Turkey’s Kurdish Problem and its Impact on Northern Iraq
Garbis Altinoglu, 12-13 October 2007
Updated on 14 October 2007

(These deaths followed the killing of 12 Kurdish peasants on September 29th in the same area, probably by the Turkish “security” forces.) On October 8th, two more soldiers died in mine explosions in Diyarbakir and Shirnak and three were injured. And on October 12th, one soldier was killed and two wounded as a result of a mine explosion in Shirnak.
Right after the deaths of 13 soldiers, Turkish authorities began a chauvinistic cacophony; they once again denounced “PKK terrorism” and expressed their “determination to avenge the blood of their martyrs and crush the PKK”; they also tried to whip up the basest feelings of the most backward sections of the population and once again threatened to conduct cross-border operations against PKK bases in Northern Iraq (=Southern Kurdistan). The funeral processions of the deceased soldiers, where the PKK was denounced, were transformed into scenes of reactionary mass hysteria. This campaign went hand in hand with the chauvinist agitation and provocative comments of most of the press and TV channels. The authorities and their cohorts organized demonstrations in several cities and towns, though the level of participation has not been high.
Reactions to these last deaths have once again highlighted the growth of ultra-nationalism and mainly reactionary anti-Americanism among the Turkish public especially since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. (The passage of a bill on October 10th by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives recognizing the Armenian genocide has contributed to the growth of this state of mind, further aggravated Turkish-American relations and increased the pressures for cross-border operations against PKK bases.) This mood is to a great extent encouraged and manufactured by the ruling classes themselves and especially by the military, who find themselves more and more at odds with the policies of the US, their long standing master. It is true that the bloodthirsty regime in Ankara has supported the war on Iraq (and Afghanistan), sent troops to Lebanon and has eagerly joined the imperialist “Global War on Terror” on the workers and peoples of the world; but at the same time it has been disturbed by the situation in Northern Iraq. Turkey has criticized Washington for its support of the de facto Kurdish state and especially for its seeming indifference towards presence of the PKK inside the borders of this internationally unrecognized entity. Unable to defeat PKK guerillas and unwilling to come to terms with its Kurdish population, short sighted and panicky Turkish reactionaries have been pressing US imperialists for years to act against the PKK in one way or another, as if the neutralization of PKK camps in Iraq would solve their “Kurdish problem”. Over the last couple of years several high-level meetings have been held between the two sides and Turkish authorities have systematically called on the US to take decisive action against the PKK. But all these talks and efforts have come to nothing. Determined not to antagonize the Iraqi Kurdish leadership, US imperialists have been reluctant to take steps to weaken the PKK, itself a potential ally in the struggle against the Iraqi resistance and a vehicle for pressuring Turkey and Iran (through its sister organization PJAK/ Free Life Party of Kurdistan).
Ankara has also been critical of the apathy of US invaders towards the plight of the Turkoman population of Northern Iraq and the ethnic cleansing allegedly conducted in Kirkuk by the Kurdish Regional Government led by Barzani and Talabani cliques, who consider the oil-rich province an essential part of Iraqi Kurdistan. Despite differences in their ranks over the approach to be adopted towards the Kurdish Regional Government, Turkish ruling classes in general oppose the inclusion of Kirkuk in Kurdish territory. I should also add that notwithstanding the fuss they make over the “Turkish character” of Kirkuk, Turkish ruling classes have remained entirely indifferent to the humanitarian catastrophe Turkoman people, along with other peoples of occupied Iraq, have been undergoing.
The primary concern of the Turkish military which considers itself as the “genuine master and protector of the Turkish state” and that of the main body of the Turkish ruling classes, however, is the existence and the possible international recognition of the Kurdish state in Northern Iraq; they consider such a development a step which will further embolden the “separatist” aspirations of the Kurdish population in Turkey and lead into the division of the country. This, at least, has been and is the formal position of Turkish authorities. However, as I have pointed elsewhere, the pro-US and pro-Israeli policies they have been following for years and decades have directly and indirectly assisted the destabilization of Iraq, facilitated the downfall of the BAAS regime and the establishment of the nucleus of a Kurdish state in Northern Iraq long before the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. (1) And their anti-Kurdish policies, which in recent years have culminated in provoking a dangerous confrontation between Turkish and Kurdish masses have further antagonized the almost 20 million-strong Kurdish minority in Turkey.
In recent years, long standing presence of Israeli operatives in Northern Iraq and Israel’s overt and covert support for the Kurdish Regional Government have contributed to a deterioration in the relations between Ankara and Telaviv as well. (2) This is now compounded by the “growing awareness” (!) of the Zionist lobby in the US to the question of the Armenian genocide. In August 2007, the Anti-Defamation League, the influential Jewish organization led Abraham H. Foxman changed its long-held position and for the first time described the Armenian massacre as a genocide. (3) It is obvious that the Zionists would never take this momentous step without considering its consequences, including Israel’s interests, the risk of worsening Turkish-Israeli relations, abandoning their “monopoly on suffering” and damaging the perception of the so-called uniqueness of the Holocaust.
As to the cross-border operations against the PKK bases in Iraq, there is nothing new in all this talk. Turkish authorities have been prattling over this option at least since 2005. For instance in May and June 2007 they once again had toyed with the idea. At the time a series of bomb blasts had taken place in Ankara and Istanbul. Nobody had claimed responsibility for these bombings; but Turkish authorities and reactionary press had lost no time in accusing and condemning the PKK. Then too Turkish generals had amassed tens of thousands of troops along the border with Iraq and claimed themselves to be ready to strike at PKK bases. Then too, Turkish military had tried to prepare the public opinion for an incursion into Northern Iraq, through the TV talk shows conducted with retired generals and representatives of reactionary opposition parties and through the organization of pompous funeral processions for fallen soldiers. In the end, however, the operations were suspended or rather postponed due to the opposition of the US, reluctance of the AKP (=Justice and Development Party) government and the approach of the general elections to be held on July 22nd, which resulted in a victory for the representatives of reactionary Islamic bourgeoisie.

