The Turkish newspaper the Sabah (”morning”) reports that author, Mehmet Metiner, said in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir that Turkey’s PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan “will make important announcements in Diyarbakir. The PM will announce an extensive package including developments regarding the Kurdish language and culture. He will announce that Turkey has entered into a solution process.” (more…)

Turkish Daily News reports that the US State Department has said that ‘it was working to provide Turkey with the “best possible intelligence” in the fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and called for more cooperation between Ankara and the Iraqis, implying that Washington’s opposition to a Turkish ground offensive remained in place.’ (more…)

Traveling through the southeastern regions of Turkey can be a bittersweet experience. Not only is the region’s geography breathtaking at times, but so is the hospitality and incredible warmth of its people. Unfortunately, the living standard of most of the region’s ethnic-Kurdish population is tragically low. While the historic economic situation of this part of Turkey has never been as robust as in the country’s littoral areas, the Turkish military’s reaction to the Kurdish uprising during the early 1990s was responsible for considerable regression.

Turks are understandably frustrated when they discuss the conditions of their country’s southeastern region. They point to the preponderance of Kurdish families with seven, eight or more children and question why they should have such large families if they do not possess the financial means for their support. (more…)

The New York Times reports:

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan took a strong public stance against a military incursion into northern Iraq on Tuesday, in an indication that he would not back the military’s request for a major offensive.

For weeks, the Turkish Army has been pushing for a broad military response to attacks by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a militant separatist group that takes refuge in northern Iraq. The military has already increased its presence along the border and has been conducting operations against the militants in Turkey. On Tuesday, Mr. Erdogan said Turkey should first continue to fight the militants on Turkish soil before fighting them in Iraq, slowing the movement toward an incursion. He said far more militants were in Turkey than in Iraq.

The Turkish Parliament would need to approve a major military action, and Mr. Erdogan’s party controls the legislature, so his view on the wisdom of an invasion is important.

Ten years ago, I would have commented that the military might consider staging a soon very soon. Times, however, have changed. That being said, Erdogan still has to be very careful. The military already spoke out publicly against him and his party, if he challenges the powerful Turkish military more, the military might decide to act regardless of the reaction of the international community (and of the Turkish people).

Times have changed, but not so much that the military is willing to accept a prime minister (and in July perhaps a president, namely Abdullah Gül) who opposes secularism, who is considered to be an enemy of the army, and who lets soldiers be killed by the PKK.

The US can now think that the problem will go away, but doing so would be a major mistake. The US and the Kurds have to deal with the PKK-problem.

Great:

Kurdish rebels fired rockets and grenades at a Turkish military outpost Monday, killing seven soldiers in an attack that heightened tension at a time when Ankara has threatened military action against the rebels in northern Iraq.

The army sent helicopter gunships and reinforcements to Tunceli province in southeastern Turkey after guerrillas rammed a vehicle into the military post and opened fire with automatic weapons and rockets, local media reported.

Soldiers returned fire, killing the driver, the military said…

A pro-Kurdish news agency reported Monday that Turkish troops shelled a border area in northern Iraq for a second day in an attack on Kurdish rebels based there.

Abdul-Rahman al-Chadarchi, a spokesman for the Kurdish rebel group PKK, told The Associated Press by telephone that there had been artillery shelling from Turkey into Iraqi territory at dawn, and that there had been simultaneous shelling from the Turkish and Iranian sides on Sunday night.

Cernig (as far as I know, the only other reasonably well known blogger who blogs very regularly about the Turkey-Kurdistan situation):

Here’s Bush administration foreign policy at its very worst. They refused to decide in favor of their NATO ally and actually do something about a terror group responsible for 30,000 of that ally’s people being killed. This because they were so determined to gloss over the cracks in their narrative about the final success in Iraq always being just around the next corner.

Sadly, it is not that easy I am afraid. It seems to me that if the US would truly support Turkey in this matter, it would be in the danger of losing the support of the Kurds. That would be disastrous.

On the other hand, of course, having Turkey and Iran attacking Kurdistan is an even worse disaster.

What should Bush have done? He should have convinced the Iraqi government and the Kurdish leaders that the PKK camps in Northern Iraq have to be destroyed. Bush relies on support from the Kurds, true, but just as the Americans need the Kurds, the Kurds need the Americans. It is not a one-way street. If there is any one country in the world that’s able to positively influence the Kurds, it is America.

Besides that, of course, the PKK is a terrorist organization and Turkey is a NATO ally. One cannot allow an ally to be attacked by terrorists operating in / from a country one controls.

This should have been at the top of Bush’s agenda for months. Rice should have traveled to Kurdistan and Turkey a couple of times in the last few months. Heck, Bush should have gone himself. There should been good, mature diplomatical efforts to reduce the stress.

If necessary, the US should even have gone in to destroy the PKK camps itself (after convincing a majority of Kurds that doing so in their own interest).

Iran and Turkey vs. the PKK. The Kurds will now probably unite and consider both Turkey and Iran enemies. The US will be in the middle - it cannot not support Turkey, but it can also not allow Iran to do the same thing Turkey does.

