Recep Tayyip Erdogan is alone in his concerns about Iraq

KurdishMedia.com ^ | 7 February 2005 | Rauf Naqishbendi

[chava]

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is alone in his concerns about Iraq 07 February 2005 KurdishMedia.com - By Rauf Naqishbendi AFP stated (1 Feb 05): "Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hit out at the United States on Tuesday for failing to rein in Kurdish moves in northern Iraq which he said could throw the entire region into turmoil."

Since Iraq’s liberation, Mr. Erdogan continues to make threats against Iraq’s Kurdish and against the United States. Surely Mr. Erdogan recognizes that his threats do not carry any weight in the international community, for Turkey’s power is quickly becoming a relic of the past. It is common knowledge that Turkey’s relationship with the US is severely damaged already, and if it is completely severed, it will leave the Turkish Empire naked. The iron curtain is down, and the US has no interest in keeping a military base in Turkey. In addition, the Iraqi liberation mission tested the strength of Turkey’s relationship with the US and found that the majority of Turks were against US involvement. This has created a wave of American anger against Turkey, especially considering how dependent the Turks have become on American aid for the last half-century. Evidently, the Prime Minister does not believe his dependence on the US should temper his hatred towards them.

"Let me say once again clearly that any step taken without consideration for Turkey’s rights will yield no result other than fanning the fire in the region," Erdogan said.

Mr. Erdogan is alone in his concern because it is indicative of chauvinistic Turkish intent. For proof, consider prior acts of Turkish barbarism, which may be limited today, but which have inflicted much suffering in the recent past. Less than a century ago, the Turks committed genocide against the Assyrians and Armenians, yet they never admitted wrongdoing because the victims were Christians and looked different physically. That is how the Turks justified their atrocities.

"Forces who say they came to the region to bring democracy have preferred to remain indifferent to anti-democratic ambitions." Chauvinistic Erdogan speaks out of both sides of his mouth, for in one breath he caustically refers to the United States as "anti-democratic", and in the next breath he casually declares that the twenty five million Kurds in Turkey are not Kurds, but rather "mountainous Turks".

These people have been demonized and marginalized in their own homeland and have been subjected to genocide by the Turks for over fifty years. Turkey makes every attempt to maintain persecution of the Kurds within its own border as well as without, suggesting that if Kurds obtain freedom in other parts of the world, then Kurds inside Turkey will also demand freedom. Counteracting this imagined dilemma is how the Turkish government justifies its continued persecution of Kurds inside Turkey.

Unfortunately for the Turks, the spread of this ferocious agenda has been halted. Mr. Erdogan asserts, "I am sorry to say that forces tasked with establishing order in Iraq have failed to respond to certain developments which our nation has deeply regretted." Perhaps Mr. Erdogan is actually sorry that the world is now better informed about his own failure to respond to the Kurdish desire for equality.

"We have concerns over the low turn-out of some sections in the elections and the possibility of the vote results presenting an ethnically unbalanced picture." Ever the politician, Mr. Erdogan, seeing that he can’t get anywhere by attacking the Kurds directly, now switches tactics and acts as the self-appointed guardian of the Sunni minority in Iraq.

AFP reported another major concern Turkey has about the Kurds. "Turkey has complained that more Kurds than those expelled under Saddam Hussein’s rule have settled in Kirkuk since the US-led invasion in 2003 and were allowed to vote in Sunday’s elections." This is simply another attempt on Turkey’s part to twist history by intimating that somehow the Kurds are exceeding their basic human rights. Let us look back with altruistic focus at the calamitous atrocities committed against the Kurds. For decades, Saddam Hussein ensued a campaign of "Arabization", forcing hundreds of thousands of Kurds out of their birthplaces, including rich oil cities like Kirkuk and its surroundings. Arab people from other parts of Iraq were assisted to settle there, replacing the dislocated Kurds whose properties were confiscated. These Kurds were relocated to places in southern Iraq where they have continued to endure harsh and brutal treatment. Since the US occupation of Iraq, Arabs in the south have targeted these Kurds, rounding them up and beheading them, or murdering them execution-style. What has happened to these dislocated Kurds is a shameful and unforgivable chronicle of human history, and for the Turkish leader to try to undermine these innocent victims of brutality and prevent them from voting is beyond outrageous.

So far, the US has ignored the Turkish outcry. That is the right course of action, since paying heed to Turkey would surely be a regrettable mistake for the US in particular and for humanity in general. In fact, it would be best if the US simply acknowledges that Turkey is not a true ally, bearing in mind how the Iraqi liberation mission revealed the true nature of the Turks and their opposition to freedom. The Turkish mindset cannot be reconciled with the American spirit nor with the founding father’s aim to protect human liberty.

[Wonder Warthog]

Hey, Erdie, baby---maybe if you had helped the US in its hour of need in the Iraq war instead of stabbing us in the back, you would get better treatment vis-a-vis the Iraqi Kurds. As it is, you Turks can take a long walk off a short pier.