Here I have to remind the reader of the fact that, from 1983 on Turkish forces have conducted several incursions and military operations inside Northern Iraq. Some of these incursions have proved to be full-scale campaigns involving up to 90,000 troops, armored columns, tanks, helicopters and warplanes and have lasted for months. These exercises of “hot pursuit” however, have achieved almost nothing, apart from bringing further death and destruction to Kurdish civilians and further alienating the Kurdish masses both in Turkish and Iraqi Kurdistan. Allow me to mention some relatively significant cases.

*In May 1983, 7,000 troops made an incursion into the region in response to the killing of three Turkish soldiers by PKK guerillas at Uludere. In the wake of this operation, that is on 15 October 1984, a “Security Protocol”, which would be valid until October 1988 was signed between Iraq and Turkey.

*On 25 October 1991, more than 4,000 Turkish troops entered as far as 50 kilometers inside Iraq in response to the killing of 17 Turkish soldiers by PKK guerillas. European Parliament accused both Turkey and PKK of utilizing terroristic methods.

*On 12 October 1992, the Turkish armed forces began a large-scale operation against PKK guerillas in the region. 20,000 troops were mobilized for this 35 day-long operation. The cost of this operation was estimated to be 1.5 billion US dollars, which was equivalent to 11 percent of the Turkish defense spending for the entire year.

*On 20 March 1995, about 40,000 Turkish troops, accompanied by tanks, artillery, warplanes and helicopters, began a large-scale operation against PKK guerillas in the region. The operation was conducted with the participation of 13 generals and around 2,000 officers. This operation lasted nearly two months without bringing any real victory to Turkish fascists.

*On 1 March 1996, about 50,000 Turkish troops, accompanied by tanks, artillery and warplanes began an operation against PKK forces in the region.

*On 22 July 1996, about 20,000 Turkish troops supported by elements of 300 Special Teams and 500 “Village Guards” invaded the region. Turkish warplanes, helicopters and tanks as well took part in the operation.

*On 14 May 1997, the Turkish army invaded the region with a force of more than 80,000 troops after a two month-long preparation. Apart from around 15,000 “Village Guards”, Kurdistan Democratic Party (of Massoud Barzani) units as well supported this large-scale operation. Turkish warplanes based in Diyarbakir, Batman and Malatya airfields joined the operation and bombed suspected PKK concentrations.

*On 17 September 1997, Turkish warplanes bombed Sideka province in the region. The same day, more than 90,000 Turkish troops, accompanied by “Village Guards” and PKK defectors and supported by the units of Kurdistan Democratic Party entered the region and clashed with PKK guerillas. Turkish warplanes and helicopters bombed Hakurk, Zap, Diyana, Zele, Haftanin, Kanimasi, Barzan sectors during the operation.

*On 20 May 1998, about 70,000 Turkish troops began an operation in the region with the support of units of Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Massosud Barzani. Turkish “security” forces accompanied by tanks, armored personnel carriers and helicopters clashed with PKK guerillas in various sectors.

*On 1 April 2000, about 15,000 Turkish troops began an attack on PKK guerillas in the region, despite the unilateral cease fire announced and implemented by the PKK after the capture of Abdullah Ojalan, the leader of the organization, on 15 February 1999.