Yesterday I wrote:

My prediction: Turkey will go in, destroy quite some PKK camps and withdraw before things truly get messy. The US will say that Turkey has to withdraw ASAP, behind the scenes, however, Rice et al. will tell the Turks that they have a certain amount of time to do what must be done. Al-Maliki et al. will threaten, but will not do much. Turkey will be out of Iraq within a couple of days time.

That’s the positive version: the negative version is that things will go terribly wrong; that the Kurds will unite and fight against the Turks; that Iraq will declare war; that Iran thinks it can do the same and attack Kurdistan as well; that the US will fight against Iran; that, in the end, we will have US vs. Iran; Iran vs. Kurdistan; Kurdistan vs. Turkey with the US in the middle and Northern Iraq will be destroyed.

And by God, one day later we see my worst nightmare slowly but surely become reality.

Turkey is preparing to strike against the PKK:

From south and north, Iraq’s Kurdish region felt pressure from two sides, as saboteurs bombed a vital bridge link to Baghdad, and Turkish troops across the border massed for a possible strike.

“We won’t allow it to be turned into a battleground,” Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday of the relatively peaceful Iraqi north, a haven for anti-Turkish Kurdish guerrillas…

In an interview taped for broadcast Sunday on ABC-TV’s “This Week,” Iraq’s Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani, said Iraqi leaders had convinced the Iraq-based militants to cease their attacks, “and they did it.”

Al-Maliki, the Shiite prime minister, ending a visit to the Kurdish north on Saturday, also sought to ease the growing tensions.

“If there are some problems, we should not rely on weapons and threats, or use violence and power because this will increase tension and deepen problems,” he told a news conference in the regional capital of Irbil.

My prediction: Turkey will go in, destroy quite some PKK camps and withdraw before things truly get messy. The US will say that Turkey has to withdraw ASAP, behind the scenes, however, Rice et al. will tell the Turks that they have a certain amount of time to do what must be done. Al-Maliki et al. will threaten, but will not do much. Turkey will be out of Iraq within a couple of days time.

That’s the positive version: the negative version is that things will go terribly wrong; that the Kurds will unite and fight against the Turks; that Iraq will declare war; that Iran thinks it can do the same and attack Kurdistan as well; that the US will fight against Iran; that, in the end, we will have US vs. Iran; Iran vs. Kurdistan; Kurdistan vs. Turkey with the US in the middle and Northern Iraq will be destroyed.

Today’s Zaman has a good article up about Turkey, Iraq and the Kurdish problem:

Two months ago in Arbil, a member of the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party asked: “What does Turkey want from us? We just want to make a living here.

Why is Turkey trying to prevent that?” I heard the same words from several dozen angry and scared people. I was actually in Arbil when Massoud Barzani announced that he would interfere with Diyarbakır if Turkey interfered with Kirkuk. At first, Iraqi Kurds were pleased with Barzani’s statements. But concern replaced pleasure after Ankara made harsh statements and began contemplating a cross-border operation.

Two months later and tension about Kirkuk has waned, but the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) remains a serious problem. The Turkish public and politicians alike were outraged after the bomb explosion in Ankara. Unlike previous terrorist activities, that explosion was perceived as a signal for immediate military action in northern Iraq. It is very likely that a cross-border operation will occur in the near future. There are rumors of unusual movement at the Iraqi border. The northern Iraqi Kurd administration is said to be preparing a defense unit on the other side of the border. Kurdish media organs claim the Kurdish administration is placing barricades and dispatching peshmergas to the border area.

What is going to happen? Well, it appears PKK-based camps near the border will be bombed and a security unit will be formed to guard the border. The format and length of the attack is unclear, at least for the public. Military officers insist that an operation is necessary. However, civil experts who are familiar with the area are a little reluctant. Many experts are concerned that an incursion will result in combat with the peshmergas, which could lead to being dragged into the Iraq quagmire. The situation in the Kurdish region of Iraq is more complicated. Younger politicians, such as Nechirvan Barzani, hold the view that a clash will pose great danger for the Kurdish region. Other politicians believe a Turkish military intervention would unite differing Kurdish groups.

Arbil, an official of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of northern Iraq told TZ’s Bajan Matur: “Yes, Turkey will easily be able to reach Kirkuk if it wants. It seems impossible to prevent that. But the real question is how will it leave?” The secretary of before mentioned KDP added: “This process can not be reversed at this point. Turkey’s interference in Iraq because of Kirkuk, the PKK or any other reason may gain Turkey positional success, but it will only reinforce separation in the long term.”

Here is a thought: stop giving the PKK the opportunity to launch attacks against Turkish forces. destroy the PKK camps in northern Iraq. Stop donating money to the PKK.

More suggestions necessary?

Read more at Today’s Zaman.

“Safin Dizai, a senior official from the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and a close aide to Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani,” said that “Turkish tanks would not be allowed to cross into northern Iraq.”

