success. Kurds are pursued by the Turkish army, Saddam Hussein tried
to annihilate them. They understood and still understand quite well
that nothing will ever stop the Kurds to establish the independent
Kurdistan. However another truth is that the Turkish soldiers settled
down on the Iraqi territory in the end of the 1990’s already, long
before the coalition offensive against Saddam’s regime had
started. According to the Pentagon Press-Secretary Jeff Morrell, the
presence of the Turkish soldiers in the North of Iraq shouldn’t give
rise to worries.
It should be reminded that Turkey threatened the USA with the military
operations in the North of Iraq, so that Resolution 106 about the
Armenian Genocide wouldn’t be approved. However, as we can see, there
is nothing in common between the fight against Kurdistan Workers Party
and Resolution 106, the dates of the voting haven’t been mentioned
yet, but the troops have already started their fight against Kurdish
militants. The day before the U.S. President George Bush called the
congressmen to adopt the Resolution on the Armenian Genocide, for `the
Congress shouldn’t give any adjectives to historical events in the
Ottoman Turkey. The Congress has many other, more important things
than kindling hostility between the USA and its democratic allies in
the Islamic world, particularly those allies who always support our
troops,’ announced George Bush. True though, according to Professor
Ruben Safrastyan the real allies of the USA in the region are Kurds.
«PanARMENIAN.Net» analytical department