*On 20 December 2000, more than 10,000 Turkish troops, accompanied by armored vehicles entered the region and positioned themselves at Suleymaniya and Rania. They joined forces with the units of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (of Jalal Talabani), who already had been fighting for some time against PKK guerillas with Turkish support.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Turkish reactionaries were almost fully supported by the US imperialists in their fight against the PKK and Kurdish people. This decisive factor is lacking in the equation now. Even before the events of 11 September 2001, the US and Israel had decided to reserve a much more significant role in their Middle East strategy to their Kurdish lackeys. The “new” American-Israeli vision which required the destabilization and if possible the dismemberment of Iraq, Syria and Iran, was thought to provide a “historical opportunity for Kurds”. PKK leadership had become aware of this “new” imperialist-Zionist approach much before the short-sighted Turkish reactionaries. Murat Karayilan, a member of the Presidential Council, had made the following statement shortly after the events of 11 September:
"It now has become clear that, the US is promoting a new concept in the wake of this event. It wants to redesign the maps in several countries and regions of the world, especially in the Middle East and Caucasia... Therefore, Kurds have to follow these new developments carefully and seize a place in the sun for themselves. This is our approach.” (Ozgür Politika, 2 October 2001)

So what can a Turkish incursion into Northern Iraq achieve now, at a time when the correlation of forces in the region has changed to a significant extent? In the past Ankara could rely comfortably on US support and the positive neutrality of Western European imperialists and Israel in committing atrocities against its “own” Kurdish subjects; it could ensure the support of the US and Iraqi BAAS regime and the neutrality and even the active support of Barzani and Talabani cliques in attacking PKK bases in Northern Iraq. Now Turkish militarists are in a more or much more disadvantagous position on all these fronts. A Turkish invasion will be denounced by the US, the EU, Russia and the Arab world. Most of these actors have already made their reaction towards a possible Turkish incursion known. None of the factions in Iraq, with the possible exception of some Turkoman groups with almost no political and military clout will support such a move. Turkey will become entirely isolated in the international arena and its quest for EU membership will receive a heavy blow.

If and when such an aggressive step is taken, Turkish troops will have to fight not only against the PKK, but also against the Kurdish fighters attached to the two main Kurdish parties (that is, Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) in Northern Iraq. This is almost absolutely certain in view of the fact that Kandil mountains, where PKK camps are said to be based, are hundreds of kilometers away from the Iraqi-Turkish border and Turkish troops will have to move through hostile and mountainous Iraqi Kurdish territory just to get there. Could Turkish generals have forgetten the fact that under much more favorable circumstances in the 1980s and 1990s they were unable to inflict significant damage on PKK forces in Iraq? Could they be so stupid as to think that they can be successful now? And could they be unaware of the fact that the main body the PKK is not based in Iraqi, but in Turkish Kurdistan?

Can such an operation, which will further complicate the situation in Iraq still take place despite apparent American opposition? If we consider the level of dependence of Turkish economy on foreign capital flow, foreign trade and tourism and Turkey’s close and deep-rooted ties to the US-NATO axis, we can surely say that, at least in the short run its ruling classes are not prepared to face and withstand the political, economic and military repercussions of such a move; especially at a time when the Middle East is in a state of turmoil and a world-wide economic recession is looming. Therefore, what we may and will see, will not go much beyond the present shelling and bombing of “PKK positions” in Iraq and the intensification of military operations against PKK forces inside Turkey. Even now, “security” forces are carrying out such operations in several provinces and the death toll may and probably will rise in the coming days and weeks. This may be supplemented by a cursory, if not a sham cross-border operation that will help to save face and will not draw the ire of the US and the EU.

There may, however, be a more logical and more sinister explanation behind the warmongering rhetoric and preparations of Turkish militarists. They all could be an integral part and extension of the already established policy of provoking further confrontation and violence between the Turkish majority and the Kurdish minority. A large-scale military incursion into Northern Iraq will inevitably lead to clashes between Turkish troops and the forces of Kurdish Regional Government and those of the PKK. Such a move cannot but exacerbate the discontent of the masses in both Turkish Kurdistan and in Turkey proper and lead to their protest actions. In these circumstances, a cross-border operation bringing about the deaths of dozens or even hundreds of Turkish soldiers and Kurdish fighters might easily raise the present tensions and events may rapidly spin out of control. One is tempted to think that American neo-fascists and Zionists may be sympathetic towards such a scenario. More than a year ago, that is, in July 2006 JINSA (=Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs), one of the most influential Jewish organizations in the US had drawn a parallel between Israel’s fight against the Hezbullah in Lebanon and Turkey’s fight against the PKK and implied the necessity of just such an operation in a report it had prepared. In this context, I’d like to mention two fresh developments which do not augur well at all. The first relates to a news item published in Haaretz on October 13th, according to which General Yasar Buyukanit, Turkish Chief of Staff was expected to visit Israel next week and talk to his Israeli counterparts about the “strategic defense relationship”between the two countries, discuss joint military maneuvers and visit several military facilities with a view for the modernization of Turkish military hardware with the help of the Zionist state etc. The second is a very brief announcement made on the website of the Turkish General Staff on October 14th to the effect that Turkish troops had come under fire from the Iraqi side of the border and had responded in kind.