Dizai pointed to the ongoing domestic debates in Turkey about a possible cross-border operation to crack down on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) camps based in northern Iraq in the face of ongoing attacks inside the country.

“The people of Kurdistan will not remain spectators to the crossing of Turkish tanks and panzers into Kirkuk,” he was quoted as saying by the Doğan News Agency (DHA), which took excerpts from statements made by the Iraqi Kurdish official to Kurdish-broadcasting Web site “Nefel.”

Sadly for the Kurds, the Turkish military believes that a military operation is necessary: there are five PKK camps in Northern Iraq, from which the PKK launches attacks against Turks. Of course there was the terrorist in Ankara recently as well. The PKK has already killed more than 30,000 Turks.

Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gül, meanwhile, had a telephone conversation with Condi Rice, in which he told the latter that “the Turkish public was running out of patience due to the ongoing attacks in eastern Turkey.” He also urged Washington “to take urgent and effective measures to stop terrorist infiltrations from northern Iraq.”

Rice “did not touch upon the likelihood of a military incursion into northern Iraq by the Turkish army,” she did say, however, that the US is on Turkey’s side in the war on terrorism and she assured Gül “that Washington would increase cooperation with Turkey in that respect.” She also “expressed the U.S. administration’s dismay stemming from the killings of many civilians and soldiers in clashes with the PKK.”

Gül said that he didn’t talk with Rice about a possible cross-border operation in Northern Iraq. Of course “Washington has warned Ankara against a cross-border operation in northern Iraq, wary that such a move may destabilize a relatively peaceful region in the conflict-torn country and fuel tensions between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds.”

Turkey is a member of NATO, the Kurds support the US and live in a “relatively peaceful region” of the mess frequently referred to as Iraq. In other words: a lose-lose situation.

It will be interesting to see how the US will respond if Turkey invades northern Iraq. My guess is that the US will object pro forma. There will be a condemnation, because Washington does not want to lose the support of the Kurds, but Turkey will be given all the time and room she needs to destroy the PKK camps.

This is probably the best thing for the US to do: that, and doing something about the PKK problem herself.

It is becoming more and more likely that Turkey will actively fight the PKK in northern Iraq:

The idea of launching a military operation into northern Iraq, where thousands of members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have found a safe haven, has taken center stage in recent debates over how to eliminate the terrorist threat, the worst manifestations of which the Turkish public has dealt with in recent days.

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) has long been seeking the right to stage an incursion into northern Iraq to eliminate the PKK presence there with Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt publicly asking the government for approval last month to launch such a military operation.

The government’s response to this call has been heard directly from the prime minister, who said the government would back the military if the generals seek to stage such an incursion to fight the PKK…

“We would do whatever is necessary for the peace and happiness of our country. It is out of the question for us to fall into a disagreement with our security forces and soldiers on this issue,” Erdoğan told private ATV when asked what his government would do if the military sought permission to stage a cross-border operation.

“When necessary, this step would be taken, there would be no delay,” Erdoğan said. Although it was not yet clear whether the military has formally relayed its demand to the government for a vote in Parliament, Foreign Ministry spokesman Levent Bilman on Thursday told reporters that he had no knowledge concerning the drawing up of a government motion. Bilman’s expla-nation came when asked at a weekly press briefing whether Turkey might stage a military incursion into northern Iraq without having Parliament’s approval and whether there has been any preparation at ministry head-quarters for a government motion.

The question is not whether such an operation would be morally right: it’s completely defendable. Iraq’s government has the responsibility to remove the threat the PKK poses to Turkey. Turkish soldiers die on a daily basis. Yesterday, the PKK killed six Turkish soldiers in southeastern Anatolia.

We do have to wonder what the impact of a Turkish military operation against the PKK on Northern Iraq and Iraq as a whole will be. There are, essentially, two possible scenarios: the Kurds will understand why Turkey attacks and will accept it. The second scenario: the Kurds will not find it acceptable, they will support the PKK and will attack Turkish forces wherever and whenever possible / give money to the PKK to do so. In the latter scenario, northern Iraq will destabalize. At this moment, ‘Kurdistan’ is Iraq’s most stable region. If Turkey attacks, it is very well possible that Kurdistan will, like the rest of Iraq, become a mess.

The terrorist attack in Ankara was, indeed, caused by a suicide bomber: 28-year-old Güven Akkuş, of Sivas. Akkuş “had spent two years in prison for hanging illegal posters for the Communist Workers Party, but he became affiliated with the PKK in prison.”

Governor of Ankara Kemal Önal said: “”The type of explosives and equipment employed is similar to those used by the separatist group.”

Today’s Zaman also has more information up about the victims. One of them: “Muzaffer Savaş, who died in Tuesday’s bombing in Ankara, was going to get married this week. Twenty-four-year old Savaş, at the time of bombing was looking for a tuxedo for himself. His friends and relatives, who recently received his wedding invitation, were shocked by the news of his death.”

