The Turkish population has been whipped up into a nationalist frenzy

and the Kurds of northern Iraq are in no mood to give in. Can the U.S.

prevent a conflict between the two?

Kurdish Media, Iraqi Kurdistan

Why the Iraqi Kurds Won't

Give in to Turkish Threats

"Kurds realize that what they've gained in Iraq is their right and is unlike anything they have had before. … They know that this Kurdistan state, which they have been able to create and maintain in northern Iraq, is the ultimate prize for all Kurds."

By Karwan Qader

October 23, 2007

Iraqi Kurdistan - Kurdish Media - Original Article (English)

To almost all Kurds, talk of a Turkish invasion is the most critical issue. Recently, the Turkish Parliament approved a resolution granting the military permission to invade Southern Kurdistan (also known as northern Iraq WATCH ). Turkish politicians and generals claim that their purpose for invading will be to destroy Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK] camps in the region. But the reality is that what Turkey is most disturbed by is the autonomy that the Kurds have gained in Iraq. They are uncomfortable with growing international acceptance of Kurdistan and the legitimacy that Kurds have been able to achieve.

In response to this, in addition to deploying 400,000 soldiers along the Turkish-Iraqi border, the Turkish state has taken other steps. They have demanded that the Iraqi government arrest 140 individuals (36 of whom are members of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and they have even gone so far as to demand the arrest of the son of the President of the Autonomous Kurdish Government in Iraq, Massoud Barzani [Mensur Barzani, who is the chairman of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party's intelligence organization ].

The Turks even began limited operations along the border this week, but were stopped in their tracks when Kurdish rebels effectively ambushed their forces and foiled their plans. But most importantly, the Turks have ignored every Kurdish call for a peaceful resolution and have effectively rejected any political dialogue.

Given this, the Kurds will not be so quick to adhere to Turkish demands. Despite all of their domestic problems, corruption and issues of establishing democracy that Kurds now face in their semi-autonomous region, Kurds realize that what they've gained in Iraq is their right and is unlike anything they have had before. They know that this Kurdistan state, which they have been able to create and maintain in northern Iraq, is the ultimate prize for all Kurds. It's a prize that Kurds have been trying to win for generations upon generations. After all the injustice and genocide that has been perpetrated against the Kurdish people by oppressive states that surround them and have occupied them, Kurds have finally established the right to rule their own affairs in their own nation. They have finally established peace in a part of the world that is infamous for war. Even during the bloody Iraq War, Kurdistan stands as the only peaceful region. Hence politicians and generals in Turkey are foolish if they think Kurds will easily or willingly give up their new-found rights.

In a recent speech to his people, Kurdistan regional President Massoud Barzani declared that the only offer Kurds would accept from Turkey would be for peaceful coexistence and dialogue. Like Barzani, many Kurdish politicians have come to realize that the PKK problem stems from Turkey's own problem with the Kurds. The Turkish state has oppressed the Kurdish people for decades upon decades and has denied them their political, economic, social and cultural rights. Rather than tackling these issues and granting Kurds their natural rights, the Turkish State has depended on the use of force to suppress and oppress their Kurdish minority.

The Turks used to limit their suppression and oppression to Kurds in Turkey. But now, the Turkish state has decided to try and directly impose these same anti-Kurdish policies on Kurds living across the border in Iraq.

It's natural that the Kurdish reaction to Turkish aggression will the just one: resistance. Like never before, Kurds have responded by coming together as a united people. Kurds have held protests around Southern Kurdistan [northern Iraq] and have pledged to resist Turkish aggression. From politicians in the Kurdistan Regional Government to Kurdish rebel leaders in the mountains of Qandil, all have pledged to defend the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan to the last drop of blood. If Turkey should invade, Kurdish youth have formed groups pledging to join the resistance. As the reality of the Turkish threat has become clear, the ranks of Peshmerga forces  have begun to grow. Few nations understand this type of threat like the Kurds do. This is a nation that has struggled under Iranian, Turkish, Syrian and Iraqi regimes for decades (if not centuries). And the Kurds in Southern Kurdistan understand that just as they resisted Saddam when he plotted to annihilate the Kurdish people, they must resist the Turkish government who also plots to annihilate them.

This is why the Kurds are united; their very existence as a nation is at stake. Today's Turkish aggression, like those of other past and present regimes, seeks to wipe the Kurds off the map and destroy all that they have gained. The Turkish military and government claim that they wish to invade Southern Kurdistan to deal with a few hundred rebels when there are thousands more on their own territory. Turkey's real wish is to invade to deal with the millions of Kurds who have won rights that the Turkish government has worked so hard to deny their own Kurdish minority. But aside from these threats, Kurds know that their own solidarity is the key to success. They understand that as long as they rightfully stand by one another, no force can easily strip them of their rights. That is the reality of resistance.

But aside from the tensions and the calls for resistance, Kurds still offer peace. Turkish politicians and generals, who value peace and the stability of their own country as well as the lives of their own soldiers, should consider this peace offer. Turkish politicians and generals should come to realize that the days of offensive war are over and that the days of dialogue are here.

Turks should realize that there is a simple solution to their problem with Kurdish rebels. They should acknowledge that this peaceful solution was put forward by the Kurdistan Workers' Party and Kurdistan Democratic Party over a year ago, when the PKK offered a ceasefire that Turkish politicians and generals quickly rejected. Turkish politicians and generals should realize that this offer of peace still stands, and at the very least, for their own sakes, begin peaceful dialogue with the Kurds. Otherwise resistance will continue forever and the Turks will never find a solution.