Posted on 01/17/2007 9:35:11 AM PST by TexKat
London (KurdishMedia.com) 16 January 2007: The Turkish army have gathered and intensified its forces on the Kurdistan’s boarder ready for attack, reported local sources on Tuesday.
While Turkey is holding a conference on Kirkuk without the participation of the Kurdistan Regional Government or any Kurdish political party, Turkey has intensified its forces on the Kurdistan’s border. Some Turkmens, Arabs and a high number of Turkish MP’s have participated in the conference. It was revealed by local sources that only Turkish flag displayed in the conference.
Radio Nawa stated that the Turkish army ready for zero o’clock to attack Kurdistan.
The speaker of Kurdistan Parliament, Adnan Mufti, condemned the meeting and dismissed it as the interferences on Kurdistan’s affairs.
The Kurdistan Presidential Council led by Massuad Barzani has not made any statement regarding the Turkish conference on Kirkuk or the Turkish army’s gathering on the Kurdistan’s border.
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the lawmakers of his ruling Justice and Development Party in Ankara, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2007. Turkey's prime minister warned Iraqi Kurdish groups Tuesday against trying to seize control of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will not stand by amid growing tensions among ethnic Turkmens, Arabs and Kurds in Iraq's oil-rich north. (AP Photo)
So if they invade the Kurds, do we have to fight NATO?
An unidentified Iraqi Shiite Muslim cleric listens to a panel of experts and politicians from Turkey and Iraq who were discussing the current situation and the future of the oil-rich northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk in Ankara, Monday, Jan. 15, 2007. Turkey is warning that ethnic groups in Kirkuk must share power, amid growing fears that Iraq's Kurds will seize control of Kirkuk as part of a push for an independent Kurdish state on the Turkey-Iraq border. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
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Take legal actions against the participants of so-called “Kirkuk 2007” conference
1/17/2007 KurdishMedia.com - By Pir Aso Yarsani
Turkey’s various hostile interventions in the Iraqi government, in general, and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) affairs, in particular, must be immediately stopped and condemned in a joint announcement by both KRG and the Iraqi government; otherwise Turkey will continue to make fun of itself by insulting and humiliating these legal bodies more and more.
If Turkey is not stopped now, its illegal actions will inevitably lead to another bloody regional armed conflict. A conflict which I guess before everything else will shrink Turkey to become as big as Kosovo. That should indeed matter all Turkish fascists, I don’t mind personally.
A Turkey once upon a time described by European scholars as ‘a mad man of Europe’, has now become the mad cow of the Middle East which must be either cured or isolated from the rest of the healthy world. A country which historically was given chance after chance to become a good example of diversity and coexistence of many distinctive folk groups (that are mainly Kurds, Armenians and Turks) but chose to commit two genocides; the first one caused 1.5 millions Armenians death, and the second one thousands of thousands Kurdish death, burned villages, displacement of ca a half million Kurds and currently a well-designed psychological war aimed to target all Kurds wherever they are now. However, Turks should now know better that Kurds is an immortal nation and despite many hardships they are determined to continue their struggles for a better world.
A world in which a Turk and a Kurd is treated equally, not like today’s Turkey where Kurds are deprived from their entire cultural and political human rights and unfortunately viewed as enemies. It is evident that the Turkish politicians have miscalculated both regional and international real political arenas. This notion of illogical thinking should be Turkey’s first priority and not hosting “Kirkuk 2007” which is undoubtedly an Iraqi affair not Turkish.
Concerning the so-called “Turkmen National Front” which initially was set up by the Turkish intelligent organization (MIT) to function as a Turkish proxy inside the Southern Kurdistan, all Iraqi patriots should be united to confront this mercenary group. The Iraqi people have all national and international rights to conduct a set of effective measurements to tackle this issue. What Iraqis can do are:
1) Bringing this issue to UN
2) Closing the Turkmen national front offices and prohibiting them to contact Turkey
3) All Kurds inside and outside Kirkuk should personally boycott any cultural and financial affairs with those Turkmen who are worshiping Ataturk or Turkey Finally, European Union along with all Turkish democratic forces, if there is any at all, should immediately break their deadly silence and demand from Turkey to behave like civilized countries and democracies.
http://www.kurdmedia.com/news.asp?id=13905
It is time for a gut check on the part of the Iraqi govt. Will they protect Iraqi territory even if it is Kurdish terriotry, or will they make the Kurds deal with a foreign army by themselves? If they don't support the kurds in this, then the kurds will have a basis for secession.
US reasserts support for upcoming Kirkuk referendum
1/17/2007 KurdishMedia.com - By Vladimir van Wilgenburg
Although Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has commented sharply over the past week on the so-called "changing demographics" of the city Kirkuk, even calling for the referendum scheduled to take place there to be postponed, US authorities have indicated that there is no support in Washington, DC for such postponement. This reported the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.
Speaking before his ruling AKP group last Wednesday, Prime Minister Erdogan had said "...In light of demographic changes in Kirkuk, it is not right for a referendum to take place right now...." At a press conference yesterday in the US capital however, Tom Casey, a spokesman for the State Department, made comments indictating US unwillingness to listen to Ankara's push for a postponed referendum:
"These are subjects which have debated in the past. In the Iraqi Constitution, there are certain mechanisms in place with regards to the determination of Kirkuk's status. And we of course are expecting the Iraqi government to move according to these plans."
Recently Ross Wilson, the US Ambassador to Turkey, showed support for the referendum. Wilson said "The future of Kirkuk is one which the Iraqi people have to decide upon. It is natural that the US, Turkey, and other countries would have opinions on Kirkuk, but in the end, it is Iraq which will be making the choices."
