Posted on 01/26/2005 2:19:19 PM PST by neverdem
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:02 p.m. ET
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey's military warned Wednesday that the migration of large numbers of Kurds into the oil rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk could sway the results of the upcoming elections and possibly lead to clashes that could draw Ankara into the dispute.
Kirkuk, a multiethnic city with a Kurdish, ethnic Turkish populations, Arab, Christian -- but Kurds have been the strongest group in the city since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Kirkuk is also home to 12 percent of Iraq's oil reserves, and Turkey said the resources must be shared equally by all Iraqis.
Turkey has repeatedly warned that Kurdish control of the city would make an independent Kurdish state more viable, a development that Ankara has repeatedly said it won't accept. Turkey fears that a strong Kurdish entity in northern Iraq could inspire Kurds in Turkey, where Kurdish rebels have battled the Turkish army since 1984.
``Hundreds of thousands of Kurds migrated to Kirkuk and registered to vote,'' Gen. Ilker Basbug, deputy head of the Turkish military, said at a news conference. ``This could make the results of the elections questionable.''
``Even worse,'' he added, ``these developments could threaten the territorial and political unity of Iraq. We're worried that such a development would pose an important security problem for Turkey.''
Basbug stressed that a dispute of election results could lead to clashes. Sunni Arab and ethnic Turkish parties are still deciding whether to contest the Jan. 30 balloting in Kirkuk.
``This could lead to an independent Kurdish state,'' Basbug said. ``There could be clashes, these clashes could trigger an internal war in Iraq.''
Basbug said that according to the Iraqi Trade Ministry, some 350,000 Kurds have moved to Kirkuk, but he added that the figure could not be confirmed.
A U.S. military officer in northern Iraq, Col. Lloyd Miles, said that some 30,000 displaced people -- the vast majority of them Kurdish -- have returned to the province. Many Kurds were forced to leave their homes under the rule of Saddam Hussein.
Maybe AP frequently omits the byline because the writers took English as second language.
The Turks ought to read Bush's speech last week if they are even remotely harboring the thought of attacking any attempts by the Kurds to establish their own autonomy. Bush isn't going to let the Kurds get stomped on like Clinton did.
And it would kill any chance of getting into the EU.
The same Turks who refused us permission to invade Iraq from their territory, meaning that the Sunni strongholds in the Northeast could not be pacified by the 4th Infantry Division in the opening days of the war?
Turkey's hands are covered in the blood of every American and Kurd killed by a Sunni holdout who otherwise would have been wiped on the unopened Northern front.
And by "Northeast" I meant "Northwest."
I'm sure I'm only person here who thought the headline itself was funny.
(I'm a heartless poli sci jerk.)
Yes the Kurds the most loyal people in Iraq.... Even after we screwed them...To bad we can't convince them to take over the country(Iraq) but we'll probably screw them again by putting them under an Iraqi government and then patronize them for not falling in lock step with the new regime's policies. Nice article though...
-ccm
If I were King... The Kurds would run the entire country of Iraq.
Amen
Gobble gobble. What a Turkey!
Agree! Everyone gets happy.
Exactimundo.
The Kurds deserve control over their own destinies. Besides, Turkey blew whatever chance it had to influence the situation by barring the 4th Mech ID from moving into northern Iraq - thus contributing to the very difficult the US and free Iraqis face today. But now, the Turks have found their cojones and threaten to invade a free Iraq!
I won't even begin to mention the massacre of Armenians and Syriac Christians by the corrupt and failing Ottoman Empire.
Kurdistan forever!
That having been said, the Kurds would be wise to cut a deal with the Turkomen peoples in northern Iraq. It gives Turkey one less reason to interfere.
Actually the last stomping of Kurds was under Bush I right after Desert Storm when they rebelled. By the end of Bush I and through the Clinton misery there was a no fly zone over the Kurds and they did pretty well.
Turkey's hands are covered in the blood of every American and Kurd killed by a Sunni holdout who otherwise would have been wiped on the unopened Northern front."
No use in my trying to write this same sentiment in my own words... Since it is exactly what I feel I have just reproduced it here as my "Amen". I hope that the Kurds inundate the place.
Bush is entirely untrustworthy on this just like Daddy.
Much of this board is crediting him with values he does not possess. Specter and Gonzales is just the beginning, unfortunately.
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