Freedom4Kurdistan

Kurdish Ministers Woo U.S Oil Firms Regional Bid Angers Iraqi Government

2007-11-28T17:13:00.000-08:00

By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
November 28, 2007

Two top Kurdish leaders are a long way from the mountains of northern Iraq this week.

On Monday night, Omer Fattah Hussain was the toast of a dinner held at the 10,000-square-foot McLean mansion of Ed Rogers, a Reagan White House political director and current chairman of the lobbying firm Barbour Griffith & Rogers. In an opulent living room just off an art-filled entryway with a curved double stairway, the deputy prime minister of the Iraqi Kurds' autonomous region mingled with such luminaries as former assistant secretary of defense Richard Perle, former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and former White House press secretary Tony Snow.

Today, Hussain travels to Houston with Ashti Abdullah Hawrami, the Kurdish regional oil minister, to woo an even more important audience: U.S. oil companies.

After more than a year of political deadlock in Iraq over a national petroleum law, the Kurdistan Regional Government unanimously adopted its own petroleum legislation in August. In the past month, it has signed a dozen oil exploration contracts and hopes that foreign firms will ultimately invest $10 billion in the oil sector and bring 1 million barrels a day of new oil production from the Kurdish region over the next five years.

"Everyone is lining up . . . saying 'I want a piece of this action,' " said Hawrami, who hopes to complete negotiations on two more deals in Houston.

Hawrami said the contracts posed no conflict with Iraq's federal constitution. The Iraqi central government, however, is irate over the Kurdish contracts -- and the State Department isn't happy either. The Bush administration has been striving mightily over the past year to get a national petroleum law approved before international firms jump in.

In addition, a group of 60 Iraqi oil professionals signed a letter saying that the recent Kurdish contracts were a "dangerous step that has no legal or political standing whatsoever." Iraqi oil union leaders have also opposed the contracts.

Earlier this month, Iraqi oil minister Hussein Shahristani called the deals illegal. He warned that foreign oil companies that sign contracts with the Kurdish authorities without central government approval risk retaliation when seeking stakes in the bigger oil prospects in the southern part of the country. There are 51 known but undeveloped fields in Iraq.

Several major international oil companies have been talking to Baghdad about resuming work in the same giant southern fields where they had worked when Saddam Hussein was in power. And the central government indicated to them that it might rely on Hussein-era oil laws or offer service contracts if the new petroleum legislation is delayed, according to Kamal Field Aldasri, an economic adviser to the Iraqi government.

Aldasri said recently that the central government wants help in finding ways to boost output at the 27 operating oil fields throughout Iraq, which are producing well below their potential. The Kirkuk field, for example, used to produce almost 1 million barrels a day and now produces less than 200,000. The government's aims to boost production from the current 2.2 million barrels a day to 3 million, though it is running far behind schedule.

The major oil companies have been giving advice, reviewing data and training Iraqi oil workers -- without compensation. Royal Dutch Shell Group, for example, is drawing up a master plan for tapping for domestic consumption the more than 600 million cubic feet a day of natural gas now being burned off. Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP and Total are also doing technical studies, industry sources say.

But given political uncertainty, legal disputes and security risks, the big international firms are not prepared to reenter the country with their own personnel.

An official of one major oil company, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid compromising talks with central or regional Iraqi officials, said: "Frankly, I don't think there are any opportunities at the moment in northern Iraq that are appropriate for a company [of our] size. . . . They're too small."

Smaller firms, however, have rushed to sign exploration and production contracts there. They include affiliates of Russia's Alfa-Access-Renovo group, India's Reliance Industries, the Korea National Oil Corp. and Austria's major oil firm, OMV.

Asked about the absence of major oil companies, Hawrami said TNK-BP had signed a contract. BP said that it was not involved but that its Russian partner had entered the agreement on its own.

Some of the recent signing activity may have begun when Dallas-based Hunt Oil, whose chief executive Ray L. Hunt is a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and a major contributor to Bush's campaigns, signed a contract in September. Smaller U.S. companies have followed suit.

The Hunt contract upset the State Department, which has been pressing Iraq to adopt a petroleum law that would delineate the division of authority between the central and regional governments.

In a Sept. 28 meeting with the Washington representatives of major oil companies, two State Department officials insisted that the Bush administration's policy was that U.S. companies should not sign separate deals with the Kurdistan Regional Government without approval from the central government in Baghdad.

According to one person at the meeting, the officials warned that some of the blocs being offered by the Kurdish government lay outside its territory and might extend into Turkey or Iran. While conceding that the Hunt deal did not violate any U.S. law, they said it created an "unfortunate and untimely" impression that the U.S. government was changing its position on the need for a national petroleum law.

Reports surfaced nearly a year ago that central and regional authorities were close to a deal on the law, but no agreement has been reached. The key issues in dispute are the types and terms of contracts offered to foreign companies, whether the central or regional governments have the power to sign contracts, what portion of revenue flows to the central government, the composition of a federal commission empowered to review contracts, and whether the committee that distributes oil receipts is part of the central finance ministry or an independent group.

Some Iraqis accuse the Kurdish regional authorities of giving overly generous terms to foreign oil companies in production-sharing agreements. In those agreements, a foreign firm takes on all the risk of exploration but gets a share of production if it finds oil.

Hawrami said the foreign firms would get no more than 15 percent of production under recent contracts and less if the regional government chooses to take a one-quarter stake in the venture after oil is found. He said contracts in relatively peaceful areas would offer smaller percentages to foreign companies.

Production from fields in the Kurdish area would be exported through a pipeline that goes through Turkey, Hawrami said. The pipeline, which has been damaged by frequent explosions, carried 300,000 barrels a day in October, an improvement some industry experts attribute to increased patrols by Kurdish militia and Iraqi helicopter monitoring.

Hawrami said that Shahristani's threats against firms that sign contracts in the Kurdish region were counterproductive and that delays were costing Iraq money. "We don't need his approval," Hawrami said. "Every time we hear the word 'illegal,' we sign two more contracts."

Sweden to resume flights to Kurdistan

2007-11-28T17:10:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, 28 November 2007

Swedish Airways

Sr se

Sweden to resume flights to Kurdistan after a three month break.

Swedish Radio News reports that direct air flights from Sweden to Iraqi Kurdistan autonomous region are about to resume following a three month break.

Traffic was suspended in August, after the pilots on a Swedish airliner reported being shot at with a rocket over Kurdistan 'northwestern Iraq'.

The attack has never been confirmed, and now the civilian aviation authorities say they believe if there was a rocket fired it was an isolated incident.

Two airlines have applied for permission to resume flights to Iraqi Kurdistan. Some 70,000 Swedes have their roots in the area.

In August, the chairman of the Sulaimaniyah International Airport Authority, Kamaran Ahmed, said a local investigation found no evidence that a missile was fired and blamed the scare on bright lights being used on the ground.

"No plane at the Sulaimaniyah International Airport has come under attack. This is untrue and baseless news," its spokesman Khalid Saleh said.

Russian consulate opened in Kurdistan's capital

2007-11-28T17:08:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, 28 November 2007

Russia consulate was inaugurated in Kurdistan region

VOI | Agencies

The Russian consulate was inaugurated in the Kurdistan's capital Erbil.

The Russian consulate was inaugurated in the Kurdistan's capital Erbil on Wednesday to provide Kurdish citizens who wish to enter Russia with the necessary visas.

In his word, Russian ambassador to Iraq at the inauguration ceremony said "We are in Erbil today to witness a historic step by inaugurating the Russian consulate."

"This step came after long negotiations between the Russian government from one side and the Iraqi and Kurdish governments from the other," he noted.

"Kurdish citizens can now get Russia's entry visa from the consulate in Erbil instead of going to Baghdad," the ambassador highlighted.

He unveiled his country's plan to open a consulate in the southern city of Basra in Iraq, without providing further details.

For his part, Iraq's Kurdistan region's Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani expressed joy over the opening of the Russian consulate.

"The inauguration of the Russian consulate is due to the deep-rooted relations between the two countries," the premier noted.