Turkish Daily News adds that “Turkish Police captured two people yesterday, a day after a powerful bomb killed six in Ankara. In the raid that took place in the Southern city of Adana the police seized 11.3 kilograms of A-4 explosives, a detonation device and two hand-grenades.” The woman has been identified by Adana Governor İlhan Atış as a “suicide bomber.”

As a result of the bombing and of the arrests, “Turkey’s top anti-terror board convened yesterday under the leadership of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül early in the morning to review possible measures to prevent new attacks. The Turkish Daily News learned that the police and gendarmerie units will tighten security measures in the cities, airports, bus terminals, metro and train stations. The National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the police will conduct detailed investigations to find out the organizers of this attack.”

Meanwhile, Amnesty International, with seemingly too much time on its hands, compared “the ban imposed on women in Turkey and France for wearing headscarves in public places to the obligations imposed on women in Iran and Saudi Arabia for putting on a veil.” Amnesty:

The state has the obligation to safeguard a woman’s freedom of choice, not restrict it. To take an example, the veil and headscarf of Muslim women have become a bone of contention between different cultures, the visible symbol of oppression according to one side, and an essential attribute of religious freedom according to the other. It is wrong for women in Saudi Arabia or Iran to be compelled to put on the veil. It is equally wrong for women or girls in Turkey or France to be forbidden by law to wear the headscarf. And it is foolish of Western leaders to claim that a piece of clothing is a major barrier to social harmony,” Kahn said in strongly worded remarks.

It’s called laicism. Is AI now saying that laicism is in breach with human rights? It has nothing to do with choice in these women’s private lives, it’s about what they are allowed to wear in public buildings. Besides, Amnesty’s approach might work very well in a situation in which the headscarf is not used, and even a sign of, the oppression of women, but sadly reality shows that it is the family of the woman who demands of her to wear a headscarf.

The headscarf is, among other things, a sign that one considers women to be less than men. I thought that AI would encourage equality instead of oppression.

A Kurdish singer, Zulfu Kizildemir aka Xemgin Birhat, might face five years in prison for “performing a song that praises imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan.” Ocalan is, of course, the leader of the PKK. Ocalan is, of course, quite simply a terrorist. His men have killed tens of thousands of Turks. As TDN points out, “Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in Turkey and are denied rights granted to other minority groups,” but that’s not an excuse for terrorism.

Lastly, Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan slammed the opposition in a speech yesterday. He said that “the existence of sound and active political opposition was crucial to the preservation of democracy in any country and said that being in opposition was not tantamount to trampling underfoot the lines of legitimacy, casting a shadow over democracy or ignoring universal values.”

He also “harshly criticized President Ahmet Necdet Sezer for abusing the legal period of 15-days granted to make a decision on a draft send from Parliament. Erdoğan said the president, who is supposed to either veto or ratify a new law enabling the president to be elected by a referendum, was purposefully trying to delay the Parliament’s willingness to refer the presidential elections to the people.”

It was indeed a suicide bomber. Furthermore: “A security source, who declined to be named, told Reuters all eyes were on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) - which is waging an armed struggle against the Turkish state for greater Kurdish rights - saying the bombing bore the hallmarks of the outlawed guerrilla movement.”

The question is: when will the Turkish government finally, and decisively, act? If I were Turkish, I would be calling on my government to act ASAP. There are several PKK training camps in Northern Iraq: they have to be destroyed. Turkey has warned the Iraqi government and the US on several occasions: seemingly, both countries don’t care.

Today’s Zaman has more:

In addition to Erdoğan, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt and force commanders also rushed to the scene of explosion.

“Who feeds terrorist groups? Who’s behind them? That’s what we need to look at,” said Büyükanıt to reporters. He also said further attacks in big cities could take place.

Büyükanıt has recently accused Iraqi Kurds of supporting the PKK and called for an operation in northern Iraq to eliminate the PKK bases there. The United States opposes Turkish military action in Iraq, fearing it would complicate US efforts to restore stability there.

It can’t be long before Turkey acts… especially considering that Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt might have been the actual target of the bombing:

Newspapers speculated on Wednesday that Büyükanıt could be the target of the attack. Büyükanıt, along with a number of foreign chiefs of staff and defense ministers, were scheduled to pass through the scene of explosion at 19:45, about an hour after the blast took place, on their way to the reception.

Andrew Sullivan highlights two e-mails of readers of his blog The Daily Dish. The, in my opinion, best comment:

While these secular demonstrations in Turkey are impressive - at the very least the sheer number of people who showed up surely is - I have at least one serious contenion with the way you interpret this mass outpouring of democratic sentiment: You said that Turkey is, among other things, “critical for maintaining the survival of Kurdistan” - well, right you are, but why in the world would you think that these demonstrations against Islamist tendencies in Turkey’s political class bode well for the Kurds?

Turkish secularism has since the time of Ataturk always been strongly linked to Turkish nationalism. Therefore a resurgence of the secularist in Turkey is really no indicator at all for how the Turks and the Kurds relate to one another - it could improve the situation, but it might just as well make it worse.

