Wednesday, March 5, 2008 | Cengiz ÇANDAR
The timing and nature of the pullout from northern Iraq would have to cause a stir in Turkish public inevitably. Statements issued on the subject do not clear the question marks about the withdrawal but rather bring more to mind.
Official statements such as “We pulled out very easily,” “We dealt a blow to terrorists,” “Inner and outer factors played no role,” “We as the government knew it all along,” “This has nothing to do with the U.S.” were processed in-depth by pen-slingers of the officials in media. But none eliminated the questions. Such remarks, on the contrary, are read backwards and interpreted as some sort of “confirmation.”
They are not enough to clarify the failing communication observed in “psychological war” and “public administration” but reveal it, contrary. In fact, we witness the PKK, or the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, benefiting the situation, makes counter propagandas to voice “incursion was a failure”. Agence France Presse (AFP) in a news report from Suleymaniyeh revealed a phone conversation with one of the PKK leaders, Murat Karayılan, who uttered the death toll of Turkish troops as 130 and of the PKK as five only. However, we know that around 240 PKK terrorists were killed against 27 soldiers.
To read the incursion as the “war of death tolls” and talk about its success and failure by means of figures only is a meaningless dead-end. I rather base on the following paragraphs of The New York Times editorial published on March 1:
"President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday insisted that Turkey withdraw its troops as quickly as possible, and as of Friday night that appeared to be under way.
“What neither man acknowledged is that for months the United States had provided Turkey with vital intelligence for air strikes against terrorists of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as the PKK, Washington considers the PKK a terrorist group.
“Administration officials apparently hoped to forestall a full-scale ground operation, but Ankara clearly read Washington's support very differently. As terrorit attacks mounted in recent months, Turkey's military and public demanded that the government retaliate. Turkey's leaders have been further unnerved by the growing confidence and relative prosperity of Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdish region. If the region were to someday declare independence, they fear Turkey's own Kurdish population would follow suit.
“Iraqi Kurds, meanwhile, suspect Ankara is using the incursions to undermine their autonomy. Adding to tensions, Iraqi Kurdish leaders – unwilling to anger their constituents – have not done enough to curb PKK activities or drive the terrorists out of their territory.
“Washington must now press the Iraqi Kurds to immediately close off rebel escape routes. It must also press the Turks and the Iraqi Kurds to begin a serious discussion on how they can secure the border, expand commerce and live peacefully side by side. The Bush administration might have more luck keeping both sides at the table if it offered to host those talks.
“Washington must also encourage Ankara to do a lot more to undermine the P.K.K.'s appeal by engaging its Kurdish population in dialogue, expanding their rights and increasing economic development in their villages. Prolonged cross-border conflict would only add to Iraq's chaos. It would also do major damage to Turkey's international standing, including jeopardizing its bid for European Union membership.”
Therefore, let's look forward. And the only thing we need to see must not be the date of the next entry to northern Iraq and whether or not we'll have a chance to launch another “land operation” in the region. Then, what must it be?
To ponder, to discuss and to implement “more creative” steps for the solution, it must be. Every single remark regarding the operation will help nothing but to foster the “culture of violence” in Turkey and to create advantage for the PKK in the final analysis.
But now what we have to do is to prevent further infiltration of the PKK terrorists from northern Iraq to Turkey without needing another incursion.
Therefore, a contact and cooperation mechanism with Iraqi Kurds needs to be established, though we are late already. With the support of the government in Baghdad and the United States, if the regional Kurdish administration in northern Iraq takes over the control of the border region from the PKK, it would facilitate Turkey's job.
There were only talks about formation of a four-party mechanism among Ankara, Baghdad, Arbil and Washington, but no initiative was taken. Bilateral talks or non-effective contacts merely took place among Ankara-Washington, Ankara-Baghdad, Washington-Arbil or Washington-Baghdad.
We could count the incursion among the successful, not by referring to the death toll but if the “four-party mechanism” is put into practice and Turkey-Iraq border is secured through elimination of the PKK. Along with it, that is next to the security collaboration, reviving political and economic relations with Iraqi Kurds, taking “legal step” in favor of Kurds in Turkey and refreshing the European Union accession bid will provide assistance to take the “solution route”.
Expected visit of the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani within a few weeks should conduce to the opening of a “new page.” Let's look forward and stop the rhetoric of violence...