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Turkish-US tensions continue over Kurds in northern Iraq
By Justus Leicht
26 July 2003
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The role of the Kurds in northern Iraq continues to be a source
of considerable tension between the US and its NATO partner Turkey.
While the two Kurdish organisations PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan)
and KDP (Kurdish Democratic Party) have developed into the most
important and reliable supporters of the American occupying forces
in Iraq, Turkish military and nationalist forces regard any broad
influence by the Kurdish groups in neighbouring Iraq as a nightmare
to be prevented at all costs.
The US government has made considerable efforts to quell the
conflict with the Turkish military and nationalists, which they
have relied upon up to now, in particular in the case of US differences
with the elected Turkish government (AKPJustice and Development
Party) of Recep Tayip Erdogan. Nevertheless, conflicts continue
to flare up. The precise background to the incident in which US
soldiers took prisoner Turkish special forces at the beginning
of July in the northern Iraqi city of Suleimanija remains unclear.
A joint statement on the affair made by Ankara and Washington
consisted mostly of hollow phrases, with both sides maintaining
different versions of what took place.
The Turkish special unit consisting of three officers and eight
junior officers was arrested July 4 and taken to the military
prison in Baghdad, handcuffed and with sacks over their heads.
After reports in the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet, which
is close to the army, a vigorous round of diplomatic wrangling
took place by telephone. The prisoners were eventually freed three
days later.
The arrests unleashed a storm of protest in Turkey, but Washington
reacted coolly. Only after a few days had passed did a speaker
for the Bush administration nonchalantly declare that the Turkish
unit had been involved in suspicious activities. This
was the accusation that stuck. At the same time, Washington emphasised
its desire to maintain its relationship with Turkey.
Information released by American sources to the media make
much sharper accusations. According to these reports, on arrest
the special unit was found to possess over $100,000 in sniper
equipment, 15 kilos of explosive material and a map of the town
of Kirkuk. Reportedly marked on the map was the residence of the
local Kurdish governor. The building, which housed the special
unit at the time of its arrest, was the headquarters of the pro-Turkish
Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF), which is alleged to have
received military training and equipment from the ultra-right
Turkish Grey Wolves.
In other words, Turkey has been accused of state-sponsored
terrorism and the deliberate destabilisation of American occupied
Iraq. The brutal and humiliating form of the arrestsaccording
to the Turkish media they were treated like Al Qaeda terroristsand
their imprisonment in a jail designed to hold supporters of the
overthrown Iraqi regime were the logical consequences of such
accusations. Had Iranian or Syrian units been apprehended under
similar circumstances the result undoubtedly would have been an
hysterical political campaign, calls for international sanctions
or even cruise missiles directed at Teheran or Damascus.
Instead the American ambassador in Ankara rushed to meet the
Turkish army general staff and members of the government to express
his regrets over this inexplicable incident.
The supreme commander of American forces in Europe, General James
L. Jones, travelled to Ankara and established a commission together
with a Turkish general to investigate the incident.
The Turkish government continues to maintain that the US accusations
are ridiculous. The presence of Turkish troops in
northern Iraq and the equipment used by them are known to the
American forces, it claims. Ankaras only aim is to establish
stability in Iraq and therefore any so-called plans
for assassination are illogical. In addition it is
impossible that Turkish soldiers could be involved
in illegal activities.
Both sides remain true to their own version of events. In its
final declaration of July 15 the commission states: The
US side noted the Turkish concerns related to the kind of treatment
its military personnel were subjected to during the unfortunate
incident. The Turkish side noted the US expressions of concern
about reported activities of Turkish personnel in northern Iraq.
Both sides expressed regret that this incident occurred between
allied troops and the custodial treatment of the Turkish soldiers.
This is far removed from the American apology sought by Ankara.
Ankara and the Kurds in Iraq
In fact, Turkish-US differences over the Kurdish issue remain
as pronounced as ever. As a result, similar incidents in the future
are possible.
Just a few months ago, barely a week passed without Turkish
warnings and threats directed against the Kurds who predominate
in the region of northern Iraq. It was only the blunt threat by
the American army that during the Iraq war it could not exclude
the possibility of friendly fire that prevented tens
of thousands of Turkish troops from marching into these northern
regions. In particular, any take-over by the Kurds of the oil-rich
city of Kirkuk and conflict with the ethnic group of the Turkmen
were stipulated by Turkey as sufficient reasons for going
to war. In the meantime, both of these variants have taken
place.