I agree completely. Kemalists are no friends of Kurdistan. Nationalism is an important ingredient of Kemalism: without nationalism there is no Kemalism. Islamists and Kurdish nationalists / separatists are enemies of Kemalists. Kemalists often advocate an aggressive anti-PKK policy. Those calling on the Turkish government to act, to possibly invade northern Iraq even, are very often Kemalists. One must never forget that the army is a Kemalist bullwark. That same army indicated not too long ago that it wants to invade Northern Iraq to destroy five PKK camps.

The beautiful coastal city of Izmir, Turkey, has been hit by a terrorist attack earlier today. A bycycle bomb exploded on a market, injuring 15 people. As far as I know, so far, no one has been reported dead, thank God.

What group is responsible for the attack is, as of yet, unknown. “The blast came a day before a planned anti-government rally in Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city, amid rising political tensions ahead of a July general election.” Perhaps that this has something to do with it. Of course, it could also be the PKK / Kurdish organization.

Izmir is one of the most secular Turkish cities: organizers say that the protest could “draw up to two million people opposed to the Islamist-rooted government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.”

I have something personal with Izmir, so this blast worries me tremendously. Izmir is one of the most beautiful cities of Turkey: at the coast, surrounded by mountains / hills. It was occupied by the Greec right after the second World War, after which it was liberated by Atatürk(’s forces).

UPDATE
One of the 15 has passed away. 14 injured, 1 dead. May God bless that person.

As I understand it, people think that the PKK is behind the attack. If true, this could increase the call on the government to do something / to invade / attack northern Iraq.

Pajamas Media has a fascinating article up:

Is Iran behind most of the world’s terrorism, including the Iraqi insurgency?

The Islamic Republic tries to hide its involvement with “layers and layers of intermediaries,” the head of a special Kurdish counter-terrorism service told PJM’s Richard Miniter. While this might fool the CIA, the Kurds are not misled.

So far the intro. Now to Miniter’s article. About the person he interviewed:

When I first see Osman Ali Mustafa, he is sitting on a small plastic chair in the watch office of an Iraqi police station with his hands cuffed behind his back. He is wearing tan Lee Rider corduroys and a purple shirt with a cigarette-pack bulge in the pocket. Sullen and unshaved and 21, he is trying to look tough. He doesn’t need to. He was an Iranian intelligence operative recruited to spy on American bases and murder an Iraqi police chief with 26.4 pounds of TNT.

His story, which he tells through a Kurdish translator I brought along, takes us inside the secret world of the Iraqi insurgency. It does not fit what we think we know about the enemy in Iraq. It is not a saga of religious zealotry.

Mustafa smirks when he tells me he is a “secularist” who does not pray and boasts about enjoying whiskey, drugs and prostitutes. He is a Sunni who does not mind working for Shia, provided the pay is good. And far from being a patriot, he betrayed his country to work for Iran. Finally, his story shows that the terrorists are not supermen who are able to walk like ghosts through layers of security. At the street-level they are petty criminals who can be caught. What makes Mustafa’s story important is that it reveals the human side of the insurgency. It’s a tale of dirty cops, rivalry, revenge, recruitment and control that climaxes in a fireball in Halabja, Iraq in June 2005.

He went through different stages in his life: he worked for the department of security where he got fired because he refused to take orders and because he was always late for work, and then…

His story was soon the talk of the neighborhood. One night, about a month later, Jamal Hama Sayed, a Kurd working in Iran stopped by Mustafa’s house. They had never met before. Sayed explained that he had friends in al Qaeda and was ordered “by Teheran” to pass on a phone number to Mustafa. “Call and introduce yourself,” he said. “They may have a job for you.”

Broke and without prospects, the offer seemed appealing. Soon after Sayed left, Osman tried the number in Iran. No answer. That night, he tried again. A man answered, introducing himself as Ali Mujihed. In other words, “Ali the holy warrior.”

If you want to know his entire story, go read Miniter’s article, I guarantee it is a great read.

Of course there is more to this story than the life one man: a Kurd who betrayed his country Iraq and, yes, the Kurdish people. The other part of this story is Iran’s involvement in Iraq: the way Iran sponsors terrorism. If Mustafa would started working for Iran, he would be well paid and he would be untouchable (in Iran). Mustafa, angry at his own country / the policy, agreed. Once he started working for Iran he found out more about Iranian activity in Iraq:“I was told that Ansar al Islam members met with [Iranian] Brigadier [General] Qasim Sulemani,” a high ranking member of Iran’s Quds Force, on April 4, 2005, Mustafa said. “The meeting was in Kermanshah, at the head office” of Iran’s intelligence service there. He said that the Itilaat service also briefed him on upcoming missions of the al Qaeda-linked terror group. Iran often has advance knowledge of these attacks and helps fund and plan them, he said.’

First Mustafa was asked to collect intelligence. Later the Iranians told him that certain intelligence would be used to assassinate someone. Again late the Iranians asked Mustafa to kill someone for them.

