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Arabisto.com, FL
Oct 28 2007
Calamity in Turkey: A Hot Bed Over PKK Incursion and Armenian
Genocide Resolution
Beatrice Vanni
October 28, 2007 09:26 AM
It has now been a hot bed of activity for two weeks in Turkey with
the military already bombing their Iraqi borders and panting for an
incursion into northern Iraq to banish the PKK. Add to it the
Armenian Genocide resolution hanging in the balance of the U.S. House
and Turkey emerges in yet another controversy.
Tumultuous times reared its head again in Turkey over these two
issues and the masses repeatedly took to the streets demonstrating
their resolve to annihilate
the PKK and curse America for not getting on board with it. Add
insult to injury over the Armenian Genocide Resolution 106 and we
have a hornet's nest brewing in the bowels of Turkey.
While the PKK ranks high on the agenda at the present time for
Turkish, Iraqi and American governments to work together, the
Armenian Genocide issue simmers on the back burner especially since
Bush has been emphatically against its passage.
Where is Turkey headed and what results are on the horizon? Is it the
time to go into Iraqi territory with guns blazing? It is, afterall,
the only area in Iraq that has been somewhat quiet through all this
time.
Clearly, Turkey bears the right to go after a terrorist organization
which boldly takes lives on their sovereign soil and killing over
30,000 of their citizens since the early eighties. Throughout this
same time, whole villages were cleared out overnight and many times
razed to the ground, many lost their jobs and families no longer
whole. We see in Istanbul today the remains of those families who
still live on the streets while the Turkish government tries to
repatriate them to their own villages.
>From 1999 to about 2002, the PKK underwent some changes to a more
peaceful stance and all but disappeared for a couple years prior to
the Iraq War. During that same time, tourism began blossoming in
earnest in the east after many years of struggle, only to be eclipsed
by the quagmire next door. Additionally, in recent years, the AK
government began investing in the people of the eastern side and
development proved fruitful.
Unfortunately for Turkey, the PKK resurrected itself this time
stronger than before and not just affecting eastern Turkey but many
other areas as well with bombings and revenge against Turkish
soldiers and citizens alike.
Conversely, Turkey does not remain totally innocent in this Kurdish
fight for its own state. The Turkish Kurds mostly live in the
under-developed eastern part of the country where, traditionally,
little investment occurred to build the infrastructure to support
education, decent job opportunities and reasonable wages. One can
still easily see remnants of the PKK impact with no schools in the
villages for children to attend, poor sewage systems to support
indoor plumbing, minimal electricity and even communal ovens for
cooking.
To face rising terror in this region once again and spilling over
into other parts of Turkey, the government is hard-pressed not to
respond with determination and force. Expecting their allies to
support their request for incursion into northern Iraq, Turkey treads
a fine line. Without Iraqi and American approval, Turkey risks
escalation not only with the PKK, but also spawning unrest where none
existed in this Kurdish border area of Iraq, and force coalition
troops to stand at the ready.
On the other hand, while it may now be America's duty to fight the
PKK because it affects another part of Iraq and their Turkish ally,
the PKK never have fought alongside the insurgents, Al Qaeda and
other militants in Iraq. Thus, the PKK mattered little in the fight
to get Iraq under control, and it was only right for the Iraqi
government to focus on the factions hell-bent on creating strife
instead of going into predominantly peaceful areas and stirring up
the pot.
It's understood that the escalation by the PKK ups the ante for the
Turks; although, it begs an answer to how Iraq can avoid additional
jeopardy of losing what calm has been achieved there, and the issue
of the lack of American troops to support such a deployment to a
peaceful area.
So the dilemma returns to Turkey's back now. Will going into Iraq
finally stop the PKK? If so, go but do so at great risk to relations
with others. Will going against the wishes of the Iraqis and
Americans create more of a quagmire not to be resolved for years?
Possibly, because it can bring the PKK into the middle of something
they don't want to be a part of, and at the same time, bring the Iraq
War onto Turkish land.
A joint Turkish-American operation against the PKK in northern Iraq
bears credulity; however, if the Turks go into Iraq of their own
volition, what keeps the likes of Iran or Syria wanting to play their
hand to solve their own Kurdish issues? Moreover, should America
participate in this venture cutting food, electricity and
construction to a growing region at the risk of inflaming instead of
defusing an already tenuous situation? Could it force the PKK to
marry other factions unknown to be their pals in the past?