For its part, the US initially agreed to the occupation of
northern Iraq by Turkish troops when Turkey in return agreed to
allow American troops to use Turkish territory as a base for its
operations. Only after the Turkish government rejected the American
request on May 1, following massive public opposition, did Washington
throw its weight behind a strategy involving the Kurds.
Since then the two main Kurdish organisations, PUK and KDP,
have proved to be the only reliable main allies of Washington
in Iraq. They are the only organisations that have been allowed
to keep their heavy armaments. The main opposition to the US troops
comes from the Arabic population comprising Shiite and Sunni communities.
The most important organisation of the Shiiten, SCIRI (Supreme
Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq) and Al Dawa, have
half-heartedly agreed to back the occupation regime, but due to
their Islamist beliefs and close links to Shiite Iran, both organisations
are little trusted in Washington.
The fact that America is relying on collaboration with Kurdish
parties is a nightmare for nationalist circles in Ankara. They
fear that a Kurdish state, or broad autonomy for the Kurds in
northern Iraq, could re-ignite demands for Kurdish self-determination
inside Turkey itself, thereby threatening the countrys unity.
Such a development would also mean that Turkey would have to finally
give up its attempts to establish domination of the oilfields
in Kirkuk and Mosul.
For years, Turkey has been expressing its apparent concern
for the Turkmen minority in northern Iraq. It is no secret to
the western media that Turkey is behind the arming of the Iraqi
Turkmen Front. The Turkmen Front has continually called
for a Turkish intervention in the region and is regarded as an
instrument for pressure from Ankara on the Iraqi Kurds.
A further reason for the activity of the Turkish military in
northern Iraq is the presence of guerrilla fighters of the PKK
(Kurdistan Workers Party), which has renamed itself the KADEK.
Three years ago the organisation retreated into the north of Iraq
when its leadership officially ditched the partys long-standing
armed struggle for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey.
Up to now Turkey has rejected conciliatory offers from the
PKK and has repeatedly sent troops into northern Iraq in order
to persecute an organisation which the US also continues to brand
as terrorist. However, at the moment the US is not
prepared to jeopardise stability in the north of Iraq by allowing
massive numbers of Turkish troops to take up an offensive against
the PKK. In light of the increasing resistance from layers of
the Iraqi population the US is unwilling to open up an additional
front against the PKKin particular because the latter have
never attacked American targets and have frequently made declarations
of loyalty to Washington.
Representatives of the Bush government have assured Turkey,
however, that they will not tolerate the presence
of the PKK, and also appear to be prepared to permit some limited
activity by the Turkish military in northern Iraq. The deputy
chief of staff for the Turkish army, Yasar Büyükanit,
indicated that American representatives in their joint commission
had recognised that the Turkish army has a legitimate reason
to be in Iraq.
Büyükanit made clear that the Turkish army would
not withdraw from the region until the terrorist group PKK/KADEK
has been completely overcome. According to Turkish sources
the army has received a security zone from the Americans
along the Turkish-Iraqi border and is also free to move within
the entire region of northern Iraq. The only stipulation is that
the US army be warned in advance of Turkish troop movements. To
this end, joint committees have been proposed and a Turkish liaison
officer has been sent to Baghdad.
Nationalist campaign
While Turkish generals have been meeting with representatives
of the American army behind closed doors, an hysterical nationalist
campaign has been launched inside Turkey. At first sight the campaign
appears to be aimed at the US, but in fact the real aim is to
whip up chauvinist hostility against the Kurds and discredit the
elected Turkish government of the AKP.
Army chief of staff Hilmi Özkök opened the campaign
by proclaiming: National pride and the honour of the armed
forces are being threatened! He received support from both
right-wing and left-wing camps. The extent of his support ranged
from the right-wing newspaper Hürriyet and the fascist
MHP (National Movement Party), which has many supporters amongst
army special units to the parliamentary opposition, to the left
Kemalite CHP (Republican Peoples Party), the Stalinist organisations
TKP (Turkish Communist Party) and IP (Workers Party) All
accuse the government of not having done enough to defend the
national pride and honour of the army against the
US.