He was paid $400 per month. If he would carry out missions inside Iraq, he would receive bonuses: up to $1500.

About Iran’s role in Iraq and Iran’s role in terrorism, Serkawt Hassan, the Director of Security for the Sullimani governorate, said: “Iran is the top in terror in all the world. If you want peace in all of the world, you change the authority in Iran.”

He appears to be right, better said, I have little doubt about it. Iran is sponsoring Hezbollah in Lebanon, terrorists in Iraq, Hamas in Palestine… Iran is sponsoring terrorism wherever it can.

I link to the best original reporter of the blogosphere, Michael J. Totten, quite often. He publishes some great posts about Iran, Lebanon, the Middle East in general. He knows what he is talking about: I am sitting comfortably at home in the Netherlands, he’s traveling to some of the most chaotic, albeit interesting places of the world. If you don’t pay a regular visit to his blog, do so from now on. Seriously: he reports, where the MSM dare not go (well, that’s overdoing it a bit, but you get my drift).

Today he has a great post up about the Iraqi policy in Kirkuk:

Kirkuk, like Baghdad, is one of the most dangerous places in the world. Car bombs, suicide attacks, shootings, and massacres erupt somewhere in the city every day. It is ethnically divided between Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmens, and is a lightning rod for foreign powers (namely Turkey at this time) that interfere in the city’s politics in the hopes of staving off an ethnic unraveling of their own.

The city’s terrorists are mostly Baathists, not Islamists, and their racist ideology casts Kurds and Turkmens as enemies. They’re boxed in on all sides, though, and have a hard time operating outside their own neighborhoods. In their impotent rage they murder fellow Arabs by the dozens and hundreds. They have, in effect, strapped suicide belts around their entire community while the Kurds and Turkmens shudder and fight to keep the Baath in its box.

Kurdish and Turkmen neighborhoods are safer than the Arab quarter, but the city is out of control. Car bombs can and do explode anywhere at any time.

I spent the day with Peshmerga General “Mam” (Uncle) Rostam and Kirkuk’s Chief of Police Major Sherzad at a house Mam Rostam uses a base in an old Arab neighborhood that now belongs to the Kurds. Just after lunch Major Sherzad’s walkie-talkie began urgently squawking.

Want to know what his day was like? Go and read it at Michaeltotten.com.

To Michael Totten: if you guys need the help of a Dutch blogger, contact me. If you take care of the financial aspects, I will take care of the “Dutch blogger” part…

Heh.

The US reportedly told Kurdish leader Barzani to drop the attitude and to do something about the PKK problem.

Washington has warned Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani over his provocative remarks that have further strained relations between Ankara and Iraqi Kurds, a senior US diplomat said on Friday following his talks with Turkish officials.

Almost two weeks after Ankara delivered a diplomatic note of protest to the central government in Baghdad over the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, US Ambassador David M. Satterfield, a senior advisor to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the US State Department’s coordinator for Iraq, was in Ankara for a brief one-day visit during which he held talks with Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ambassador Ertuğrul Apakan and Ambassador Oğuz Çelikkol, Turkey’s special envoy to Iraq, as well as with Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Ergin Saygun.

No official statements were released following his talks, yet Satterfield delivered messages for the Turkish public opinion in a brief interview with the CNN-Türk news channel following his talks.

“We told Barzani clearly that his remarks were not constructive,” Satterfield said in remarks translated into Turkish. He was referring to Barzani’s statement in which the Kurdish leader suggested that Iraqi Kurds would interfere in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish Southeast if Turkey meddled in Iraq’s affairs.

This is quite a, morally, simple case: the Turks are right, the Kurds are wrong. Politically, however, it’s incredibly complicated. The US cannot choose the side of the Kurds (Turkey is a NATO ally) but can also not afford to lose the support of the Kurdish people by publicly support Turkey if Turkey decides to act.

The solution? Put pressure on Barzani to do something about the PKK and make it clear to the Kurdish people that, by supporting the PKK, they are causing a lot of problems for themselves and that, if Turkey acts, the US cannot do anything against it.

The best original reporter in the blogosphere, Michael J. Totten, spent a day in Kirkuk, with ‘Member of Parliament and Peshmerga General “Mam” Rostam, Kirkuk’s Chief of Police Major Sherzad, [his] colleague Patrick Lasswell, and [their] driver Hamid Shkak.’ As always with Michael, a fascinating read.

The intro:

“If Turkey allows itself to interfere in the matter of Kirkuk, we will do the same…in Turkey.” – Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani.

Just south of the Kurdish autonomous region in Iraq’s northernmost provinces lies the violence-stricken city of Kirkuk, the bleeding edge of Iraq’s “greater” Kurdistan, and the upper-most limit of the asymmetric battleground known as the Red Zone. Kirkuk is claimed and counterclaimed by Iraq’s warring factions and is a lightning rod for foreign powers – namely Turkey — that fear a violent ethnic unraveling of their own that could be triggered by any change in Kirkuk’s convulsive status quo.

Read more at Michael J. Totten.com.