Erbil witnessed also today the inauguration of the U.N. regional office; the first among the three offices announced by the U.N. two months ago within its plan to expand its role in Iraq.

Earlier, Iraqi Kurdistan government announced that it will open 15 representations abroad, the offices will be opened in Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and other countries, also announced that Greece had decided to open a consulate in Kurdistan.

Kurdistan to become new buffer between West and East

2007-11-27T16:11:00.000-08:00

PanARMENIAN.Net - Formation of independent Kurdistan is nearly finished, senior expert of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Russian academy of Sciences Kirill Vertyayev said during Yerevan-Moscow space bridge. A Kurdish autonomy can be maintained in Iraq but the proclamation of independence has become an inevitable process, according to him.

“Kurdistan will become a new buffer between West and East. Along with Israel it will become a political unit opposing the Islamic world. Given its strategic consideration, Armenia is also close to Kurdistan,” Vertyayev said. “Turkey was debarred from settling the Iraqi conflict. That is why the Turkish government seeks to convince the population in Turkey’s regional importance.”

For his part, Director of Museum-Institute of Armenian Genocide Hayk Demoyan reminded that formation of independent Kurdistan was stipulated by the Treaty of Sevres. “There is official data that correlation of Turks and Kurds in Turkey will be equal by 2010. This means that Turkey won’t benefit from operations in northern Iraq,” he said.

Massoud Barzani’s whereabouts remain in the dark

2007-11-27T16:06:00.000-08:00

London (KurdishMedia.com) 27 November 2007: The whereabouts of the President of Kurdistan region remain in the dark after reports of an alleged assassination attempt by one of his aide. Many reports of attempt on Barzai’s life appeared mainly in Arabic and Turkish media which all been denied by Kurdistan Regional government’s official spokesperson.

Latest public appearance by Massoud Barzani was on 8th of November when he met Iraqi Parliamentary Speaker Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani in Erbil.

Kurdish Regional Government sources say Barzani is out of Kurdistan on holiday in Europe without naming the country. Last week, there were unconfirmed reports that Barzani and his family arrived in Vienna for holiday. Also last week a Turkish newspaper reported that Barzani have been seen shopping in a famous street of Milano, Italy with some of his bodyguards. Pukmedia.com a Kurdish website run by Patriotic union of Kurdistan (PUK) reported on Sunday that Barzani in Vienna for routine health check.

An Israeli newspaper with links to Israeli Intelligent services published report that Barzani was admitted to an Israeli Hospital in Til Aviv for treatment after an alleged assassination attempt by one of his aide. These claims where denied by Fuad Hussein, spokesperson for Barzani.

KRG Expel Turkish Journalist From Southern Kurdistan

2007-11-27T15:59:00.000-08:00

November 26, 2007

BAGHDAD: A Turkish journalist who reported that Iraq's Kurdish president personally escorted two guerrilla commanders to Europe for eventual extradition to Turkey was expelled from Iraqi Kurdistan on Monday for publishing "false news," the semiautonomous government said.

The journalist for Ihlas news agency, Sadiq Kahraman, cited anonymous sources in his Nov. 24 report saying Massoud Barzani had accompanied two senior Kurdish guerrilla commanders on a military plane to a European country. The report said U.S. or Iraqi Kurdish authorities preferred the two be extradited through a third country.

Saveen Dazi'e, head of foreign relations for Kurdistan Democratic Party, denied the report and said Kahraman was being deported for his role in publishing "false news that escalates the situation with Turkey," which has long been angered that Kurdish rebels seek haven in northern Iraq while launching attacks on Turkish soldiers.

Ihlas said Iraqi Kurdish officials came to the news agency's office on Sunday and demanded he name his sources.

"We can't name our sources, and we believe our sources. I have been working in Iraq for a long time and we are under pressure," Kahraman said Monday, according to Ihlas. He said the rebels, known by their Kurdish acronym PKK, have also threatened the news agency.

Kurdistan plans a $400 million Media City

2007-11-27T15:57:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, 27 November 2007,

KRG

Rome (AKI)

The KRG is planning to set up a Kurdish media city.

The Kurdistan regional government in Iraq is planning to set up a Kurdish media city which will act as a hub for media and communications in the region and also attract investment to northern Iraq.

This is according to the Kurdistan regional government's civil society minister, George Yousif Mansour.

On Monday, Mansour paid a visit to the Rome headquarters of Adnkronos, a leading Italian news agency. The minister asked Adnkronos International (AKI) to help turn such a project into reality.

Mansour held a meeting with the director of Adnkronos and president of the GMC-Adnkronos media group, Giuseppe Marra. He said that the media city would be based in the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil, and would cost 400 million dollars.

The project will have an initial capital of 40 million dollars, with 60 percent of the project covered by the Kurdish government and the remaining 40 percent to be covered by a Dubai-based film and television company.

The aim of the project is to attract the international media to the northern regions of Iraq. The Media City will include television studios, a hotel, shops and places to live for those involved in media production.

Mansour said that in this way they hope to create professional opportunities as they develop the media and tourism industries in the region.

Initially the hub will be able to transmit to 60 television stations and will eventually increase this number to 120.

The political advisor to Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, Gorgs Y. Bakoos, and Iraq's ambassador to the Vatican, Albert Yelda, were also present at the meeting in Rome on Monday.

Mansour thanked AKI for its "impartiality in its reporting on Iraq" and praised the news agency for the training programme in place for four Iraqi journalists at AKI's Arabic news service. The project is sponsored by the Italian foreign ministry's Task Force Iraq programme.

Mansour said that while "information represents the so-called 'fourth estate'" it was important to remember that the news has both "destructive and useful aspects".

The Iraqi minister stressed the need for "neutral, credible and objective" information and that the media "needs to build bridges between communities, populations and societies".

"The media professional does not have to be a social reformer, but has the duty to transmit the news in as objective a way as possible," he said.

Mansour said that "the media tends to concentrate on security issues when discussing Iraq, while Iraq actually represents so much more, having been the cradle of civilisation and a country with history and culture."

Bakoos, also said that the Western and Arabic media tended to concentrate too much on security issues in Iraq "without giving sufficient attention to the efforts at political, social and economic reconstruction" and said that AKI played a role in "giving a more balanced view of Iraq."

27 Iraqi Kurdish women die in ‘honour killings

2007-11-26T15:47:00.000-08:00

ARBIL, Iraq - At least 27 women have died in so-called ‘honour killings’ over the past four months in northern Kurdish Iraq, an official from the regional government said Monday.

Aziz Mohammed, human rights minister in the Kurdish regional government, said 10 of the murdered women were from the Arbil, 11 from Dohuk and six from Sulaimaniyah—the three provinces making up the Kurdish region.

‘These are alleged honour killings. We can say that the violence against women continues’ in Kurdish Iraq, Mohammed told AFP.

He said 97 women -- 60 in Arbil, 21 in Dohuk and 16 in Sulaimaniyah—had attempted to commit suicide by self-immolation during the four months.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq has regularly highlighted ‘honour killings’ of Kurdish women as among Iraq’s most severe human rights abuses.

Most of such crimes are reported as deaths due to accidental fires in the home.

Aso Kamal, a 42-year-old British Kurdish Iraqi campaigner, says that from 1991 to 2007, 12,500 women were murdered for reasons of ‘honour’ or committed suicide in the three Kurdish provinces.

Nechirvan Barzani: Kurdistan will continue with the oil contracts

2007-11-26T15:45:00.000-08:00

Monday, 26 November 2007,

Kurdistan Prime Minister

AFP

Iraqi Kurdistan government defy Baghdad on oil deals

The Kurdistan regional government in 'northern Iraq' defied Baghdad on Monday, vowing to sign more contracts with international oil firms despite the national government's opposition.

"The (regional) government will continue with the contracts and they will be implemented," Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said.

"No one can cancel any contract of the KRG (Kurdistan regional government) signed with foreign companies," a defiant Barzani told reporters in the regional capital Erbil.

Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain Shahristani has declared all oil contracts between the Kurdish administration and foreign companies null and void, saying they have been signed illegally in the absence of a national oil law. www.ekurd.net

Barzani insisted the contracts are legal and fall within the provisions of the region's constitution.

The Kurdistan government has inked 15 exploration and export contracts with 20 international companies since it passed its own oil law in August, infuriating the Baghdad government.

The regional government says the contracts will benefit all Iraqis as 85 percent of the returns from the deals will be for Iraq and the rest will go to the contractor.

Iraq's oil and gas bill is stalled in the national parliament amid bitter differences between rival factions.
Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of Kurdistan Regional Government (

When approved, the new law will open up Iraq's long state-dominated oil and gas sector to foreign investment.

It will also stipulate that receipts be shared equally between Iraq's 18 provinces, a key concern for the Sunni Arab minority that Washington says has fuelled the anti-American insurgency.

Iraq's oil reserves -- the world's third largest -- lie mainly in the Kurdish north and Shiite south and the Sunnis fear the two communities could monopolise future income.

The End of Faith

2007-11-25T16:37:00.000-08:00

The End of Faith opens with a literary account of a day in the life of a suicide bomber – his last day. In an introductory chapter, Harris calls for an end to respect and tolerance for the competing belief systems of religion, which he describes as being "all equally uncontaminated by evidence." While focusing on the dangers posed by religious extremist groups now armed with Weapons of mass destruction, Harris is equally critical of religious moderation, which he describes as "the context in which religious violence can never be adequately opposed."

Harris continues by examining the nature of belief itself, challenging the notion that we can in any sense enjoy freedom of belief – for as he points out, "belief is a fount of action in potentia." Instead he posits that in order to be useful, beliefs must be both logically coherent, and truly representative of the real world. Insofar as religious belief fails to ground itself in empirical evidence, Harris likens religion to a form of mental illness which, he says, "allows otherwise normal human beings to reap the fruits of madness and consider them holy."

Harris follows this with a brief survey of Christianity down the ages, taking in the Inquisition and the historic persecution of witches and Jews. He contends that, far from being an aberration, the torture of heretics was simply a logical expression of Christian doctrine – one which, he says, was clearly justified by men such as Saint Augustine. Going still further, Harris sees the Holocaust as essentially drawing its inspiration from traditional Christian anti-Semitism. "Knowingly or not," he says, "the Nazis were agents of religion."

Possibly the most controversial aspect of The End of Faith is an uncompromising assessment and criticism of Islam, which Harris describes as being a "cult of death." He infers a clear link between Islamic teaching and terrorist atrocities such as 9/11, something which he backs up with five pages of quotations from the Koran. He also presents some Pew Research data, showing that significant percentages of Muslims worldwide would justify suicide bombing as a legitimate tactic. In an attack on what he terms "leftist unreason," Harris criticises Noam Chomsky among others for, in his view, displaying an illogical willingness to lay the entire blame for such attitudes upon U.S. foreign policy.

However, Harris makes an equally strong critique of the role of the Christian right in contemporary America, in influencing such areas as sex and drugs policy, stem-cell research, and AIDS prevention in the developing world. In what he sees as a steady drift towards theocracy, Harris strongly criticises leading figures from both the legislature and the judiciary, for what he perceives as an unashamed failure to separate church and state in their various domains. "Not only do we still eat the offal of the ancient world," he says, "we are positively smug about it."

Next, Harris goes on to outline what he terms a "science of good and evil" – a rational approach to ethics, which he claims must necessarily be predicated upon questions of human happiness and suffering. He talks about the need to sustain "moral communities," a venture in which he feels that the separate religious moral identities of the saved and the damned can play no part. But Harris is critical of the stance of moral relativism, and also of what he calls "the false choice of pacifism." In a controversial passage, he even goes so far as to argue in favour of the use of judicial torture under certain conditions.

Finally, Harris turns to spirituality where he takes his inspiration from the practices of Eastern religion, arguing that as far as Western spirituality is concerned, "we appear to have been standing on the shoulders of dwarfs." He discusses the nature of consciousness, and how our sense of "self" can be made to vanish by employing the techniques of meditation. To support his claims, Harris quotes from Eastern mystics such as Padmasambhava, but he does not admit any supernatural element into his argument – "mysticism is a rational enterprise," he says, "religion is not."

“

The only angels we need invoke are those of our better nature: reason, honesty, and love. The only demons we must fear are those that lurk inside every human mind: ignorance, hatred, greed, and faith, which is surely the devil's masterpiece.

”

Harris also mentions the possibility of using certain drugs in the act of spritual exercise.

Mahmur camp in N Iraq surrounded by Iraqi soldiers

2007-11-24T11:48:00.000-08:00

Sirnak, (Xinhua) -

A large camp in northern Iraq has been surrounded by Iraqi army, reported a Xinhua correspondent at the Turkish-Iraqi border on Thursday.

Iraqi soldiers set up check points in front of the Mahmur camp in which people ran away from Turkey in 1990's are living, and do not let foreign people, including the members of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) to enter into the camp. Turkey has claimed that the Mahmur camp was under control of the PKK and was logistics source for the PKK.

Vehicles and people who want to enter into the camp are being checked by Iraqi soldiers.

The Iraqi soldiers dug positions near the camp to prevent foreign people from reaching it and by the way, they patrol near the camp with jeeps.

They don't let anybody, except people who are living in the camp, to enter, said Youssef Abdurrahman, the chief of subdivision of soldiers, adding, "we do check 24 hours and put the camp under control. We are checking everywhere."

"Nobody can enter and the daily life is going on normally in the camp which is closed to journalists," added Addurrahman.

Local media reported that there are nearly 10,000 people living in the camp and there is a school and hospital in it.

Turkey has massed up to 100,000 troops along the mountainous border with Iraq in preparation for the cross-border operation to crush the about 3,000 strong PKK rebels in northern Iraq, which was approved by the Turkish parliament last month.

The PKK took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast. More than 30,000 people have been killed in more than two decades conflict.

Italian minister warns a Kurdish invasion would be a "disaster"

2007-11-24T11:44:00.000-08:00

Istanbul, (AKI) -

Italian foreign minister Massimo D'Alema has warned Turkey against kind of military occupation of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. Such an occupation would be a "disaster" D'Alema said during a two-day visit to Turkey.

"Focused, limited military action by Turkey would be considered acceptable, especially with an agreement by Iraqi authorities," D'Alema said during an interview aired on the Turkish TV channel, Canal D, on Wednesday.

"But an occupation of northern Iraq would be unacceptable, a disaster for Turkey as well."

D'Alema was referring to the possibility of a military attack by Turkish forces on bases of separatists from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), in the mountains on the border of Turkey and Iraq.

His comments came as two US generals assured Turkey on Wednesday that the PKK would be eliminated by May next year.

During the interview, D'Alema said authorities in Ankara should recall the Israeli-Lebanese experience of July 2006, when Israeli troops invaded Lebanon to respond to attacks from Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah guerrillas. The crisis the July war unleashed in both countries was still unresolved, D'Alema noted.

D'Alema said the solution to the intensified attacks by the PKK "cannot only be military, but should also be political".

Referring to moves to close the Democratic Society Party (DTP) which has 21 members in parliament and is accused of being too close to the PKK, he said such a move would send " a very dangerous message".

The DTP is a pro-Kurdish nationalist political party in Turkey, considered by many as the political wing of the PKK.

Turkish media reported two top generals of the US army have assured Turkey that the PKK will be wiped out in 2008.

Sources told the Turkish daily Today's Zaman that Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the US Joint chiefs of staff, and Gen. David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, gave their word that cooperation between Turkey and the US would flush out terrorists by May, 2008.

In a meeting with Turkish deputy chief of general staff Gen. Ergin Saygun and general staff chief of operations Gen. Nusret Tasdelen in the capital, Ankara, Cartwright and Petraeus evaluated the success of the real-time intelligence flow provided to Turkey by the US.

The two countries had agreed to share intelligence on the PKK after US President George W. Bush and prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Washington earlier this month.

