The Iraqi government is not too happy that Turkey is staging attacks on Kurdish rebels holed up in Northern Iraq. The Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and many European states, has been launching attacks against Turkish people and military targets from bases in Kurdish Iraq.
The Turkish military's cross-border incursion began Thursday night. They claim to have killed 153 rebels and lost 19 soldiers. The PKK says they killed 81 soldiers. The truth is somewhere in between. Kurdish rebels did shoot down a Turkish helicopter and kill more soldiers using booby-trapped corpses of their fallen brethern... what a grim thought.
Ankara's response is that the Iraqi government has done nothing to prevent the PKK from using the area. Because the Iraqi government has so much control over the Kurdish areas, let alone the rest of the country. Despite this, the U.S. green-lighted the attacks, once again siding with state terrorism.
ON KURDISH SELF-DETERMINATION
I am not sure about popular Kurdish opinion in Southeastern Turkey, but I believe in self-determination. Turkish nationalism has left out too many people despite efforts by the government to give nominal concessions to the Kurds. Yeah, it gave the state an ethno-ideological basis after the fall of the Ottoman empire, but then you can't be surprised that non-Turks wouldn't want to live under such a state's power.
If a critical mass of Kurds in that part of Turkey want statehood, they should get it. I cannot help but think the region may be a little better off with a Kurdistan on pieces of Turkey, Iraq and Iran. According to the BBC, "more than 30,000 people have been killed since the PKK began fighting for a Kurdish homeland in south-eastern Turkey in 1984." The vast majority of them were Kurds.
As a Palestinian, I've always felt solidarity with the Kurds, even though it rankled some of my pan-Arab nationalist friends. But screw it, if the states they live in do not give them the level of autonomy and cultural recognition they need, they should have a place to call home -- even if that means adding another, possibly pro-Israel, pro-West and militarized, state to the volatile cocktail in the region.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Turkey's War on the Kurds Hits Iraq
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8 comments:
I agree with you. Most Kurds I have met, however, were not fans of Palestinians nor their leaders. I guess they wont forget the support Arafat lent Hussein in the face of American threats.
It is also important to note Kurdish ties with the Israelis on several different fronts.
I think when discussing Kurd connections to Israel we should bear in mind that they are looking at their perceived interests. How are they different from Kosovan Albanians, or the PLO?
maybe we can urge the shite & sunni to join the Kurds and declare war against Turkey, that would unify the government more tha we can, just a though on Iraq LOL
Ankara's response is that the Iraqi government has done nothing to prevent the PKK from using the area. Because the Iraqi government has so much control over the Kurdish areas, let alone the rest of the country. Despite this, the U.S. green-lighted the attacks, once again siding with state terrorism.
That's kind of a string of non sequiturs. The Iraqi government has done nothing because it has little control over Kurdish regions. Which makes it legitimate for Turkey to take measures like this, without it being a breach of sovereignty.
Calling Turkey's actions "state terrorism" is pure buzzwordism. There's no case to be made for that, without completely redefining the word.
I agree with you. Most Kurds I have met, however, were not fans of Palestinians nor their leaders.
Which is relevant, how?
It is also important to note Kurdish ties with the Israelis on several different fronts.
Which is relevant, how?
1) One should not confuse PKK (Kurdish Workers Party) with Kurds. PKK is a Marksist-Leninist terror organization that is rejected by a big majority of Kurds. PKK makes its money from drug trafficking and kills indiscriminately using suicide bombers (most recent PKK attack in Turkey hit a bus and half of the killed were school children). PKK uses N. Iraq as a safe haven to launch hit and run attacks across the border in Turkey.
2) Turkey had been asking Iraqis and Americans for years to get rid of PKK camps in N. Iraq. Iraqis admit that they have no control on that part of the country high in the mountains. If Iraqis cannot clean up the terrorist bases in their territory, somebody has to do it for them. Turkey has repeatedly declared that she respects Iraq's territorial integrity. Turkey's limited security operations are legitimate by international law. UN recognized Turkey's right to self defense against PKK and asked Turkey to avoid civilian causalities in these operations and finish the job as soon as possible, which is precisely what Turkey is doing.
3) One does not "invade" a country with only a few thousand troops. Turkey has an army of 500,000 and has just sent 2-5K commandos targeting PKK camps in remote mountains in N. Iraq far away from any civilian populations. These operations are conducted in cooperation with US military intelligence. US feeds the Turks real-time satellite imagery to track PKK movements for precise targeting and avoiding civilians.
4) Turkey fights with PKK and not with Kurds. This is not an issue of Turks versus Kurds as some try to portray. Turkey is the biggest investor in Iraqi Kurdistan. Many hospitals, schools and hotels in Iraqi Kurdistan are built by Turks. N. Iraq gets almost all of its electricity and gas from Turkey. A prosperous and stable northern Iraq is in the best interest of Turkey. PKK’s dream is to create an ethnic war between Kurds and Turks. It has not been successful until now. l doubt it that it will.
Craig,
Because you are such a blithering idiot and have zero knowledge about the Middle East I will not even begin to try to explain it to you.
Because you are such a blithering idiot and have zero knowledge about the Middle East I will not even begin to try to explain it to you.
Or maybe it's because you can't think of a logical reason why anyone's position on Israel makes a shit's worth of difference on this issue, anywhere except in your own small mind?
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