A fascinating column by Omer Taspinear for Today’s Zaman about anti-Americanism in Turkey. As readers of this blog know, I believe that Americans should spend more time reading what foreigners write about the U.S., how foreigners perceive the U.S. etc.

This column is fascinating to me, because it (also) provides some valuable insight into Turkey - a country with a more than merely interesting culture and history.

Anyway, understanding Turkish anti-Americanism:

Last week was not a good one for Turkish-American relations. The speech of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer in which he complained about foreign forces promoting a “moderate Islam” in Turkey was a case in point. Similarly Chief of General Staff Gen. Büyükanit’s speech reflected how deep the problems between Washington and Ankara have become. Any attempt to understand the current wave of anti-Americanism in Turkey must acknowledge that the US is now on the wrong side of the Kemalist debate in Turkey by supporting the idea of Turkey serving as a “model” for the Islamic world and by relying on the Kurds in Iraq. The US promoting a “moderate Islam” alarms Turkish secularists. Although Washington has now erased “model” from its Turkish political vocabulary — replacing it with creative formulas like “source of inspiration” — the damage is already done and there to stay, as we witnessed in Sezer’s speech.

But this is not all. In addition to problems with secularism and Islam with the United States, there is also the Kurdish predicament. This is much trickier to solve because of America’s strong partnership with the Kurds in Iraq, the new Iraqi Constitution’s loose federalism, the status of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and the Pentagon’s reluctance to take action against PKK terrorists in northern Iraq. All these factors rattle the Kemalist guardians in the Turkish military. Once again, Gen. Buyukanit’s speech made these points abundantly clear last week…

Today, more than anything else, Turkey’s frustration with America is focused on the Kurdish issue. The developments in Iraq over the past four years have put the United States in an extremely negative light in the eyes of Turkish public opinion. Conspiracy theories about Washington’s willingness to create a Kurdish state are commonplace. Moreover, what makes the Kurdish issue particularly relevant is that it strongly affects Turkey’s perception of the European Union as well. After all, it is Brussels and not Washington that demands Ankara accept the Kurds as a national minority with distinct cultural and linguistic rights. In that sense, Turkey’s anti-Americanism often overlaps with anti-EU feelings as well. In short, we are on a very bumpy ride in our relations with Washington. This is not only because of American policies but also due to our deeply rooted identity problems with Kurdish nationalism and political Islam.

Read the whole thing at Today’s Zaman: it is so interesting and reasonably short that I almost published the entire column here, but… than we run into copyright problems and all that…

I have spent several posts on Turkey, the PKK and Iraq now, constantly repeating my hope that Turkey won’t invade Iraq just yet because doing so could bring about chaos in Iraq’s most peaceful and stable region.

Well… things have gotten worse: The Turkish army has asked the Turkish government permission to carry out attacks against PKK camps in Northern Iraq.Cernig comments that this will put the U.S. in an incredibly difficult position: the U.S. cannot afford to lose the support of the Kurds, but it can also not oppose NATO ally Turkey.

Lets hope that the Turkish government will say no… although, it has to be said, the army has a lot of influence and power in Turkey. If it truly wants to attack, it will get permission.

This is very bad news.

And things keep on getting worse: Turkey is considering military options against the PKK in northern Iraq.

Turkey on Tuesday reviewed a military option against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists’ camps located in northern Iraq, after a recent threat by Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani as well as the killing of 10 soldiers in three days.

Turkey’s top security board, National Security Council (MGK), convened yesterday and discussed further measures to stop terrorists infiltrating from the Iraqi border, after an ultimatum sent to Iraq by the Foreign Ministry on Monday regarding cracking down on the PKK camps in Iraqi territories. There are five terrorist camps inside Iraqi territories alongside the Turkish border, sheltering around 4,500 terrorists. The United States, Iraq and European Union strongly oppose Turkey’s possible cross-border operation into northern Iraq, arguing that the region could be further destabilized.

Turkish Daily News quotes a high level Turkish official as saying: “Turkey has no intention of violating international rules but the recent threats by Barzani and the PKK have limited our alternatives.”

Turkey’s government warned Iraq last Monday: “We have already asked Iraq to take the necessary steps in order to not let its territory be used by terrorists against Turkey. If Iraq is not able to do so, it is Turkey’s right, based on international law, to protect its borders.”

Iraqi president Talibani told Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan: “We place a great deal of importance on our relationship with Turkey. We want to have good relations, and we’re striving to achieve this.”

In that case, the Iraqi government has to do everything in its power to fight the PKK. The problem, of course, is that the Iraqi government might not be able to do so, so it needs the help of others, like the U.S., and the Kurds living in Northern Iraq.

This problem has to be taken seriously. Iraq, the Kurds and the U.S. cannot afford Turkey to go in and destroy those camps. It will destabalize Iraq’s most stable region.

On the other hand, who can blame Turkey for going in if nobody does anything? The PKK has killed 10 Turkish soldiers in the last three days. No country - except for Britain* - would accept that. If a terrorist organization had training camps in Germany and would kill Dutch soldiers, and citizens, on a regular basis, I would be calling on my government to do something as well. Something, anything(the consequences be damned).