The two US generals expressed their opinion that cooperation between the two countries against terrorism would yield positive results soon.

Human rights in Syria. How is it to live paralyzed by fear?

2007-11-24T09:43:00.000-08:00

by Nicolien den Boer
Radio Netherlands

Nov 23, 2007

Being afraid for your own safety is one thing, worrying about the safety of your family can paralyse you with fear. This is why some human rights activists in Syria decide to throw in the towel. However, most activists continue to fight for what they believe even if both they and their families face threats, imprisonment and torture.

One evening Husam left a Damascus bar after having had one too many drinks. He took a taxi home and started to chat with the driver, who began criticising Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Husam enthusiastically joined the driver in criticising the president. It was a lot of fun to secretly poke fun at the regime in the taxi, with the windows closed.

Suddenly the taxi took a wrong turn. Husam was taken to a police station, arrested and sentenced to several months in prison for insulting the president.

Human rights lawyer and activist Razan Zeitouneh tells the story in her Damascus home. Many Syrian human rights activists can tell similar anecdotes. Taxi drivers have a reputation for working for the Mukhabarat (the secret police), but your neighbour or fellow student can also turn out to be a secret agent. It is not easy to recognise them, which is why there is so much paranoia in Syria.

Like mushrooms

Syrian human rights activists are used to living in fear. During the regime of former president and dictator Hafez al-Assad many human rights activists were jailed for decades and often tortured. It seemed that things would change when his son Bashir succeeded him in 2000.

The new president promised more freedom and democracy. Human rights activists started to collect petitions calling for more freedoms. They also held demonstrations, and new groups have sprouted like mushrooms. However, the Human Rights Watch organisation reports that in recent years activists have been rounded up in one wave of arrests after another. In 2006, seven young human rights activists were sentenced to up to seven years in jail.

Fear and concern
Razan Zeitouneh, who was arrested last year, says the human rights movement has been paralysed by fear. Her organisation, the Damascus Centre for Human Rights Studies conducts research into the situation in Syria. Ms Zeitouneh interviewed other human rights activists. She concluded that there were two dominant feelings: fear and concern about those close to you:
"The fear returns every time you're arrested or someone close to you is arrested or tortured. But the fear also gradually fades away. However, concern about your family stays and can paralyse you completely."

It's a tried and tested method of keeping someone under one's thumb. Threatening a member of someone's family is like having the person in the hands of the police.

"You've got to learn to live with the concern, because you never get rid of it. Your first step is to recognise it. You must let it become part of you. And you must understand that there are other emotions. This gives you the perseverance you will need to continue your work."
Practical protection

Human rights activist Ammar Qurabi, former member of an outlawed Syrian opposition party, says he has been arrested six times. On the telephone he proposes to meet in the busy lobby of a hotel in Damascus. Wouldn't he prefer a quieter place? "Why? I'm not afraid!"

In the lobby, Qurabi tells he is no longer allowed to leave the country. He knows no fear, he says with a smile,
"Because the secret services are becoming bored with reading all of my e-mails and reports."

His organisation reports on issues such as women's rights and the Kurdish minority in Syria. Incidentally, Qurabi enjoys a certain measure of protection because of his contacts with Amnesty International, among other organisations. He is known as a good international networker, creating a bit of security for himself. Yet another prison term for Qurabi would be guaranteed to make international headlines.
"Morons"

Some human rights activists possess a remarkable mechanism for self-protection: their sense of relativity. The agents of the Mukharabat? They don't frighten the activists. Most of them are 'morons' anyway, they say, referring to the barely-qualified taxi drivers acting as secret agents.

Even a 30-year prison term is something to be philosophical about, as human rights activist Mustapha demonstrates, pointing at a house as he gets out of a taxi in Damascus.

"See that house over there? That's where a friend of mine lives. He was in prison for 30 years, but he has still got a zest for life. Thirty years, it is terribly long, but you know, you may be tortured at first, but later you spend so much time with your warders, they can't help but becoming your friends. Then it's not so bad."

Iraq Nullifies Kurdish Oil Deals

2007-11-24T09:38:00.000-08:00

BAGHDAD,
Nov 24, 2007 (AFP) -

Iraq's oil ministry has declared all crude contracts signed by the Kurdish regional authorities with foreign companies null and void, a government official said on Saturday.

"The ministry has nullified all contracts signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government," the official told AFP, asking not to be named. "They will not be recognised."

The Kurdistan Regional Government has signed 15 exploration and exportation contracts with 20 international companies since it passed its own oil law in August, infuriating the Baghdad government.

Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani has in recent weeks angrily denounced the Kurdish authorities for signing the contracts before the national parliament approves a new oil and gas law, declaring them "illegal".

The government official said the minister had now gone further and nullified all the contracts and had warned the foreign companies involved that they would be blacklisted.

"Minister Shahristani had warned companies who sign contracts without taking the advice of the oil ministry that the ministry would ... blacklist them from any future deals with Iraq," the government official said.

"The minister had told them the oil ministry in Baghdad is the only institution authorised to sign oil contracts before the approval of the oil law."

Shahristani told Monte Carlo radio on Friday that countries neighbouring Iraq would prevent the Kurdish authorities from exporting oil.

"There is an understanding between Tehran, Ankara, Damascus and Baghdad," he said.

"The Iraqi government had warned these companies of the consequences of entering into these contracts," the minister added. "And the consequence is that Iraq will not allow these companies to extract the oil."

The Kurdish authorities reacted sharply on Saturday, saying Shahristani should take the matter to the federal tribunal which deals with disputes between the provinces and the central government.

"The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) signed contracts according to laws passed by the Kurdistan provincial parliament which comply with the Iraqi constitution," said a statement on the KRG website.

"The KRG considers that the minister is exceeding his authority in making these statements," it added. "His statements will not affect our contracts with foreign companies."

It said his comments were reminiscent of the Arab chauvinism of Saddam Hussein's regime.

"We are sorry to hear such statements, which are close to Baathist ones," it said, referring to the Baath party of the ousted dictator.

Regarding the minister's comments on preventing oil being exported, the statement said: "Who said we are exporting oil? We said we signed oil contracts to explore and produce oil -- we know that there must agreement with the federal government on the issue of exporting oil."

The regional government says the contracts will benefit all Iraqis as 85 percent of the returns from the deals would be for Iraq and the rest would go to the contractor.

Iraq's oil and gas bill is stalled in the national parliament amid bitter differences between rival factions.

When approved, the new law will open up Iraq's long state-dominated oil and gas sector to foreign investment.

It will also stipulate that receipts be shared equally between Iraq's 18 provinces, a key concern for the Sunni Arab minority that Washington says has fuelled the anti-American insurgency.

Struggle never ends for Iraqi Kurds in Kirkuk

2007-11-21T16:05:00.000-08:00

Agence France Presse

By Michel Moutot

November 21, 2007

KIRKUK - Driven from their homes in 1987 by Saddam Hussein because they were Kurds, the Fakeh and Nasser families have now returned to the northeastern Iraqi city of Kirkuk . Full Text

Why American troops belong in Kurdistan

2007-11-21T16:01:00.000-08:00

USA Today, Opinion

By Lionel Beehner

November 21, 2007

ZAKHO, Iraq — To shuttle between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan as an American is to feel both liked and loathed: Liked because you are crossing a border separating the two most pro-American people in the Muslim world, and loathed because the United States hasn't done enough to defuse the tension between the two sides. Should war erupt, Washington could come to regret its hands-off approach. Full Text

AKP Condemns Judicial Attempts to Close Kurdish Party

2007-11-20T15:46:00.000-08:00

Jamestown Foundation, Eurasia Daily Monitor

By Gareth Jenkins

November 19, 2007

Leading members of Turkey 's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have condemned attempts by the country's judiciary to close down the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP). Full Text

KRG responds to Dr Shahristani’s threats to international oil companies

2007-11-20T15:44:00.000-08:00

Kurdistan Regional Government

Press Release

November 20, 2007

Dr Hussein Shahristani, the Iraqi Oil Minister, has issued threats against oil companies who have signed contracts with the Kurdistan Regional Government. He warns that Iraq 's oil will not be allowed to be exported.

