YET ANOTHER TABOO DIES IN ‘KURDISTAN’

Hurriyet
March 25 2009
Turkey

ANKARA – President Abdullah Gul’s first official uttering of the word
‘Kurdistan’ in relation to the regional administration in northern
Iraq sends shockwaves through the opposition, which fears this could
encourage calls for more concessions and reveals foreign meddling. The
only party supporting Gul’s move is the DTP, saying it is a sign of
willingness for closer ties

Gul’s use of the word Kurdistan during his visit to Iraq has caused
a flurry of criticism yesterday from the opposition back in Turkey.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP deputy leader and
ex-diplomat Onur Oymen recalled that Gul was also optimistic when he
visited Armenia. "Six months have passed and we still have nothing,
and Armenia now has adopted a tougher stance."

While calling for stronger efforts to end terrorist activities by
the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, President Abdullah
Gul became the first Turkish official to refer to northern Iraq as
"Kurdistan." Speaking to Turkish journalists aboard his plane en route
to Baghdad on Monday, Gul said the "Kurdistan Regional Administration"
holds the primary responsibility for ending terrorist activities
targeting Turkey. He also emphasized that an amnesty Ä~^ suggested by
the prime minister of the regional administration in northern Iraq
as a way to help resolve the PKK problem Ä~^ was a domestic concern
for Turkey.

Asked by the press about his use of the term "Kurdistan," the president
said it was the region’s official name, as articulated in the Iraqi
constitution. "What shall I say? We do not refuse to say Macedonia
because Greece refuses to do so," Gul said.

"This is written in the [Iraqi] constitution. It is a fact that
those in northern Iraq should calculate the possible outcome of
losing Turkey."

Gul’s statements were widely covered in the press and politicians
across the political spectrum had much to say. "Iraqi constitution’s
article seven stipulates the Iraqi government’s responsibility to fight
terrorism. Does the president think of referring to that too? These
initiatives do not. We do not remember that similar openings ended
terror in other countries," CHP’s Oymen said.

"The Justice and Development Party government has caused a grave
break in the fight against terrorism. The U.S. pressured and the EU
incited the political solution approach," Nationalist Movement Party,
or MHP deputy and former diplomat Deniz BölukbaÅ~_ı said. "Turkey
downscaled its objectives in northern Iraq, giving up efforts to
evict the PKK to be content with its disarmament. Now the unarmed
separation attempts will continue," said BölukbaÅ~_ı. Democratic
Party president Suleyman Soylu similarly depicted Gul’s uttering as
a disclosure of "transoceanic plans."

"Did the president remember about the Iraqi constitution on the
plane?" BölukbaÅ~_ı asked, referring to Gul’s advocacy of the
word "Kurdistan" on the grounds that it is cited in the Iraqi
constitution. Democratic Left Party, or DSP deputy general secretary
Hasan Ercelebi demanded that the government explain what Gul meant
by the word "Kurdistan" in a parliamentary assembly.

Only pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, was pleased with
Gul’s uttering. DTP Å~^ırnak deputy Hasip Kaplan welcomed the word
Kurdistan, saying that it was an expression of the will to forge
warmer ties with Kurds in Iraq. DTP’s Osman Ozcelik said the term
"northern Iraq cannot dissolve the Kurdistan reality."

Kurdish conference

Turkey does not recognize the semi-autonomous administration in
northern Iraq by its official name due to concerns that this will
eventually lead to the establishment of an independent Kurdish state
within its own borders.

Kurdish groups based in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Europe are
expected to call on the PKK to disarm during a conference to be held
in late April or May in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil. On the plane,
Gul said Turkey considered the conference important. "This is the first
action against violence. We’re following," he said. The conference
will call on the PKK to drop weapons and start a political struggle,
BölukbaÅ~_ı argued against the president. "The rank and file will
deliver weapons to Barzani, the top cadre will move to Sweden and
the remaining members will operate against Turkey in northern Iraq,"
BölukbaÅ~_ı said.

On the second day of his Baghdad visit, Gul met with the prime
minister of the regional administration, Nechirvan Barzani, who said
the PKK problem cannot be resolved through military means. He called
on Turkey to grant amnesty to members of the terror group, but Gul said
an amnesty was Turkey’s domestic problem. "I don’t talk this over with
others," he was quoted as saying yesterday by the private channel NTV.

At a joint press conference Monday with his Iraqi counterpart,
Talabani, Gul called for greater cooperation from Iraqi Kurdish
leaders. "The time has come to remove the element that is a source of
trouble," he said. "We need to engage in a joint struggle to completely
eradicate terrorism. A comprehensive cooperation is required, but
there is no doubt that a greater responsibility falls on the [region]
where the terrorist organization’s leadership and camps are based."

Talabani said the removal of the PKK was in Iraq’s interest as well
and called on the group’s members to lay down their arms. "Either
they will lay down arms or they will leave our territory," he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress