Botched anti-PKK operation Missed Chance For US, Turkey
August 2, 2007
Kurds, CENTCOM, Democratic lawmakers, cautious Republicans may have leaked
secret plan to press
Turkish Daily News
The leak to the press of a secret U.S. plan for a joint special forces operation
with Turkey to capture the leaders of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Southern
Kurdistan killed a rare opportunity for Washington to bolster its strained ties
with Ankara.
"In Washington's politics, this is called ‘blocking leak.' When certain
individuals or groups want to prevent something secret from being carried out,
they leak it to the press, and it's effectively killed," said Bulent Alirıza,
director of Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and international
Studies, a think tank here.
The Washington Post's senior columnist Robert Novak wrote Monday that Eric
Edelman, undersecretary of defense for policy, last week briefed a select group
of Congress members on the plan for U.S. special forces to help Turkish forces
capture the PKK's leaders in Southern Kurdistan in a covert operation. Those
briefed included several members of the Armed Services Committees in both the
Senate and the House of Representatives.
Alirıza and other analysts agreed that the plan's leak effectively killed any
chance of success and that this was a missed opportunity for both the United
States and Turkey.
Accusing Washington and Baghdad of failing to put an end to the PKK's presence
in Southern Kurdistan, Turkey has warned that it may take unilateral military
action inside Iraqi territory. The PKK has killed more than 100 Turkish soldiers
in attacks inside Turkey since spring.
Lost opportunities
Had this press leak not happened and the plan been successful, Washington would
have hoped for the following benefits:
- This would be a point to restart boosting the U.S.-Turkish relationship and
bolster the United States' popularity in Turkey.
- The possibility of a Turkish incursion into Southern Kurdistan would fade away
in the wake of the PKK's beheading.
- The PKK's elimination in Southern Kurdistan would be an opportunity of what
U.S. officials view as a much-needed reconciliation between Ankara and Kurds in
Southern Kurdistan.
- It could also bring about a chance for the emergence of a free Kurdish
political movement in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan.
But such a secret operation is now already something of the past, analysts
agree.
Who did it?
There is speculation over who leaked the plan and why.Some likely candidates
include:
- Iraqi Kurds and/or their backers in Congress.Although Washington believes that
the PKK's elimination would benefit Kurds, Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani has
been following a pro-PKK position emphasizing "the unity of Kurds everywhere,"
according to the Turkish military and diplomats. Barzani would also likely see
such a covert operation as the violation of "Kurdish sovereignty" in Kurdish
territory.
- The U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, responsible for the Near East, including
Iraq, and the Special Operations Command, or SOCOM works very closely with Kurds
in Southern Kurdistan and has so far resisted effective anti-PKK measures,
believing that it does not need new problems in Iraq.
- Briefed Democratic lawmakers who oppose every single move by President George
W. Bush's administration on Iraq.
- Cautious Republican lawmakers who think Washington should not take new risks
in Iraq.
Regardless of the identity of those behind the leak and their motives, the move
effectively undermined the U.S.-Turkish relationship.
In an editorial Tuesday, the conservative daily Washington Times put the blame
on "loose-lipped lawmakers." It said the leak "undermined U.S. interests and
effectively scuttled the plan's chances at success."
