Turkey: Column Says Talabani's Man Among US Candidates for Temporary PM in Iraq

Hurriyet (Ankara Edition) in Turkish ^ | 04/09/2003 | Translated 04/10/2003 | Yalcin Dogan

[gaucho]

The Candidate for Prime Minister Is a Kurd!

Talabani's third man is a Kurd called Salih Behram. The name of Salih Behram is being mentioned among the persons being considered to be appointed as the Temporary Prime Minister by the United States in the structuring of the new administration in Iraq.

The day before yesterday [Monday, 7 April] the US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz made statements on an American TV channel about the Iraqi administration after Saddam. Mr. Wolfowitz stated that a civilian administration would be established connected to the military administration in Iraq and added:

"Salih Behram is also among the candidates for temporary prime minister!"

If the United States makes such a preference, then it is taking a step at the most alarming point from the aspect of Turkey. The question of what could happen in the northern Iraqi administration and in Mosul and Karkuk, on which Turkey has dwelled the most, is automatically answered in an administration where the temporary prime minister is a Kurd. Furthermore, what President Bush's adviser Halilzad has been doing in northern Iraq for weeks becomes evident.

The US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is the hawk of the hawks. In addition, he remains distant from Turkey. For example, he was opposing the US Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to Ankara. Moreover, according to an assertion, the following words were said by Mr. Rumsfeld:

"Turkey is responsible for one of every two soldiers we lost in the war. They did not help us. We could not open a front from the north. If we had, then we would have had fewer losses."

He may not have said this word for word, but the logic is this and it reflects Rumsfeld's view of Turkey.

There is also the effect of another chain of relations behind this negativity. At one time, Rumsfeld was very close to the Kennedy Family. This was a closeness in a commercial sense. Whereas, the Kennedy Family was close to Talabani! Whenever Talabani goes to the United States, he definitely visits the Kennedys and they are showing hospitality to Talabani!

Is selecting one of the temporary prime minister candidates from among Talabani's men passing through this web of relations? Even if it does not, if the United States makes such a preference, then is this a message to Turkey?

[gaucho]

Turkey needs to get a grip on itself before they end up attacking US forces and getting squished. A good percentage of Iraq's population is Kurdish, and they need to accept that any goverment in Iraq will have kurdish representation. After Turkey's refusal to help the US, they should be last ones complaining about their future treatment by the US Goverment.

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