Still Washington takes Turkish concerns over the developments in “Iraq’s Kirkuk region seriously”, Ross Wilson said. Soon the Turkish parliament will debate the situation of Iraq and especially the status of Kirkuk.
Senator Joe Biden, chairman of the U.S. Senate's powerful Foreign Relations Committee and a presidential candidate, advised the Kurds to refrain from independence and full control over Kirkuk in order to avoid a conflict with Turkey
Recently the UN warned for a looming crisis in Kirkuk. The UN voiced it’s concerns at reports of mistreatment of ethnic Turkmen and Arabs by the Kurdish majority.
The US support for the referendum might ease fears among Kurds, that the American won't be loyal towards Kurdish interests, due to the words of Bush and Rice.
http://www.kurdmedia.com/news.asp?id=13904
What does he have in his ears -- the first "Universal Translator?"
The Turks should have been kicked out of NATO in 2003.
Turkey WAS our temporary ally during the Cold War.
Now they are more like an agressive, muslim, cross-bred of Russia and France. When the Turks really screw with Iraqi Kurdistan, I hope we stand with the Kurds. They have PROVEN to be our allies. Turkey has proven to be a backstabber.
But they weren't.
Unfortunately. But anyway we (the US) have to stand with our interests and allies (the Kurds) and fortunately signs are pointing into this direction.
I wonder what NATO will have to say...they have been our allies a lot longer than the Kurds.
Empty Bluffs: Turkey moves towards its own end
Globe Political Editor - by Azad Aslan
Since President Bush expressed his new strategy in Iraq, and outgoing US ambassador of Iraq, Zalmay Khalidzad's message to Turkey not to meddle with the internal affairs of Iraq with regard to Kirkuk issue, Turkey, a country with a sizeable Kurdish community, has intensified its threats against southern Kurdistan and criticized the US administration's ineffectiveness on the issue of PKK presence in Kandil Mountain.
Turkey has two main concerns in Iraq's politics. Firstly, Turkey aims to thwart the recognition of the Kurds as a distinct nation with their own regional government and parliament in a federal Iraq. For Turkey, which deny even the basic rights of the Kurds and has even refused to recognize the existence of the Kurds and their language for decades, to see a Kurdistan government in a federal country whose constitution recognizes the Kurds as a nation is an ultimate threat. An official recognition of the Kurds as nation in Iraq which itself is a member of the UN would, without doubt, bring the status of the Kurds in Turkey into a question. It would be difficult for the Turkish administration to continue its current policy of denying Kurdish existence. It would generate new international legal doors and opportunities for the Kurds to raise their case. After all if five million or so Kurds in Iraq are recognized as a nation why not the 15-20 million Kurds in Turkey. Turkey hopes that political chaos in Iraq and the possibility of US failure in Iraq may prevent such a 'nightmare'.
Secondly, Turkey intends to disrupt the processes of referendum in Kirkuk, which the Iraqi permanent constitution dealt with. It is a well-known fact that the result of the referendum will most likely secure the incorporation of the city into Kurdistan region. The two post-Saddam Iraqi general elections' result in the city of Kirkuk proved that the majority population of the city is constituted by the Kurds. Turkey fears that once the oil-rich city is incorporated into the Kurdistan region a move by the Kurds towards independence will be imminent. Such a move would most likely have immense consequences in the other parts of Kurdistan. The Kurds of the Northern Kurdistan, under the Turkish occupation for the last 8 decades or more, have never hesitated to move towards their freedom and independence. Since the Great Sheikh Said uprising of 1925, one-way or other, the Kurds have been in constant struggle.
Given the history of the last 6 years, particularly the period towards the US war in Iraq, suggestions that Turkish threats are nothing but empty bluff are common and its 'red lines' have been crossed time and time again. Under whatever pretext, whether the presence of PKK guerrillas in southern Kurdistan's mountains or protecting Turkoman community of Kirkuk, the invasion of southern Kurdistan by Turkey is impossible. Turkish military entry into southern Kurdistan would most likely bring the inevitable end of the Turkish Republic. Kurdistan President, Massoud Barzani, responded strongly to the recent menace exhibited by the Turkish Prime Minister about the Kirkuk issue. Barzani warned that should Turkey involve itself in internal affairs of other countries then other countries would have the same right to get involved in the internal affairs of Turkey. Indeed Turkey has as much 'weak points' as that of Iraq. It would be much easier and effective for the Iraqi Kurds to support and ignite their brethren in the north than for Turkey to play the Turkoman card.
Like any other people on earth, the Kurds aspire nothing but to live in peace, stability, freedom and above else independence. Today or tomorrow, independence of Kurdistan will be realized with or without bloodshed.
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc0117AA.html
Turkey not only refused to let us cross their territory in the invasion of Iraq, they strung us along for weeks and then stabbed us in the back--one reason why that part of Iraq has been difficult to pacify after the fall of Baghdad, because it gave Saddam's troops time to melt back into the population with their weapons.
We don't owe them anything at this point. They elected to ally themselves with France. Let them ask the French for some help.
All alliances are temporary.
Nations have interests, not friends.
If Turkey invades Iraq from the rear would Greece help?
True......I wish I had a better handle on why they are so damned afraid of Kurds...
There is no way to change the fact that the area has a ethnic majority. Turkey should not be involved in this, in the way that they are, and if this is true about a military buildup on the border, it would be the first time since the war, in a major way, and sends terrible signals to Iraq. It may make the integration of the Kurdish region of Iraq less likely and more problematic for Turkey.
Are these people as stupid as they appear to be?
Amazing.....Really amazing.
OOH... stand in awe of the sheer intellectual prowess.
Easy for you to say, Mr. Biden.
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