WASHINGTON, Nov 5: When President Bush and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan meet today to discuss ongoing conflict between the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) and Turkey, we in the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG)
will be listening with hope. We welcome this meeting. The only solution to this
decades-old problem lies in diplomacy.
Let me be clear: The KRG is, and will remain, fully prepared to find a long-term
solution to this problem. To this end, we propose talks among Ankara, Baghdad,
Arbil and Washington. This is a transnational issue, complicated by ethnic ties,
and no party can find a solution on its own. We will sit down at any time with
anyone who seeks a negotiated, diplomatic resolution.
We must discard the rhetoric of violence and recognize that a military response
to the current crisis would be a disaster for everyone except the PKK. We in the
Kurdistan region of Iraq would be slowed on our path to peace, democracy and
prosperity; the Turkish army would become bogged down in a bloody and
unproductive struggle against the PKK outside its borders; the United States and
Western allies would become estranged from a vital NATO ally; and the economies
and peoples of the region -- particularly Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq -- would
suffer.
We have tried to explain to our Turkish friends that we want only peace and
cooperation with them. Our region depends heavily on investment and trade with
Turkey. The great majority of foreign businesses operating here are Turkish,
nearly all of our construction is done by Turkish contractors, we receive much
of our electricity from Turkey and well over 75 percent of our imports arrive
via Turkey. Why would we provoke Turkey into a military action that would
severely damage our economy?
The history of this conflicted part of the world carries a message: Problems
such as the PKK cannot be solved through military means. For decades the
government of Saddam Hussein tried to liquidate the Kurdish people by violence,
at a tremendous price for both sides. We ourselves fought against the PKK in the
late 1990s with help from the Turkish military, and 10 years later we again find
ourselves at a crisis point. The mountains inside our region and in Turkey have
protected the PKK for decades, and there is little reason to believe that new
military actions would be any more successful than past attempts. Problems for
which military solutions are sought here seem to have a way of never getting
resolved.
We have condemned and will continue to condemn the PKK for its unwarranted
attacks in Turkey. We insist that its members lay down their arms immediately.
We do not allow them to operate freely, contrary to what some have suggested.
Turkey, with its substantial military capability, has not been able to eradicate
the PKK within its own borders, yet some Turks inexplicably expect us to be
successful with far fewer capabilities and resources.
Just as we ask the Turks to seek a peaceful resolution, so must the PKK abandon
its failed strategy of armed conflict. Diplomacy and dialogue must be given a
chance. With time, patience and stability, we believe that peaceful change can
occur. Just 10 years ago the PLO and the IRA were considered terrorist
organizations. Today they have begun a process of transformation and are working
within the political arena. Can such a transformation take place within the PKK?
We cannot be certain. But we do know that military action will only radicalize
the situation further, and violence will surely breed more violence.
We want peace along our border with Turkey. We want to cooperate on economic,
social and cultural issues. We want to be a good neighbor and to exercise our
responsibilities as good neighbors. Our successful efforts in cooperation with
Ankara and Baghdad to secure the release of Turkish soldiers demonstrate our
sincere desire to find peaceful solutions to the problem. We will continue
taking concrete steps to improve the security environment at the border. But the
Turkish government needs to overcome its refusal to talk to us as neighbors.
The Kurdistan region is the only part of Iraq where peace and development have
prospered since the liberation of 2003, and we are the constitutionally
recognized regional government in the area. We have come a long way both
economically and politically. But much more work remains. We have chosen to
become part of a federal Iraq and will uphold that commitment.
We threaten no one as we move toward greater development. We hope that we can
extend the hand of friendship to Turkey and work together to find solutions to
this crisis that will lead to long-term stability and peaceful relations.
Nechirvan Barzani is prime minister of the Kurdistan
Regional Government of Iraq.
