KurdistanObserver.com
Back Together Again
The Guardian
Contrary to appearances, Ankara and Washington are now more
closely aligned than at any time since the Iraq crisis started
Simon Tisdall
Dec 17, 2007
Turkey's tumultuous year is coming to a fitting end in the desolate Qandil
mountains straddling its border with Iraq and Iran.
Weekend air raids aimed at Kurdish PKK guerrillas were the biggest Turkish
incursion since the US seized Baghdad in 2003. But their significance is more
political than military. They mark the moment when Washington and Ankara kissed
and made up.
Tensions with the US over PKK camps in northern Iraq, used to launch attacks in
south-eastern Turkey, have been building all year. Speaking in Bahrain last
week, Vecdi Gönül, Turkey's defence minister, gave fair warning.
The PKK had "considerably augmented" its presence in Iraq's Kurdish areas in the
past four years, he complained. The US and its allies in the Kurdistan regional
government (KRG) were simply not doing enough.
"There has been an enormous increase in victims, civilians and security forces -
140 killed this year" Gönöl said. "We will not tolerate the use of Iraq for
launching of terrorist interventions. We will use all necessary means ... But it
will not be an invasion. We are not targeting the local administration. Our sole
aim is the destruction of the PKK presence."
Turkish officials privately attribute US reluctance to crack down on the PKK to
its covert support for its so-called sister organisation, the Pejak, or Free
Life party of Kurdistan, which is battling over Kurdish areas of north-western
Iran. This is seen as part of a broader US effort to counter Iranian meddling in
Iraq, and destabilise hardliners in Tehran.
"We sometimes wonder why the US does not direct the PKK against Iran" a source
said. "The Bush administration got $95m from Congress for action to destabilise
Iran. Pejak may be part of that. In all fields - money, weapons and training
from the US - the PKK and Pejak are not really different."
Divisive presidential and general election victories by Turkey's moderate
Islamist Justice and Development party (AKP), and record levels of public
anti-Americanism, plus resentment about continuing human rights criticisms,
further exacerbated strains with the US this year. But it was an attempt by
Congress to pass a bill blaming Turkey for genocide against Armenians during the
first world war that nearly brought outright rupture with Washington's Nato
ally.
"The Democrats came to understand they were playing with fire," said a senior
Turkish diplomat. "They were in danger of 'losing' Turkey." When the bill was
effectively shelved, after intense lobbying by the White House and Turkish
government, the atmosphere changed appreciably, he said.
Top US generals, including General David Petraeus, senior commander in Iraq,
were dispatched to Ankara this autumn. A series of high-level meetings discussed
the PKK problem. And the Turks detected a sudden, significant falling off of PKK
attacks. One official said it was as if the US had "put the word around to (Massoud)
Barzani and (Jalal) Talabani", Iraq's senior Kurdish leaders.
The rapprochement culminated last month in a White House summit with Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister. In return for Turkish restraint on
large-scale ground operations (deemed unacceptable by the Iraqi government), the
US promised to cooperate more actively with Ankara to curtail PKK activities.
"Tension dropped considerably," the diplomat said. "There was no green light to
Turkish armed intervention. But there was better information and intelligence
sharing."
Official American statements in the wake of the air raids have been carefully
worded. "We have not approved any decision. It is not for us to approve.
However, we were informed before the event," said a US diplomat in Ankara.
General Yasar Buyukanit, chief of the Turkish general staff, was less coy.
"America gave intelligence. But more importantly, America opened Iraqi air space
to us. By opening Iraqi air space, America gave its approval to this operation."
Condemning the raids, the KRG leader, Barzani, also noted they would have been
impossible without "indirect US approval".
The deal's longevity may depend on Turkey simultaneously pursuing economic and
legal means, such as limited amnesty, to end the PKK insurgency. If Turkey
overplays its hand militarily, the delicate new understanding with the US could
falter.
But after the weekend's events, Ankara and Washington are in closer alignment
than at any time since the Iraq crisis began. And Erdogan and the AKP, by bowing
to public pressure for action and finally letting a restless military off the
leash, have considerably strengthened their position at home.