Dr Shahristani has failed to deliver any meaningful projects through his Ministry year after year. He has not managed to spend even a quarter of the annual federal budget allocated to his Ministry, and is now trying also to deter others from doing the right thing for the country. It is amazing that a Minister in Baghdad should continue to threaten international oil companies (IOCs) with sanctions and punishment because they have decided to invest in one of the secure and safe parts of Iraq . Full Text

Turkish courts wrestle with Kurdish problem under EU spotlight

2007-11-19T16:29:00.000-08:00

By Andrew Finkel

November 19, 007

A delegation of European MPs to Ankara this week is expected to urge Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to speak out against the possible closure of a political party with strong Kurdish nationalist roots.

This latest challenge to Turkey-EU relations follows action by the chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals to open a case against the Democratic Society Party (DTP) on grounds that is pursuing a separatist agenda. If successful, the prosecution would force the expulsion of 20 DTP deputies from Parliament and deprive many of the party's mayors and local councilors of office. Full Text

raqi parliament opens probe into delays over status of northern oil-rich Kirkuk

2007-11-19T16:26:00.000-08:00

Africa & Middle East

Associated Press

November 17, 2007

Baghdad - Iraq 's parliament on Saturday ordered an inquiry into the delay of a referendum over whether the oil-rich city of Kirkuk will join the semiautonomous Kurdish region in the north. Full Text

WKI Position Paper: The Territorial Status of Kirkuk

2007-11-19T16:23:00.000-08:00

November 2007

This position paper by Washington Kurdish Institute addresses the administrative status of Kirkuk governorate (province) and Kirkuk city within the Federal Republic of Iraq.

Read the Full Position Paper

Turkish strike on Kurdish guerrilla bases in Southern Kurdistan was "almost certain.

2007-11-18T17:23:00.000-08:00

Nov 17, 2007

Jalal Talabani said Friday a Turkish strike on Kurdish guerrilla bases in Southern Kurdistan was "almost certain. Any strike would be limited and would not affect relations between Iraq and Turkey or between Turkey and the Kurds, KUNA quoted Talabani as saying in an interview during a visit to Kuwait.

South Korean consortium to explore Iraqi Kurdistan oilfield

2007-11-18T17:16:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, 13 November 2007,

Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) has secured an oilfield

Reuters|koreatimes

The Korea National Oil Corporation has secured an oilfield.

A South Korean consortium led by the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) has secured an oilfield with an estimated deposit of over 500 million barrels in Kurdistan autonomous region in 'northern Iraq'.

According to KNOC Sunday, the consortium signed a contract in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan-Iraq, on exploration and production sharing of the Bazian oilfield with the Kurdistan Regional Government in the northeastern part of the Middle East country.

With the first-ever deal in Iraq, South Korea expects to set up a bridgehead to advance into the war-devastated country, which boasts the world's second-largest oil deposits.

Beside KNOC, which holds a 38-percent stake, several private energy development firms including, among others, SK Energy (19 percent) and Daesung, Samchully, Beuma (9.5 percent wach respectively) took part in the project.
Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) has secured an oilfield with an estimated deposit of over 500 million barrels in Kurdistan autonomous region in 'northern Iraq'.

Seated in the Zagros basin, the Bazian oilfield is located southeast of Irbil, where South Korean rehabilitation forces are stationed. South Korea deployed thousands of soldiers, largely medics and engineers, as part of the U.S.-led coalition in the Gulf country since 2004.

In January, KNOC signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Kurdistan Regional Government and implemented technical evaluations in a dozen exploratory oilfields there.

KNOC officials said the consortium would sign a contract among participating companies for the joint operation of the oilfield by the end of this year and set up an office there to make preparations for future exploration. www.ekurd.net

Currently, they added, the Bazian oilfield is estimated to have more than 500 million barrels of crude oil. But a more exact deposit will be calculated through future exploration activities scheduled up until 2010.

``We hope that we could secure a crucial bridgehead to advance into Iraq, which has the second-largest oil deposits, with the signing of the production sharing contract,'' a KNOC spokesman said.

In the meantime, the Kurdistan Regional Government has been actively pushing for oil exploration projects. It struck seven new petroleum contracts with firms from the United States, Britain and India and also approved five existing contracts last week.

Struggling against the changing times: the real Issue for Turkey is not 3,000 rebels, but 15 million Kurds

2007-11-15T16:29:00.000-08:00

Bashdar Pusho Ismaeel - Kurdish Globe

Fighting the branches of your problem is fruitless, without addressing its root.

Authorization of military action
On October 17, the Turkish Parliament passed a controversial motion that effectively allowed the Turkish military a year's pass to launch incursions into northern Iraq as it sees fit, under the pretext of preserving national security and eradicating the long-standing PKK threat emanating from the Qandil Mountains of the Kurdistan region.
Despite strong objections from Iraq, the U.S. administration, NATO, the EU, and a plethora of major States, Turkey approved the bill in defiance. With a huge occupation force in the shape of the U.S. Army still on the ground, this hardly gives a positive image of Iraqi sovereignty and may well set a benchmark for future invasions by neighbors.
Turkey's battle with the PKK is not new. In fact, Turkey has been waging war on the PKK for 28 years in the impoverished and largely neglected lands of southeastern Turkey. This war reached a peak in the mid-1990s, culminating in a series of large cross-border campaigns by the Turkish military to oust rebel bases across the porous borders.
Clearly, these campaigns did no significant damage to the PKK nor did they eradicate the threat, even as those campaigns were supported by some Iraqi Kurdish parties at the time. However, although five years of unilateral truce by the PKK on the back of the arrest of their leader, Abdullah Ocalan, resulted in some peace and a motion to readdress its adverse international image, the PKK made very little political gains with the Turkish government persistent in its refusal to negotiate with their 'terrorist' arch-nemesis or issue amnesty.
Feeling lost and weary on the back of the dramatic arrest and trial of their revered leader, the influence and power of the PKK steadily dropped. However, clearly the onset of the Iraqi liberation in 2003 and the newfound prominence and political stature of the Iraqi Kurds served to embolden PKK desire and reignited their passion for making another stand against the Turkish regime.
Clearly, this time the PKK has more political coverage than ever before along with broader media attention. The status of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is now enshrined in the Iraqi Constitution and widely recognized by major global powers. Arguably, the long-standing rivalry with the PKK became second nature to a Turkish state that long-denied its substantial Kurdish population cultural and linguistic rights and before that systematic denial altogether, but now to its horror was witnessing a strong Kurdish national renaissance a stone's throw across the border.

Iraqi Kurds-the real Turkish danger
It is likely that with parliamentary approval of military incursions valid for one year, this will give the Turkish state time to maneuver and watch the KRG closely with an upcoming decisive year that will determine the future of Iraq. The ideal scenario for Turkey would be to maintain a long-term foothold and influence over northern Iraq, rather than attack at will.
Under a period of self-rule, the Iraqi Kurds have grown from strength to strength, witnessing an economic boom, status as key strategic allies to the U.S. administration and widely acknowledged as the only island of peace and prosperity in the mess that is Iraq. Whilst Kurdish confidence has reached alarming new heights for the Turkish state, which as of today still refuses to recognize the Kurdish administration or negotiate with them on an official level, many of the red lines set by the Turkish government have long passed with the Iraqi Kurds hungry and determined to bolster their status and political gains further.
In the year officially set for a referendum on the status of oil-rich Kirkuk, frequent Turkish calls for the abandonment of such a momentous milestone have gone unheard. Turkey has lobbied with the Iraqi government extensively to dismiss the referendum out-of-hand or at least delay it indefinitely citing various concerns. In contrast this has only increased Kurdish determination and desire and with the knowledge that they are almost certain victors in any vote they have pressed on without fear.
Undoubtedly, Turkey and the surrounding neighbors fear that if Kurdish aspirations are unchecked, this may well create an unstoppable ripple affect for the millions of Kurds inhabiting those countries.
Although, the PKK issue has acted as the focal point in channeling Turkish fears, the presence of an estimated 3,000 rebels in the rugged mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan is clearly a side issue to the greater concerns of the ramifications of the potential destabilization affect of 15 million Turkish Kurds.

