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‘Kurds and Turks can work together’

THU, 7 FEB 2008 12:46 | Soma

Trucks freighting goods across the Ibrahim Khalil border between Turkey and the Kurdistan Region
By Tanya Goudsouzian

Dubai - The KRG’s de facto Foreign Minister insists that the PKK’s ability to carry out attacks against Turkish targets has already been severely limited.

As the threat of a Turkish invasion looms over Iraqi Kurdistan, pundits speculate over hidden agendas behind the pretext of the PKK factor. Still, Kurdish authorities are keen to demonstrate their solidarity with Turkey as part of their resolve to help fight the scourge of terror - be it at home, or in the region.

Whether or not Turkey has deliberately fuelled this crisis in a bid to gain leverage over other issues vis-à-vis Europe and the US, and in spite of allegations that the threatened invasion is an attempt to further derail the implementation of the Kirkuk referendum process, the Kurdistan Region’s de facto Foreign Minister stresses the need to focus on the task at hand.

Warning against engaging in speculations, which he considers counterproductive, Falah M. Bakir, head of the Kurdistan Region’s Department of Foreign Affairs, said: “I don’t think it is helpful at all to try and second guess a country’s motivations. And frankly, as far as I am concerned, the continued killing of Turkish soldiers by the PKK is reason enough for Turkey to want to seek a solution.”

He added: “What I think we should all be concentrating on is finding a peaceful and long lasting solution to the problem. This will take hard work by all concerned parties, but I am convinced that a solution can be found.”

In an exclusive interview with SOMA Digest, Bakir emphasized the Iraqi Kurdish leadership’s commitment to defuse this conflict through dialogue and diplomatic channels rather than military means, which would ultimately harm both countries and the entire region.

“As Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani pointed out, the PLO and IRA were once considered terrorist organizations, but today they have laid down their arms and joined the political process. If it can happen in Palestine and the UK, it can happen here,” he said.

Toward this aim, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has taken a number of measures to crack down on the illegal activities of PKK fighters, in spite of oft-repeated allegations from elements within Turkey that the Kurdish administration in Iraq has aided and egged on the PKK fighters in carrying out acts of violence against Turkish targets.

“We categorically reject the right of the PKK to attack neighbouring countries from our territory and are determined to ensure this does not happen,” reiterated Bakir. “In order to ensure this, we are carefully monitoring our region’s airports to ensure that no PKK member, or person affiliated with that group, can enter or leave the country.”

Bakir added: “We have established a security cordon in the northern areas of the region. This will ensure not only that supplies and people cannot reach the PKK, but also that the PKK will be unable to penetrate our towns and cities.”

The Kurdish official insists that the PKK’s ability to carry out its activities has already been limited following the closure of political party offices affiliated to the PKK in Erbil and Slemani. “We have made clear our dedication to find a peaceful solution by the key role we played in securing the release of the eight Turkish soldiers two weeks ago,” he said.

Bakir also lauded the role of the central Iraqi government in Baghdad in dealing with the crisis. “We have been happy with the way Baghdad and Erbil have worked together at this time,” he said. “This is an Iraqi-Turkish issue. The KRG has a very good working relationship on lots of issues with Baghdad but we are especially glad that at times of national tension, our relationship becomes stronger, not weaker.”

According to Bakir, the KRG is playing a constructive role in order to help resolve the ongoing conflict between Turkey and the PKK. “As a key part of Iraq, what threatens the Kurdistan Region threatens the country as a whole. Our colleagues in Baghdad understand this and we both believe that the only way to find a solution to this problem is through dialogue and negotiation,” he said.

Bakir also expressed his satisfaction with the role the US has been playing in defusing the crisis. “We are glad to see the US playing an important and constructive role in this process. Turkey and the US are important allies... It is strategic and long term. This is why the US is supporting Turkey,” he said.

There are conspiracy theories, which hold that Turkey’s threats to exterminate the PKK at this particular point in time, are nothing more than a bid to make trouble in the run-up to the much-contested referendum in Kirkuk.

Bakir vehemently rejected such assertions: “I think that we should believe Prime Minister [Recep Tayyib] Erdogan when he says that this operation is targeted only at the PKK. Turkey understands that Kirkuk is an internal Iraqi issue over which it has no jurisdiction. We in the KRG do not concern ourselves with Turkey’s internal issues, and we are confident they will not interfere in ours.”

As for the possibility of Turkey imposing economic sanctions on Iraqi Kurdistan, Bakir was once again skeptical: “When tensions between two countries rise it is instructive to look both at what people do, and what they do not do. At no point has Turkey completely closed its borders. And I do not believe they will.”

He added: “Turkey is an important trading partner and this trade is mutually beneficial. The majority of foreign owned companies in the Kurdistan Region are Turkish. This is economically important. But it is socially and diplomatically important as well. It shows that Kurds and Turks can work effectively together, it reveals the lie that there are insurmountable tensions between our two countries.”

Bakir is doubtful that Turkey would go so far as to wage full-scale war on its strategic neighbor because of the severe consequences such an action would bode not only for Iraq but for the entire region.

“A full scale invasion would cause regional problems on a never before seen scale. It would be disastrous for the long term stability of Iraq, Turkey and Iran and have serious global economic consequences,” he said.. “However, we believe Prime Minister Erdogan and his colleagues in the Turkish government when they say that any cross border operation would be limited in scope and target. We believe this because it would not be in their interest to carry out a full scale border crossing.”

He concluded by saying: “The KRG is determined to find a peaceful and long lasting solution to this problem. We will not let what is essentially an internal Turkish issue become a regional conflagration.”

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