While many questions cannot yet be answered, the Turkish government
and her people must act with discretion and patience to combat the
PKK and at the same time agree with their allies on the best solution
to follow. While Turkey cannot afford to risk their reputation on the
world platform, America must not abandon Turkey who has been the best
of allies for 50 years.
http://www.arabisto.com/p_blogEntry.cfm?blogEntr yID=872
Oct 28 2007
Calamity in Turkey: A Hot Bed Over PKK Incursion and Armenian
Genocide Resolution
Beatrice Vanni
October 28, 2007 09:26 AM
It has now been a hot bed of activity for two weeks in Turkey with
the military already bombing their Iraqi borders and panting for an
incursion into northern Iraq to banish the PKK. Add to it the
Armenian Genocide resolution hanging in the balance of the U.S. House
and Turkey emerges in yet another controversy.
Tumultuous times reared its head again in Turkey over these two
issues and the masses repeatedly took to the streets demonstrating
their resolve to annihilate
the PKK and curse America for not getting on board with it. Add
insult to injury over the Armenian Genocide Resolution 106 and we
have a hornet's nest brewing in the bowels of Turkey.
While the PKK ranks high on the agenda at the present time for
Turkish, Iraqi and American governments to work together, the
Armenian Genocide issue simmers on the back burner especially since
Bush has been emphatically against its passage.
Where is Turkey headed and what results are on the horizon? Is it the
time to go into Iraqi territory with guns blazing? It is, afterall,
the only area in Iraq that has been somewhat quiet through all this
time.
Clearly, Turkey bears the right to go after a terrorist organization
which boldly takes lives on their sovereign soil and killing over
30,000 of their citizens since the early eighties. Throughout this
same time, whole villages were cleared out overnight and many times
razed to the ground, many lost their jobs and families no longer
whole. We see in Istanbul today the remains of those families who
still live on the streets while the Turkish government tries to
repatriate them to their own villages.
>From 1999 to about 2002, the PKK underwent some changes to a more
peaceful stance and all but disappeared for a couple years prior to
the Iraq War. During that same time, tourism began blossoming in
earnest in the east after many years of struggle, only to be eclipsed
by the quagmire next door. Additionally, in recent years, the AK
government began investing in the people of the eastern side and
development proved fruitful.
Unfortunately for Turkey, the PKK resurrected itself this time
stronger than before and not just affecting eastern Turkey but many
other areas as well with bombings and revenge against Turkish
soldiers and citizens alike.
Conversely, Turkey does not remain totally innocent in this Kurdish
fight for its own state. The Turkish Kurds mostly live in the
under-developed eastern part of the country where, traditionally,
little investment occurred to build the infrastructure to support
education, decent job opportunities and reasonable wages. One can
still easily see remnants of the PKK impact with no schools in the
villages for children to attend, poor sewage systems to support
indoor plumbing, minimal electricity and even communal ovens for
cooking.
To face rising terror in this region once again and spilling over
into other parts of Turkey, the government is hard-pressed not to
respond with determination and force. Expecting their allies to
support their request for incursion into northern Iraq, Turkey treads
a fine line. Without Iraqi and American approval, Turkey risks
escalation not only with the PKK, but also spawning unrest where none
existed in this Kurdish border area of Iraq, and force coalition
troops to stand at the ready.
On the other hand, while it may now be America's duty to fight the
PKK because it affects another part of Iraq and their Turkish ally,
the PKK never have fought alongside the insurgents, Al Qaeda and
other militants in Iraq. Thus, the PKK mattered little in the fight
to get Iraq under control, and it was only right for the Iraqi
government to focus on the factions hell-bent on creating strife
instead of going into predominantly peaceful areas and stirring up
the pot.
It's understood that the escalation by the PKK ups the ante for the
Turks; although, it begs an answer to how Iraq can avoid additional
jeopardy of losing what calm has been achieved there, and the issue
of the lack of American troops to support such a deployment to a
peaceful area.
So the dilemma returns to Turkey's back now. Will going into Iraq
finally stop the PKK? If so, go but do so at great risk to relations
with others. Will going against the wishes of the Iraqis and
Americans create more of a quagmire not to be resolved for years?
Possibly, because it can bring the PKK into the middle of something
they don't want to be a part of, and at the same time, bring the Iraq
War onto Turkish land.
A joint Turkish-American operation against the PKK in northern Iraq
bears credulity; however, if the Turks go into Iraq of their own
volition, what keeps the likes of Iran or Syria wanting to play their
hand to solve their own Kurdish issues? Moreover, should America
participate in this venture cutting food, electricity and
construction to a growing region at the risk of inflaming instead of
defusing an already tenuous situation? Could it force the PKK to
marry other factions unknown to be their pals in the past?
While many questions cannot yet be answered, the Turkish government
and her people must act with discretion and patience to combat the
PKK and at the same time agree with their allies on the best solution
to follow. While Turkey cannot afford to risk their reputation on the
world platform, America must not abandon Turkey who has been the best
of allies for 50 years.
http://www.arabisto.com/p_blogEntry.cfm?blogEntr yID=872