Prospects of a full-scale invasion
Clearly, launching any military incursion into Iraq may well backfire. The PKK rebels will disperse into Kurdish towns and villages and even major air raids may lack the effectiveness of getting the job done. A highly unpopular Turkish invasion will only encourage support and sympathy for the PKK amongst Iraqi Kurds.
Any major incursion deep into KRG territory may well induce direct confrontation with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, which is likely to only deepen the issue and increase the risk of an all-out Turkish-Kurdish war.
As a result of these factors, a full-scale invasion in reality is unlikely and much more costly than the limited gains it may provide. Alienating Kurdish populations on either side of the border who heavily rely on one another for billion of dollars in trade is political and economical suicide. This motion, for the time being, at least, is more sabre-rattling and show of power and intent. It is designed to further pressurize the U.S. and Iraqi governments into action and warn the Iraqi Kurds of the dangers of defiance, harboring the PKK, or continuing separatist ambitions.

Changing political climate
Turkey has long accused the U.S. administration of not doing enough to tackle the PKK issue and has called on the Iraqi government to take action.
However, the key problem with any U.S. action to deal with the PKK is the potential to undermine their strong relationship with the Iraqi Kurds and destabilize the only stable part of Iraq. Noticeably, for a Turkey suffering from a dramatic decline of their traditional closeness with the U.S., this is seen as preferential treatment of the Kurds and double standards in the fight against terrorism.
The occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan by U.S. forces and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon last year set a dangerous precedent for superpowers combating terrorism and threats against national security. Turkey feels it is no exception to the rule and only wider strategic and political implications stopped it from invading in 2003 to dispel Kurdish drive toward power and the expansion of their region.
However, events in the last year and more recently have irked Turkey beyond care of the repercussions of their actions. First, Turkey introduced mild reforms and introduced more cultural tolerance of their Kurdish minority under EU accession talks. However, despite what it perceived as more than a gesture of goodwill, the reforms on the back of EU pressure did not continue apace. Talks have all but stalled and the divide has only deepened with major reservations from key European nations over the potential influx of millions of largely impoverished Muslims into their Christian super club.
Turkey, in its gradual changing political stance and its fast emerging ties with the controversial governments in Syria and Iran, has seemingly all but given up on the idea of an imminent entry into the European Union and turned its attention to its more immediate concerns. Turkish public opinion has hardly helped, as a strong sense of nationalism has kicked in over the Iraqi Kurdish calls of defiance, frequent PKK attacks, and the fast-declining popularity of the U.S. in the country.

Turkish-U.S. ties under strain
Whilst the frequently failed promises by the U.S. administration to deal with the PKK hardly helped, two events that arguably swayed Turkish political opinion and deep-rooted anxiety into overdrive was their disappointment over a U.S. Senate motion, referred to as the Biden-Brownback amendment, to push through the break-up of Iraq into three federal entities; then, there was their downright anger over the passing of a non-binding resolution by the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee to officially recognize the Armenian massacre between 1915-1923 under Ottoman rule as genocide.
This created uproar in public, political, and military circles alike, with Turkey swiftly condemning the resolution and warning President Bush of the massive ramifications that this would have in their relationship and their logistical support of U.S. troops in Iraq, if the resolution was formally passed.
Similar moves by France caused similar rage and ended military ties between both nations.
Turkey is moving through a time of great sensitivity and fears that perhaps they can only rely on themselves in the present era. The changing face of the political and strategic makeup of the Middle East and international focus has rocked Turkey's once unbreakable alliance with the U.S., reaching a peak at the time of the Cold War. However, the U.S. has greater priorities than ever before and faces its gravest danger in the form of terrorism.
The global aspects and wider implications of their foreign policies are more important than any relationship with a single country.

Iraqi Kurds bypassed
The region and the international community are now watching closely at Turkey's next steps. What is clear, however, is that Turkey's next steps must be taken cautiously and wisely. Any hasty or controversial adventure that goes beyond the remit of a limited incursion may well result in a major backlash.
The Iraqi Kurds, keen as ever to strike friendly and productive terms, fully appreciate that for their long-term prosperity and survival they must cooperate very closely with Turkey. However, even they are feeling increasingly undermined by the actions of regional powers and the insistence of Turkey in bypassing them in negotiations with the Iraqi government.
A recently signed security deal between Iraq and Turkey bypassed the Iraqi Kurds directly with the Baghdad government insistent that all elements of national foreign policy must be channeled through them.
However, evidently the region at the focus of the debate is the Kurdish administration. Turkey will be effectively invading the autonomous KRG region and as such violating their rights and sovereignty directly.
It is ironic that a nation that refuses to recognize a political entity would directly invade their area of jurisdiction and expect to bypass them as any matter of importance.
Despite the rhetoric of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Turkey's ignorance, there is nothing that Baghdad can do in the Kurdish region. There is no Iraqi Army in Iraqi Kurdistan and no sense of bending backwards to fight their ethnic brethren to satisfy the vain nationalist desires of a neighboring country who even refuses to acknowledge them as a credible entity.

PKK-a terrorist issue or a Kurdish problem
It is more ironic that Turkey sees the PKK as a terrorist threat and not as a Kurdish problem. Violence is not a solution and never an adequate substitute for diplomacy; however, Turkey has a much bigger problem than a few thousand rebels. It may be painful to concede, but Turkey has a huge restive Kurdish population and if Turkey does not tender its next steps correctly and advocate a greater solution to its long-standing Kurdish headache, this will only exasperate tensions beyond what it currently perceives as a problem.
The PKK is simply the fruit from the seeds of problems that were sewn decades previously in the aftermath of World War I. Unless the root of these problems are addressed, the branches may be cut under all the pretexts that one can imagine; however, they will only grow back at a more vicious rate. If the PKK as an organization is hypothetically eradicated all together, there is no guarantee that another Kurdish offshoot will not arise by next year.
It is time for the Turkish regime to stop an impractical game of incongruous politics and recognize the existence of the Iraqi Kurdish administration. They cannot preserve their stability without the help of the Iraqi Kurds and the Iraqi Kurds are unable to survive without Turkish help.
Turkey will never solve the PKK dilemma through ignorance or arrogance. Although rebel actions and their presence in northern Iraq create leverage for negotiations on either side, ultimately PKK violence and insurgency will never benefit the greater Turkish Kurdish population. In the great global battle against terrorism, such actions in the present era will hardly strike the right sentiments of international opinion that is vital in winning concessions and achieving success.

The need for a reality check
Turkey must finally open its eyes and realize that after decades of fighting the ghosts of its past legacies and outdated ideals, it will never win this battle against Kurdish nationalism until it takes a firm reality check.
The recent majority Kurdish vote for Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Party of Justice and Development is proof that Turkey Kurds can be swayed into playing a supportive and productive role in a new Turkey, and they must be embraced with open arms into forging new brotherly ties for the benefit of the greater Turkish state, whilst accepting the emergence of a Kurdish entity in Iraq, not as a choice but as a natural eventuality that cannot be stopped no matter how much they delay its end.
This is simply the wrongs of the past correcting themselves-it was always inevitable that all the explosive seeds that were planted by the artificial creation of the Middle East could never remain underground forever. Unfortunately for the Middle East, the wave of change is not over and will continue. There are far too many volcanoes waiting to erupt from Iran to Lebanon and possibly beyond.
As for Turkey, it is like fighting a tidal wave that you know will sweep you ashore, but rather than fight a storm that will eventually prove costly and counterproductive, you must use the tides of the stream to ensure maximum gains and benefit and the least painful of landings.

Iraqi president: crisis with Turkey has passed and Iraq situation better

2007-11-15T16:24:00.000-08:00

Thursday, 15 November 2007,

The Iraqi president

AP | AFP

Tensions between Iraq and Turkey have subsided and relations are improving, asserted Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in an interview with a Kuwaiti newspaper Wednesday.

