Turkish President Erdogan seems to be considering invading Northern Iraq to do something about the PKK-problem:
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Friday reaffirmed Turkey’s right to send troops into Iraq to crush Kurdish rebels there and chided U.S. officials for questioning it.
“The Turkish Republic will do whatever is necessary to combat the terrorists when the time comes, but it will not announce its plans in advance,” Erdogan told a news conference after a meeting of his ruling AK Party.
“We say we are ready to take concrete steps with the Iraqi government and we also say these steps must be taken now.”
In sharp language underscoring Turkish anxiety about the chaos in Iraq, Erdogan said it was wrong for Washington — “our supposed strategic ally” — to tell Turkey, with its historic and cultural ties in the region, to stay out of Iraq.
“We have a 350 km border with Iraq. We have historic relations … the United States is 10,000 km away from Iraq, and yet is it not intervening in Iraq’s internal affairs?” he said.
Something many people don’t realize is that, by now, the PKK has killed approximately 30 000 Turks (10 times as many as were killed on 9/11). This is not ‘just’ a problem for Turkey. This is a gigantic problem.
Now, if I put myself in Turkey’s position: if I replace Turkey with the Netherlands and North Iraq with North-Western Germany, I can understand the wish, no the demand of the Turkish people to fight the PKK effectively and aggressively completely.
I would have demanded the exact same thing.
However, I also understand the attitude of the U.S.: Iraq is ruled by chaos and violence right now, but there is one major exception: Kurdistan. If Turkey would invade Kurdistan with American approval, it seems to be very likely that the PKK will turn against the American troops as well. More: it’s possible that the Kurdish people will turn against the Americans. Support for the U.S. among the Kurdish people is high. The U.S. cannot afford to lose them as an ally.
So, what to do?
My view is that the U.S. should, more actively, try to do something against the PKK in Iraq. Work with the Kurds against the PKK. The task is to convince the Kurdish leaders that the PKK is disastrous for the Kurdish people. Let Turkey protect its border…
Will that work? I’m not sure. It’s an incredibly difficult problem, but I will say this: I think that no one can blame Turkey for anything if it decided to invade Northern Iraq.
At least, I know I can’t.
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