Have we recognized the state of 'Kurdistan'?

By: Yusuf Kanli

Turkish Daily News/  Nov 11, 2004

• Some 'prominent' friends of the Iraqi Kurdish leaders have become more vocal on the 'great benefits' to Turkey if a Kurdish state is carved out of Iraq, while information is pouring in that 'Kurdistan Airlines' will soon start flights to Turkey. The AKP government must spell out what's really going on

Some "prominent" Turkish friends of the Iraqi Kurdish leaders have started a campaign to explain the "great benefits" Turkey would gain if a Kurdish state were to be carved out of Iraq, while at the same time information is pouring in that "Kurdistan Airlines" could soon start flights between Arbil and Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government must disclose to the Turkish public what's really happening and in exchange for what.

According to one claim, the AKP government has made a deal with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Massoud Barzani for the Nov. 20 start of flights between Arbil and Istanbul for "humanitarian purposes." While the AKP government has preferred to remain silent on the issue, reports from northern Iraq indicate stepped-up activity at the Arbil airport, enhanced by some Turkish contractors, and that sophisticated equipment is being installed in the flight tower.

"Kurdistan Airlines" has reportedly leased two aircraft with which it will start flights to and from Turkey.

Despite the official silence in Ankara, Kurdish sources have been claiming that the AKP government has even agreed that "Kurdistan Airlines" can put its name on the planes on condition that a "Kurdish flag" or any such emblem does not appear anywhere on the aircraft.

A demand that the crew of "Kurdistan Airlines" be allowed to wear "traditional national costume" in "national colors" was reportedly rejected by the AKP government, which had previously agreed that the passports or entry and exit documents of people traveling to and from Arbil could be stamped by the "Government of Kurdistan." Nowadays, entry and exit visas of the "Government of Kurdistan" are not attached to passports but instead are stamped on empty sheets of paper that are collected upon exiting the Iraqi side of the Habur border gate.

The Greek Cypriot and Greek media, on the other hand, have been in a panic that in exchange for Turkey's "approval silence" as regards the creation of a Kurdish state in northern Iraq, Washington would recognize northern Cyprus. Though the Greek and Greek Cypriot claims could be considered a product of their own paranoia, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul must face the nation and announce what's really happening in northern Iraq and what this "Kurdistan Airlines" business is all about.

If these rampant claims are incorrect, then why the official silence?

By the way, the "prominent Turkish friends" of the Kurdish leaders who have started preaching to Turkey the benefits of the establishment of a Kurdish state -- and who are most probably paid in contracts for their "great services" -- are at the same time people close to the AKP leadership.