"The crisis with Turkey has passed," he told the daily Alrai in an interview, without further explanation, even as Turkish troops remain massed at the Iraqi Kurdistan borders over the presence of anti-Turkish rebel fighters in the Iraqi Kurdistan region's
mountainous hinterland.

"I don't think there is any danger of a Turkish invasion of (Iraqi) Kurdistan," Talabani, himself a Kurd, told Egyptian government newspaper Al-Ahram.

His remark came as Turkish helicopters swooped into Iraqi territory Wednesday firing on villages in renewed efforts to dislodge the fighters of the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has been fighting for autonomy for Turkish Kurds since 1984.
Iraqi President : Jalal Talabani, a Kurd

Talabani, who began a four-day visit to Kuwait on Wednesday, said conditions in war torn Iraq have improved, but more efforts at national reconciliation were needed to make the situation last.

"The situation is better now. Most of the areas are safe and many Iraqis are fighting terrorists," the president said. He said Iraqis now see members of al-Qaida as a "danger" to them.

He cautioned, however, that the execution of Sultan Hashim al-Tai, a Saddam Hussein-era defense chief sentenced to death for his role in Anfal campaigns against the Kurds in the 1980s, would "harm the general atmosphere and impede reconciliation efforts."

Talabani also warned against the premature withdrawal of U.S. forces, saying it could lead to the fracturing of the country.
"When we complete building our armed forces and police, coalition forces can pull out, maybe at the end of next year," he told Alrai.

"But such a withdrawal now and under current circumstances could lead to a sort of civil war, and will not result in stability but into the partitioning of Iraq into more than three entities." he added.

The U.S. military says attacks around Iraq have fallen to their lowest level since February 2006, and U.S. military deaths are on the decline partly due to a surge of nearly 30,000 troops sent by President George W. Bush earlier this year. www.ekurd.net

Although the streets of the capital are still not entirely safe, Iraqis are venturing more out of their homes. Many Sunni Iraqi fighters who belong to Islamic insurgent groups have turned against al-Qaida and are cooperating with American forces to drive the extremists from their neighborhoods and villages.

Talabani will meet with Kuwait's emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, and ask that the oil-rich neighbor which Saddam invaded in 1990 and occupied for seven months, to "settle" Iraqi debts owed from Saddam's time.

The Iraqi president did not specifically say he wanted the US$15 billion worth of debts forgiven, but the request has been made previously. Kuwait says it is a matter for its parliament to decide.

Richard Dawkins - BBC HARDtalk

2007-11-12T16:03:00.000-08:00

KRG signs five more petroleum contracts

2007-11-12T15:56:00.000-08:00

Kurdistan Regional Government

Press Release

November 12, 2007

KRG signs petroleum contracts with affiliates and subsidiaries of TNK-BP, Korea National Oil Corp, Hillwood, Sterling Energy, Aspect Energy

Following the unanimous decisions of the Regional Oil and Gas Council (“the Council”) of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) at its second and third meetings, Dr Ashti Hawrami, the KRG Minister for Natural Resources, today announced that the five production sharing contracts (PSCs) previously approved by the Council have been signed by the KRG with TNK-BP affiliate Norbest Limited, with a Korean consortium headed by Korean state-owned oil company KNOC, with Hillwood International Energy company HKN Energy, and with subsidiaries of UK-listed Sterling Energy LLC and Denver-based Aspect Energy LLC. Full Text

War or Peace?

2007-11-05T15:49:00.000-08:00

Kurdistan’s Hope for Talks

2007-11-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

Washington Post, Opinion

By Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government

November 5, 2007

When President Bush and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan meet today to discuss ongoing conflict between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Turkey , we in the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) will be listening with hope. We welcome this meeting. The only solution to this decades-old problem lies in diplomacy.

Let me be clear: The KRG is, and will remain, fully prepared to find a long-term solution to this problem. To this end, we propose talks among Ankara , Baghdad , Erbil and Washington . This is a transnational issue, complicated by ethnic ties, and no party can find a solution on its own. We will sit down at any time with anyone who seeks a negotiated, diplomatic resolution.

We must discard the rhetoric of violence and recognize that a military response to the current crisis would be a disaster for everyone except the PKK. We in the Kurdistan region of Iraq would be slowed on our path to peace, democracy and prosperity; the Turkish army would become bogged down in a bloody and unproductive struggle against the PKK outside its borders; the United States and Western allies would become estranged from a vital NATO ally; and the economies and peoples of the region -- particularly Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq -- would suffer.

We have tried to explain to our Turkish friends that we want only peace and cooperation with them. Our region depends heavily on investment and trade with Turkey . The great majority of foreign businesses operating here are Turkish, nearly all of our construction is done by Turkish contractors, we receive much of our electricity from Turkey and well over 75 percent of our imports arrive via Turkey . Why would we provoke Turkey into a military action that would severely damage our economy?

The history of this conflicted part of the world carries a message: Problems such as the PKK cannot be solved through military means. For decades the government of Saddam Hussein tried to liquidate the Kurdish people by violence, at a tremendous price for both sides. We ourselves fought against the PKK in the late 1990s with help from the Turkish military, and 10 years later we again find ourselves at a crisis point. The mountains inside our region and in Turkey have protected the PKK for decades, and there is little reason to believe that new military actions would be any more successful than past attempts. Problems for which military solutions are sought here seem to have a way of never getting resolved.

We have condemned and will continue to condemn the PKK for its unwarranted attacks in Turkey . We insist that its members lay down their arms immediately. We do not allow them to operate freely, contrary to what some have suggested. Turkey , with its substantial military capability, has not been able to eradicate the PKK within its own borders, yet some Turks inexplicably expect us to be successful with far fewer capabilities and resources.

Just as we ask the Turks to seek a peaceful resolution, so must the PKK abandon its failed strategy of armed conflict. Diplomacy and dialogue must be given a chance. With time, patience and stability, we believe that peaceful change can occur. Just 10 years ago the PLO and the IRA were considered terrorist organizations. Today they have begun a process of transformation and are working within the political arena. Can such a transformation take place within the PKK? We cannot be certain. But we do know that military action will only radicalize the situation further, and violence will surely breed more violence.

We want peace along our border with Turkey . We want to cooperate on economic, social and cultural issues. We want to be a good neighbor and to exercise our responsibilities as good neighbors. Our successful efforts in cooperation with Ankara and Baghdad to secure the release of Turkish soldiers demonstrate our sincere desire to find peaceful solutions to the problem. We will continue taking concrete steps to improve the security environment at the border. But the Turkish government needs to overcome its refusal to talk to us as neighbors.

The Kurdistan region is the only part of Iraq where peace and development have prospered since the liberation of 2003, and we are the constitutionally recognized regional government in the area. We have come a long way both economically and politically. But much more work remains. We have chosen to become part of a federal Iraq and will uphold that commitment. We threaten no one as we move toward greater development. We hope that we can extend the hand of friendship to Turkey and work together to find solutions to this crisis that will lead to long-term stability and peaceful relations.

Turkish Kurds rally for peace near Iraqi border

2007-11-04T15:25:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 04 November 2007,

AP PHOTO

AFP

Turkish Kurds protested against military incursion.

Some 5,000 Turkish Kurds protested against a military incursion into Iraq, saying such a move would enflame ethnic tensions in the region and plunge the local economy into ruin.

"If there is a military incursion it will be a war between Turks and Kurds," said 19-year old Hasan at the rally in Silopi, the closest Turkish city to the Iraqi border.

Turkey has reportedly massed 100,000 troops in preparation to strike Iraqi bases of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a bloody 23-year campaign for Kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey which has claimed more than 37,000 lives.
Ankara accuses the autonomous Kurdish government in northern Iraq of sheltering and helping rebels.