* just a joke people

The Kurds have created something like a little paradise for themselves in northern Iraq. Michael J. Totten traveled to the region. In short: they’ve got something great going. The rest of Iraq is chaotic, Kurdistan is, mostly, developing at rapid speed.

However, there is a problem: “Massoud Barzani, the head of autonomous northern Iraq” threatened Turkey, in an interview with Al Arabiyah TV last Saturday, “not to interfere in Kirkuk.” He said: “There are 30 million Kurds in Turkey and we don’t interfere there. If they [the Turks] interfere in Kirkuk over just thousands of Turkmen then we will take action for the 30 million Kurds in Turkey.”

Oops.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan responded by warning Barzani “against provoking Turkey’s Kurdish-majority in the Southeast”. He said: “The cost for them will be heavy.” More:

Erdogan stressed that the Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq are making “a serious mistake” and warned them by saying, “A northern Iraq which neighbors Turkey is gravely wrong in the way it is currently acting and this could result in a very heavy cost for them afterwards.” Barzani has “overstepped the line,” he said, adding, “I advise them not to say words they cannot live up to and to know their place because they could be later crushed under those words.”

The irony of the situation is that Erdogan is privately probably thanking Barzani: this might help Erdogan, as far as I can tell, in the elections this year. A hardline approach is, of course, quite popular among the Turkish population.

For now, Turkey is keeping all options open, albeit especially sanctions:

Asked about Turkey’s reply to Barzani, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül was quoted as saying, “You’ll see what we’ll do.” One of the possible sanctions that Turkey can take is closing Habur border gate, which is the main way for Iraqi Kurds to reach outside markets. Turkish Foreign Ministry officials say there are against closing the border saying, “That would hurt not only Kurds but Turks.” Turkish investors are showing great interest in doing business in northern Iraq in recent years.

Turkey’s trade minister Kürşad Tüzmen, when asked about closing Habur, said that “Turkey will take the necessary measures when the right time comes.” Another possible sanction is to block official state institutions to invest in northern Iraq. Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) is already talking to his Iraqi counterpart for conducting joint projects in northern Iraq. Turkey’s and Iraqi energy ministers gathered last month in Istanbul to explore what can be done together in the field of energy.

The U.S. and Europe’d better try to calm down the situation before it runs completely out of hand. There is a lot of resentment here from both sides.

For those interested: the website of Barzani’s party, the Kurdish Democratic Party is here.

A good article at the Washington Times about the PKK, the Iraqi government, Turkey, the war in Iraq and America. In short: it’s a complicated situation - the Kurds have already killed approximately 30,000 Turkish soldiers, diplomats and, yes, civilians.

More and more Turks are demanding action. How would Americans react if a Mexican terrorist organization crossed the border regularly and killed 30,000 Americans since 1990?

Exactly.

Obviously, a Turkish invasion of northern Iraq would create tremendous problems: it might cause a war between Turkey and Iraq, it will, most definitely, destabalize Iraq’s most stable (and peaceful) region, it will create an immense difficult situation for America, that’s forced to support both Turkey (NATO) and Iraq, in short: potential chaos.

Doing something against the PKK is of the utmost importance, especially considering the fact that the Turkish elections are approaching.

Simon Tisdall reports for the Guardian that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the U.S. to keep Turkey from invading Northern Iraq.

Ankara fears that Kurdish terrorists are planning attacks against Turkey. Not just ‘preparing’ of course, members of the PKK are fighting against Turkey already - they have turned the Qandil mountains, on the Iraq-Iran-Turkey border, into a true safe haven for themselves.

As Simon notes, a Turkish invasion of Northern Iraq would be “disastrous”: it would “derail the Baghdad security surge and open up a third front in the battle to save Iraq from disintegration.” That is why “senior Bush administration officials have assured Turkey in recent days that US forces will increase efforts to root out Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) guerrillas” hiding in the before mentioned Qandil mountains.

Kurdish terrorists have, thus far, killed 30 000 Turks, according to Turkish statistics at least.

Abdullah Gul, Turkey’s foreign minister said: “We will do what we have to do, we will do what is necessary. Nothing is ruled out. I have said to the Americans many times: suppose there is a terrorist organisation in Mexico attacking America. What would you do?… We are hopeful. We have high expectations. But we cannot just wait forever.”

He is completely right about that. A Turkish invasion would be quite disastrous of course, so the U.S. should try to prevent it against just about all cost, but, from a Turkish perspective, not doing anything against the Kurdish terrorist organization the PKK, isn’t exactly an option. No country in the world would sit idly by.

The Kurdish authorities should work with the U.S. (and Turkey): a Turkish invasion of North iraq would be a disaster for the Kurds themselves as well. The Kurds have created a little paradise in Northern Iraq, I hope for them that they’re not so foolish as to let the PKK be responsible for turning their own little paradise into (a) hell.