CHP deputy Orhan Eraslan, a member of the parliamentary legal
committee, attacked one of the laws planned by the government,
which calls upon members of the PKK to give themselves up. The
law envisages freedom from punishment for all those who had not
taken part in attacks on Turkish security forces and reduced sentences
for all those who give information on their former comrades. The
law offers nothing to leading members of the PKK and has been
rejected by the organisation. Eraslan maintained that the AKP
had agreed the law at the behest of the US in order to return
the 5,000 PKK fighters in northern Iraq to Turkey. The US
wants to export the terror in northern Iraq to Turkey. This law
will only encourage terror, he said.
Dogu Perincek, chairman of the Stalinist Workers Party (IP),
went even further. At a press conference he accused the AKP government
of concluding a secret deal with the US whereby Turkish troops
were due to completely withdraw from northern Iraq after a period
of four months. Until then the army was required to refrain from
any activity against the PKK unless it had the specific agreement
of the Americans. In addition, Turkey was to be turned into a
federal state within four years, with the Kurdish occupied regions
of southeast Turkey acquiring a similar status to that of northern
Iraq. The IP is renowned for its extreme nationalism and the unceasing
support it gives to the Turkish militaryan expression of
the Stalinist line of the so-called progressive role of
the national bourgeois in backward countries.
On the other hand, the newspaper Hürriyet made
clear who was the real target of the campaign: The US has
been our ally for 50 years. For the first time, Washington treated
Turkey in a hostile way by detaining 11 Turkish soldiers in northern
Iraq. The Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has been
following an indecisive and wrong Iraq policy, is responsible
for it. This is unfortunate for Turkey but unfortunately this
was what the Turkish nation wanted.... Now Turkey is paying the
price of its votes for the AKP (Hürriyet, July
7, 2003).
The state president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, has also found his
own way to line up with the nationalist forces. On July 15, one
day after the conclusion of the investigation into the events
at Suleimanija, he pardoned Ibrahim Sahin, one of the notorious
commanders of the Turkish special units, apparently for health
reasons (hearing and psychological problems). A member
of the extreme right-wing nationalist MHP, Sahin had been sentenced
to six years in prison for his role in the Susurluk scandal. He
has close contact with mafia boss Abdullah Catli and like many
other military, police and political figures had been involved
in countless murders, kidnappings, bribery scandals, weapons and
drug deals in the course of the dirty war against the Kurds. He
is an shining example of the honourable nature of
the special units which general chief of staff Özkök
called upon to be defended.
This nationalist campaign has not hindered Turkish generals,
however, from meeting in Ankara last weekend, after the conclusion
of the joint investigation committee, with the commander of US
military forces in Europe, James Jones, and the new commander
of the US central command, John Abizaid. According to a statement
of the general staff, the two sides exchanged general information
over their military collaboration as well as more specifically
on measures to combat the PKK/KADEK and the establishment of an
international protection force for Iraq. The US is also interested
in involving Turkish forces in one of the allied occupation forces
the US plans for the next period.
In return the US has offered the generals help in the suppression
of Turkish Kurds. In an interview published in Hürriyet,
US Ambassador Robert Pearson declared: We desire no threat
to Turkey from the PKK to remain in Iraq.... They will either
surrender or face the alternative of not doing so.... The alternative
is the use of military force. Cynically he then added: They
are Turkish citizens, not Iraqis. They should return home to Turkey.
He is merely waiting for the passing of the conciliation law and
working on a joint strategy with Turkey. In order to guarantee
the success of this process it was important, Pearson warned,
that Iran refuse any PKK request for refuge.
As if to clearly demonstrate the character of the newly won
friendship between the US and Turkish generals, the Turkish constitutional
court banned the HADEP (Kurdish Peoples Democracy Party)
on the same weekend. This is by far the most influential party
in Kurdish occupied southeastern Turkey, with mayors in most of
the regions towns and cities.
As justification the judges stipulated, alongside other reasons:
According to the constitution, everybody should be considered
Turkish as long as they have Turkish citizenship.... HADEP authorities
said in various speeches that the Kurds are a different nation
from the Turks, that Kurds are subjected to oppression and cruelty,
that there is a war between the PKK terrorists and Turkey, and
that the Kurds should be on the side of the terrorists in this
war (Zaman, July 20, 2003).
See Also:
Turkey: Power struggle between government
and army
[18 July 2003]
In wake of US reprimand
Threat of military coup grows in Turkey
[2 June 2003]
Wolfowitz in Ankara
US urges military to overrule Turkish government
[24 May 2003]
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