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| Gates visit: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, middle, and his Turkish counterpart, Vecdi Gonul, met in Ankara Thursday to
discuss strikes within Iraq. Umit Bektas/Reuters |
Will an extended Turkish offensive further destabilize Iraq?
President Bush wants a limit to the Turkish campaign against rebels, but Turkey says no to a timetable.
from the February 29, 2008 edition
Page 3 of 3
But in the current climate of violence, Turkish officials say that is not the top priority. "This is not a political issue – this is an issue of terrorism, and no one is going to negotiate with terrorists," says Nabi Sensoy, Turkey's ambassador to the US. "Let's not lose sight of the fact that not only are the PKK terrorists, but they are not representative of the Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin – who, by the way, have representatives in the Turkish parliament."
The incursion is designed to be "limited in the nature of its scope, size, and duration…. But it will totally depend on the circumstances on the ground," says Ambassador Sensoy.
US defense officials say the flow of intelligence to Turkey about PKK moves could be affected by an extended operation. But reports of US-Turkey tension are exaggerated, says Sensoy: "We have been for very long with the United States in the fight against terrorism…. Bush himself has called the PKK an enemy of the US, even as it is the enemy of Turkey and of Iraq."
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek sought to ease US and Iraqi fears. "No one should be concerned. We will leave Iraq as soon as we are done," he told Today's Zaman, an English-language newspaper. And our mission will be accomplished when the terrorist camps in northern Iraq are destroyed."
But such an aim has never been achieved before, even with the help of Iraqi Kurdish factions that collaborated with Turkey by hunting down the PKK in the 1990s.
"We have fought the PKK in the past and we have learned that we cannot solve this problem by force," says Muhammad Mohsen, a commander of the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces in Amadiyah district, adjacent to the fighting. He met behind closed doors with US officials over the weekend, a map spread out between them, but denied providing intelligence on the PKK.
"We will not be part of this war," says Mr. Mohsen, adding his suspicions that the US help for Turkey is aimed at Iran. "We understand that the US wants friends to take care of the Iran issue. But we will not accept that."
The US has called for caution since last fall, when Turkish public opinion for retaliatory strikes into northern Iraq boiled over after a spate of PKK attacks. Many Turks blame US forces for permitting the PKK to stage such attacks and for allowing Iraqi Kurds to provide safety in northern Iraq where they can attack Turkey, a NATO ally.
• Howard LaFranchi contributed reporting from Washington; Sam Dagher from Arbil and Kirkuk, Iraq.
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