Can Kurds in north Iraq break with the Kurdish

'terrorists' of the PKK who are battling Turkey?

Kitabat, Iraq

If Kurds Turn Backs On

Iraqi Unity, Turks Will Be

Only the First to Invade

"The entry of Turkish troops on the pretext of attacking extremist Turkish-Kurdish parties would give justification to many other countries to intervene for the same reasons. … Just as the Americans use Iraq as an arena to settle its accounts with al-Qaeda."

By Jamaa Alatwani

Translated By James Jacobson

October 23, 2007

Iraq - Kitabat - Original Artciel (Arabic)

Our brothers in the Kurdistan region are having a difficult time with their political status, being forced to choose between options one could call standing between Scylla and Charybdis.

[Editor's Note: Scylla and Charybdis are two sea monsters in Greek mythology situated on opposite sides of a narrow channel of water, so close that sailors avoiding Charybdis will pass too close to Scylla and vice versa - thus being unable to escape with their lives .

Iraqi Kurdish officials believe that the PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party] is justified in preventing their rights from being trampled on by the Turkish government, and wish to see their efforts culminate in their acquiring the same rights that Iraq's Kurds have already obtained.

Moreover, Iraqi Kurdistan officials feel sympathy with and want to support the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK], even feeling it necessary to openly stand with them - in particular because of the PKK's support for Iraqi Kurds during their struggle against the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein.

The Kurdish right to belong to a nation; their right to self-determination; their strategic goal of building a Kurdish state which was wrecked by the Sykes-Picot agreement  and the logistical cooperation between the two Kurdish sides (Iraqi and Turkish), all these cause Iraqi Kurds to reject The entrance of Turkish forces onto Iraqi territory, since this is regarded as a “violation of Iraqi sovereignty” on the one hand, and the right of Kurds to self-determination on the other.

But this nationalistic and social cohesion between the two Kurdish sides conflicts with the Iraqi Constitution and Iraqi government opinion.

The Constitution stresses intolerance toward any armed group using Iraqi territory as a springboard for violent operations against a neighboring country or any other country, nor has any neighboring state the right to make its territory a platform for armed terrorist groups attacking the state of Iraq.

It should also be noted that the U.S. administration and European Union have put the “Kurdish Workers Party” on their lists of terrorist organizations.

At this juncture there is confusion and ambivalence on the part of Iraqi Kurdish officials and even several Kurdish deputies in the Iraqi Parliament, some of whom are demanding that the government intervene to prevent the Turkish government from striking the PKK, arguing that it is Baghdad which is responsible for securing Iraqi territory and that the Kurdistan region is an inseparable part of Iraq.

And then there are other MPs who reject the Iraqi Government's working with the Ankara, demanding that Turkey reach an agreement with the Kurdish regional government instead, considering that to be the rightful body to defend its territory, and at the same time refusing to support the PKK, considering it a terrorist party for all the reasons mentioned above.

Meanwhile we find others, especially those in the central government, who argue for the need to prevent the PKK from mounting attacks against Turkey from Iraqi territory, and asks that the Iraqi Government be given the right to establish alliances with neighboring countries, considering this to be a question of constitutional powers.

In fact, the invasion of the north, we know too well, is a dangerous precedent for international relations, a flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and all laws approved by the United Nations, in particular with regard to national sovereignty and resolving outstanding disputes peacefully by maintaining a diplomatic dialogue without using the language of violence and threats of force.

After all, everyone knows that Iraq isn't a direct party in what happens in Turkey and it has no geographic or political problems with Turkey, although we remember the conference convened in Turkey “to support the Iraqi people,” but which was chiefly devoted to the goal of using sectarian divisions to destabilize the political and security situation in Iraq. This happened before the eyes and with the blessing of the Turkish government. But nevertheless, the government of Iraq has no role in what occurs today between Turkish Kurds and the Turkish government.

But the truth is that the Iraqi government too bears legal and political responsibility for dealing with the Turkish - Kurdish issue. It is for Iraq to prevent the PKK from using Iraqi territory to launch attacks on the Turkish government and people. Baghdad must pursue that which they have asked others to commit themselves to, which is the non-interference in the affairs of other countries. They must fulfill the promises made to Iraq's people and to the world that are endorsed by the Iraqi Constitution.

The entry of the Turkish Army on the pretext of attacking the bases of extremist Turkish-Kurdish parties would give justification to many other neighboring countries to intervene for the same reasons. This is particularly true of Iran, which has been subject to repeated terrorist attacks from the Mujahedin-e Khalq-e [People's Mujahedin of Iran or MKO ], which has been internationally recognized as a terrorist organization while at the same time since the fall of the Baathist regime it has received protection and support from American forces. And this is true despite the demands of the Iraqi government for the group to be expelled from Iraq. Yet the American administration refuses to do this and even gave it a share if U.S. aid to Iraq until the end of Dr. al-Jaafari's government [May, 2006 ].

I warn that the Turkish invasion of Iraq will give Iran sufficient justification to repeat this behavior, and Iraq will become the best place to settle scores with these armed groups, just as the Americans use it as an arena to settle its accounts with al-Qaeda, perhaps transforming Iraq into an arena for settling accounts with countries designated by the American Administration as Anti-American (also known as the axis of evil). And what would then prevent America from sending armed groups to carry out sabotage inside Syrian territory to destabilize the security and political situation in that country, thus entitling Syria to follow the example of Turkey, Iran and other nations affected by such armed groups?

Despite of the great risk of a Turkish invasion of northern Iraq, we can take advantage of this risk to recalculate once again, especially our brother officials in the Kurdistan region, since a united Iraq is better than a shattered one. Our Kurdish brothers on the federal territory of the Kurds are far more likely to achieve the aspirations of all Kurdish people for a free and dignified life within a unified Iraq. This is greater than their ambitions for an independent Kurdish country, as we have heard from Kurdish Regional President Massoud Barzani, who said that all neighboring countries and particularly Iraq itself would be harmed by seperation, whereas supporting a “unified” Iraqi government and respecting Iraq's sovereignty, its land and its people empowers his government [the Kurdish regional government of Iraq].

This problem stresses the importance of today's federal system within a unified country, since under the Baathist regime, Iraq had an agreement with the Turkish government permitting Ankara to invade Iraqi lands whenever it wanted, without first obtaining the consent of the Iraqi people, and particularly the Kurdish people. While in a federal system, we find that there are voices and pressures on the central government about the need of prevent the Turks from carrying out such an act, since the government is obliged to consult with the regional government, thus preventing a collapse of the unity of the nation.

This gives all interested parties a chance to look afresh at the value of maintaining a unified federal Iraq.

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