Last but not least, I have to point to the impact of the festering Kurdish problem on the ongoing conflict between the military and the AKP government; the military and its political and bureucratic allies have been accusing the government, among other things for being too soft on “PKK terror”. At the basis of this conflict lies the power struggle between the traditional big bourgeoisie allied with the military and the growing Islamic middle and big bourgeoisie represented at the moment mainly by the AKP. For the last couple of years Turkish generals have been endavoring in one way or another to undermine the reactionary and pro-imperialist AKP government on the pretext of fighting against the danger of religious extremism and defense of secular and republican values. These attempts have taken the form of media manipulation, bombings, murder of prominent personalities, mass demonstrations, increase of the criminal activity of neo-fascist gangs connected with retired army officers and actual plans for military coups d’etat. As will be remembered, the general elections held on July 22nd have increased AKP’s popular support and left it at the helm of the government. The election of Abdullah Gul, former foreign minister and a founder of the AKP, as president on August 28th despite the almost open opposition of the armed forces, has further reinforced the position of the AKP government. The protracted struggle between the two factions of Turkish political reaction, however, is far from over. Escalation of the fight against the PKK into a fight against the Kurdish people and/ or a large-scale incursion into Northern Iraq leading to high casualties may prepare the ground for the declaration of martial law and the erosion of the already limited power of the AKP government. Eager to draw Turkey into their wars of aggression against the peoples and states of the Middle East and Central Asia, US imperialists and Israeli Zionists would definitely prefer a fascist military junta in Ankara to the reactionary AKP government, which is inclined to follow a more pragmatic and “balanced” foreign policy, maintain and improve its relations with the EU and the Islamic world, including Iran and Syria, without breaking Turkey’s strong ties to the US and Israel.

Only a workers’ and toilers’ revolution and a Soviet republic to be built in its aftermath can solve the Kurdish problem, meet the legitimate demands of the oppressed Kurdish people up to and including the formation of an independent Kurdish state. Only such a revolution and such a state can lay the foundations of the brotherhood of workers and peoples of various nationalities and sects in Turkey and the Middle East, deal heavy blows at imperialists, Zionists and reactionary cliques and help to transform the imperialist-Zionist war of aggression into a war for national and social liberation.



NOTES
1) A Kurdish “safe haven” was established in Northern Iraq after the 1991 war and American, British and French warplanes enforcing a no-fly zone in the region operated from the notorious Injirlik airbase in Southern Turkey right to the end of 2002.
2) In an article (“As June 30th approaches, Israel looks to the Kurds”) issued 0n 28 June 2004, Seymour M. Hersh had provided the following perspective:
“However, a senior CIA official acknowledged in an interview last week that the Israelis were indeed operating in Kurdistan… The CIA official added that the Israeli presence was widely known in the American intelligence community.
“The Israeli decision to seek a bigger foothold in Kurdistan—characterized by the former Israeli intelligence officer as ‘Plan B’—has also raised tensions between Israel and Turkey. It has provoked bitter statements from Turkish politicians and, in a major regional shift, a new alliance among Iran, Syria, and Turkey, all of which have significant Kurdish minorities. In early June, Intel Brief, a privately circulated intelligence newsletter produced by Vincent Cannistraro, a retired CIA counterterrorism chief, and Philip Giraldi, who served as the CIA’s deputy chief of base in Istanbul in the late nineteen-eighties, said:
“ ‘Turkish sources confidentially report that the Turks are increasingly concerned by the expanding Israeli presence in Kurdistan and alleged encouragement of Kurdish ambitions to create an independent state. . . . The Turks note that the large Israeli intelligence operations in Northern Iraq incorporate anti-Syrian and anti-Iranian activity, including support to Iranian and Syrian Kurds who are in opposition to their respective governments.’ ”
3) On August 21st, the ADL made the following statement:
“In light of the heated controversy that has surrounded the Turkish-Armenian issue in recent weeks, and because of our concern for the unity of the Jewish community at a time of increased threats against the Jewish people, ADL has decided to revisit the tragedy that befell the Armenians.
“We have never negated but have always described the painful events of 1915-1918 perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenians as massacres and atrocities. On reflection, we have come to share the view of Henry Morgenthau, Sr. that the consequences of those actions were indeed tantamount to genocide. If the word genocide had existed then, they would have called it genocide.”