KurdistanObserver.com
Greens Leader Urges Germany to Boost
Activity in Southern Kurdistan
Deutsche Welle
July 27, 2007
The head of Germany's Green party, Claudia Roth, visited the Kurdish northern
part of Iraq (Southern Kurdistan) this week. She's called for her country to
strengthen its diplomatic, economic and cultural presence in that part of the
country.
Roth traveled to northern Iraq this week to meet with top politicians and human
rights activists and to get a feel for the security situation in the war-torn
region. She met with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who asked that Germany be
more involved in Iraq's north, Roth told German media outlets on Friday.
"Germany has to take a new role," she told German public broadcaster ARD on
Friday. "I expect the German government to be diplomatically, economically and
politically present in Kurdistan."
Roth said Germany should be more strongly engaged in the Kurdish region and
pointed out that other European Union countries, including Italy, Great Britain,
France and the Czech Republic, were taking part in rebuilding efforts and
cultural projects in northern Iraq.
Though the autonomous northern part of the country is relatively calm compared
to the rest of Iraq, where suicide bombings are a regular occurrence, Roth's
five-day trip to the region was the first visit from a German parliamentary
delegation to the country since the US-led invasion began in 2003.
German military not in Iraq
Roth, left, wants to increase the German presence in Iraq Under then Chancellor
Gerhard Schröder, Germany refused to take part in the US-led war in Iraq and
currently does not have a military presence in the country. Germany has
participated in helping train Iraqi military, but the program is conducted in
Germany and Gulf countries.
The opposition Green party -- which has pacifist roots and has traditionally
spoken out against Germany becoming involved in foreign military matters -- was
among the most vocal opponents to Germany's involvement in the US military
campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Northern Iraq critical to country's stability
Germany has not taken part in the US-led war in Iraq
Greens security expert Winfried Nachtwei said he viewed the situation in
northern Iraq to be relatively safe.
"It seems to me that the situation is much, much more stable than in the north
of Afghanistan," he said.
Germany has some 3,000 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, nearly all of whom are
in the north, as part of international security forces in the country. While
members of the Greens are divided on whether to extend Bundeswehr mandates in
Afghanistan, Nachtwei said it was right for Germany not to become involved in
the Iraq war.
The German Foreign Ministry has issued a general warning for all German
nationals to leave Iraq, including those in the country's north. It's a warning
Roth said she doesn't understand.
"For me it is totally incomprehensible why there is neither diplomatic
representation nor an attempt to support the capabilities of the people here
through cultural exchange, such as setting up German schools," she said, adding
that many of politicians she met had lived in Germany in the past and requested
German involvement in Afghanistan.
Returning refugees to Iraq "shameless"
Germany is particularly interested in northern Iraq because many German
asylum-seekers come from the area. Roth pointed out that currently, people from
the Kurdish region must travel to Baghdad or the Turkish capital of Ankara to
get a visa to travel to Germany.
Northern Iraq is not experience violence on the same scale as Baghdad
Many Iraqi asylum seekers in Germany have had a difficult time meeting
requirements to become legal residents of Germany and face deportation. Roth
warned against programs that send Iraqi refugees back to the war-torn country,
calling them "rather shameless."
"That is not a constructive to the rebuilding efforts; it's absolutely
destructive," she said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio.
Human Rights Watch recently criticized a German plan to strip Iraqi refugees in
Germany of their status as asylum seekers.
Besides meeting Talabani, Roth also met with Massoud Barzani, who is the head of
the Kurdish area, as well as human rights activists and UN representatives.
