At the request of Tansu Ciller, DYP general chairwoman, a report titled "A Fresh View of the Northern Iraq Problem and New Perspectives Within the Framework of the Ankara Process" argues that Turkey must seize the initiative in the area and that it must not insist on keeping Saddam Husseyn in power. 

The report notes that northern Iraq is the only region in the world where Kurds have gained world recognition for their existence, and points out that "having fought against separatist terrorism based on chauvinist Kurdish nationalism for years, Turkey can hardly be expected to remain indifferent to the Kurdish political movements and groups in northern Iraq." 

The report adds that "a Kurdish federated state on its own would be against Turkey's interests, but a Turkmen-Kurdish Federation within an Iraq whose territorial integrity is guaranteed by Turkey would be in our interests. Consequently, the scope of any arrangement in northern Iraq must include the Turkmen and the Kurds." 

The report also makes the point that U.S. policies must dovetail with Turkey's. 

The report also outlines the requirements of a Turkish strategy in the region: first, a policy of constant destabilization must be pursued, and equal distances must be maintained from the two Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq; second, northern Iraq must be seen as a social and cultural sphere of interest and appropriate investments must be made; third, discussion of the Mosul question must be reopened and discussed because "the status of the Province of Mosul was not finalized by the Treaty of Lausanne and the resolution of the issue was postponed to a later date. Then, 'at a later date,' the province was handed to the Iraqi state via a political fait accompli. Now it is clear that the 'Mosul Province file' must be reopened." 

The DYP report is not the only recent mention of the Iraqi Turkmen. The "Mideast Mirror" of 22 January cites an article in the London-based Arabic-language newspaper "Al-Sharq Al-Awsat" by Adnan Hussayn noting that Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit also expressed his concern about the Iraqi Turkmen on the eve of his departure for Washington. 

Hussayn writes that the Turks have disregarded their existence for many years because of Turkey's various joint interests with the Saddam Husseyn government, and also because the Turks themselves could be accused of practicing a discriminatory ethnic policy similar to that of the Ba'th Party against its own Kurds, Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans. 

Hussayn claims the Turks want to get control of what he calls the "Turkmen cordon," which begins at Sinjar and Mosul and ends in Kirkuk.