The text in Kurdish.
It is time to congratulate all Kurds. The relationship between South Kurdistan and Turkey is still tensed but Turkish soldiers are on their own side of the boarder. News agency Ajans a Peyamnêr (PNA) wrote the 17th June that major Turkish incursion in North Iraq is unlikely. The Kurds have prevented Turks from entering their area.
Has there been earlier such a situation? No, never. In early 1980s Turkey did not attack North Iraq but at that time the Kurds were not active. Last week I wrote that I have not counted how many times the Turkish army went across the boarder during the first war (1984-1999). But the former Indian ambassador in Turkey, K M Bhadrakumar has done it. He says in his article in Asia Times Online that 1983-1998 Turkish troops went 36 times to North Iraq. The strength of the troops was up to 50 000 men and sometimes they went 200 kilometres into Iraqi territory.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan invited Foreign Minister Nuri al-Maliki to come to Ankara to discuss. Al-Maliki accepted the invitation. Good luck for the negotiations! Al-Maliki will meet Prime Minister Erdogan, not General Yasar Büyükanit. Büyükanit has threatened to send his soldiers to North Iraq but Erdogan has spoken about a political solution to the Kurdish question.
I repeat what I have said many times: in difficult negotiations it is good to use mediators. I wrote about this in my column the fifth of March. Now my greetings from Finland are that our former President Martti Ahtisaari said in his birthday interview that he wants to continue doing peace negotiations even after the Kosova process. Mr Ahtisaari had last Saturday the 23rd June his 70th birthday. Turkish Daily News wrote last Friday that The Independent Commission will reactivate its work on the EU membership of Turkey. The Commission consists of nine European politicians and former statesmen. In 2004 when Mr Ahtisaari was the chairman of the group it prepared a report about Turkey. Ahtisaari plans to visit Turkey next September.
When Turkey and South Kurdistan debate about PKK they forget one threat which affects both of them: al Qaida. A suicide bomb explosion in Sulaiman Bek a few days ago is the latest evidence of it. Turkey, South Kurdistan and Iraq should make cooperation against this threat.
The time of al-Maliki's journey to Ankara is not announced when I write this column. Ajans a Peyamnêr wrote that al-Maliki will meet Erdogan rather at the beginning of July than at the end of June. It will be hectic time in Turkey because the elections will be only a few weeks later. It is expected that both Erdogan's AK Party and nationalists will use the meeting in their election campaigning.
Turkish voters decide whether they want political and diplomatic or military solution to the crisis. In one month almost thirty Turkish soldiers have died in the battles against PKK. Turks want revenge. But they should understand that it would lead to death of more soldiers. The only way to save the lives of Turkish Mehmetcis is to negotiate peace and stop hostilities. But Turkish televisions and newspapers do not tell this to their audience. Due to self-censorship of mass media the Turkish people are not aware of the strength of the Kurds and their growing unity. But every one in Turkey understand that something is now different than during last decade: after 36 attacks to South Kurdistan the Turkish army stays now at home.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment