Friday, September 29, 2006
Kurds suspicious over Turkish visits to Kirkuk
Region, Kurdistan
Earlier this week a Turkish parliamentary delegation visited Irbil, Tuz Khurmatu, Tal Afar, Kirkuk, and Mosul and a series of meetings were held with Iraqi Kurdish and Turkoman leaders, as well as U.S. and U.K. consulate personnel. Justice and Development Party deputy Turhan Comez told reporters before leaving Ankara on September 25 that the delegation was on an "unofficial" visit to send the message that Turkey is ready to assist in a peaceful resolution to the Kirkuk conflict. Iraqi Kurds and Turkomans, who are ethnic Turks, are engaged in a bitter battle over oil-rich Kirkuk. Turkey has consistently supported the Turkoman population of Kirkuk, and Turkoman claims to the city.
Kurdish press reports echoed the distrust felt by some Iraqi Kurdish officials, and widely reported that the delegation was in Iraq to help set up a coordination group for Iraqi Turkomans in the Turkish parliament. "If the delegation aims to provide its government with guidelines on the conditions in Kirkuk, the referendum issue [on Kirkuk, slated to be held in 2007], and Article 140 [of the Iraqi Constitution regarding the status of Kirkuk], we would consider it interference and will never accept such moves," Kurdistan Democratic Party International Relations Director Saffin Dizay said, the "Hawler Post" reported on September 27. While it remains unlikely that Turkey will follow up on its threat of armed conflict, the standoff between Turkish and Iraqi officials does not bode well for regional security. Turkey is likely to continue its intermittent bombing of Iraqi Kurdish areas where it claims PKK militants are based, while trying to agitate the Kurdish region's government with its support of Iraqi Turkomans, particularly in Kirkuk.
A kurdish news agency has reported that jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan has called on his Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to implement a ceasefire. Ocalan also urged the PKK to seek a peaceful solution to their conflict with Turkey, Firat news agency says.