Protesters here said they reject violence but demand more cultural and political rights for Kurds, who make up a fifth of Turkey's population and who have faced widespread discrimination as a people.
"We don't want a solution by the gun, we want a solution by the pen, through dialogue," said Ahmet Ali, another protester.
Security was tight in this restive Kurdish-dominated region, with riot police and snipers on nearby buildings monitoring the peaceful rally.

The protest took place two days before a crucial meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President George W. Bush, seen as a last-ditch effort to dissuade Turkey from cross-border military operations.

Washington and Baghdad fear a Turkish military incursion into Iraq would wreak havoc in the most stable part of the war-torn country.
Tensions between Iraq and Turkey rose after October 21, when PKK rebels according to Ankara came in from northern Iraq and ambushed a military unit, killing 12 soldiers and capturing eight.

With the possibility of an internationalized conflict, people here also fear that their economic lifeline -- the Habur border post 15 kilometres (nine miles) south of here -- could be cut off.
Thousands of trucks pass through that border daily, carrying everything from construction materials to food and household appliances into Iraq.

"If the border will close, we will have no chance to make a living," said 19-year old Serdan, who said everyone with a job in his his family was a truck driver.

Turkey has already imposed some economic sanctions on northern Iraq and the media here has also speculated that the government could decide to divert its main land transport route from here to posts on the Syrian border.

Greece urges Turkish 'self-restraint' on Kurdish PKK rebels

2007-11-04T15:23:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 04 November 2007,

AFP

Greece called on Turkey to show "self-restraint".

Greece called on Turkey to show "self-restraint" and avoid entering Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq' in pursuit of Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebels.

"We call on the neighbouring country to show self-restraint," Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis told parliament in response to a question tabled by the far-right LAOS party.

"Violence does not solve, cannot solve problems. Diplomacy must be allowed to run its course," he said.

Karamanlis is technically a family relation of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan after serving as a witness at his daughter's marriage in 2004.

Greece is a traditional rival of Turkey but relations have drastically improved in recent years despite ongoing territorial disagreements.

"We condemn terrorism in all its forms, no matter where it comes from," Karamanlis said.

"Respect of territorial integrity is a basic tenet of international law, and no nation should ignore or violate international law."

Turkey has in the past accused Greece of acting as a haven for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a 23-year armed campaign for Kurdish self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday met Turkish leaders with offers of an "effective strategy" against PKK fighters based in northern Iraq in exchange for Ankara holding off on its threat of cross-border military action.

But Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Turkey wants to see action not words in dealing with the rebels.

Iraqi Kurdish politician says, Turkey is using Turkey's Kurdish separatist PKK rebel group as an excuse to invade Kurdistan region 'Iraq' to prevent the establishment of Kurdistan state in the Kurdish autonomous region in 'northern Iraq', Turkey fears this could fan separatism among its own large Kurdish population in southeast Turkey.

Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan regional government that holds sway in northern Iraq, regretted Ankara's refusal to hold direct talks on the crisis over the Turkey's separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels.

Turkey has never, and still does not, recognize the Kurdistan region government (KRG) and refuses to meet with its representatives in any official capacity. That reflects Ankara's fear that any international respect shown to the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region would only embolden Turkey's own large Kurdish minority to seek similar home-rule status.

Eight Turkish Soldiers Freed: PKK Leader

2007-11-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

ARBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan, Nov 4, 2007 (AFP) The eight Turkish soldiers taken prisoner by the PKK were freed and handed over on Sunday to senior officials from Iraq's northern regional government, a top Kurdish rebel leader told AFP.

Abdurrahman Cadirci, the head of foreign relations for the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, said the eight were released at 7:30 am (0430 GMT) Iraqi time.

"I personally handed them to Karim Sinjari, the internal affairs minister at the Kurdistan Regional Government and Othman Haji, the interior minister," Cadirci told AFP.

He said the soldiers' release came after mediation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Ahmed Turk, the head of the Party for Democratic Society, a political group based in Turkey.

The KRG also confirmed the release of the eight soldiers.

"After personal attempts by Kurdistan regional president Massud Barzani, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Kurdistan regional prime minister Nechirvan Barzani, the Turkish soldiers who were detained by the PKK were released this morning," the KRG said in a statement.

The soldiers were captured when their unit was ambushed near the border with Iraq on October 21.

The attack left 12 other soldiers dead, raising regional tensions as Turkey threatened to launch military strikes in Iraqi territory to flush the rebels from their bases.

The Turkish army never officially acknowledged the soldiers' capture, instead listing them as missing in action.

Overview of Turkish military operations

2007-11-03T16:42:00.000-07:00

Thursday, 01 November 2007,

Reear Karim

Rebwar Karim

Turkish military continues preparations for more strikes within the region.

Globe correspondent Rebwar Karim Wali believes that all Turkish military operations are "paving the way for the Army to declare a temporary government that addresses its best interests and to replace the AKP party."
Despite international pressure, Turkey prepares for its 24th operation inside Kurdistan region. Turkey staged its first military action on the PKK on May 26, 1983. Then, Turkey brought 10,000 soldiers 25 miles inside Iraqi land to attack the PKK. Though this operation was carried out in accord with the former Iraqi system, no military agreement was signed between Iraq and Turkey at that time. After more than a year, in October 1984, Baghdad signed an agreement with Ankara, and Ankara orchestrated the same agreement with Iran after a month. But the Turkish troops never trespassed upon the Iranian borders as they did with Iraq. The last military incursion into Kurdistan by Turkey was in 1997. After arresting Abdullah Ocalan and weakening the PKK, Turkish military operations outside their borders eased up. Their military began threatening Iran rather than striking the PKK. Turkey considered the Kurdish circumstances of that time as temporary. The best they scenario they saw was that Saddam would conquer the Kurdistan region again, and the worst was that the Kurds would gain limited autonomy but Baghdad would still be in charge of their authority. Neither of these happened after the fall of the former Iraqi system in 2003. Then, Kurdistan region and its new reality became a part of the long-term political conflict in Turkey between that country's Islamic and secular parts. Such a dispute has never been debated like it is today, and all the secularists' positions have been invaded by Islamic sides except the Army and the MIT (Turkish National Intelligence Organization); the others are all in Islamic hands.
What Turkey is doing now is just the result of an internal problem rather than the PKK. It's a dispute between the Kemalist secularists and Islamic technocrats, and the equation is easy: If all PKK leaders are submitted to Turkey or if there is a crackdown on all PKK guerrillas-though the Turkish army would never do such a favor to Erdogan's government-do the current political struggles in Turkey come to an end?
The Turkish Army did not want to create problems for the government on changing the constitution, because they did not want to make it ugly. Meanwhile, the constitutional draft prepared by the AKP is a good justification to strike this party. The Army focused on the PKK and the Kurdistan region in order to make its deeds legislative on the country, not on account of authority. The country will be lost, not the sovereignty!
It is too late. The Turkish government and the authoritarian party are entrapped, and the government knows well that by dethroning the PKK, the problem does not end-it just stalls. By looking at the 1997 experience, the Turkish Army bankrupted the Islamic government of Najmaddin Arbakan and created another government, and it is not out of the question to believe that the same scenario of the past 10 years repeats itself. If the Turkish Army enters Kurdistan in any way, the Turkish government will face a great loss. Turkey will have no success. Whether or not Turkey stages the military strike, a part of the Turkish government is still in the hands of the Army. The Turkish government must pay back $117 million in debt and will be under more stress. All of this is paving the way for the Army to declare a temporary government that addresses its best interests and to replace the AKP party; it lost the Kurdish vote in other elections and any previous gains made by this party are now lost. What the Turkish government is doing now doesn't coincide with the real politics of the AKP, and all its announcements are an attempt to rescue itself from stress. America is a part of it because it has never forgotten that Turkey refused to let it use Turkish lands to strike Iraq, while Iran previously let America use its sky to strike Afghanistan! And so, America does not need the AKP for its future goals, and manages to rankle Turkey in many different ways. America tries to bring together both the Kurds and the Turkish government. But, a government take on office by the Army's willingness can befriend Kurds while it is impossible for a government that aims to destroy the Army. Thus, the renewing of the Turkish political struggles benefits Kurds, and the more it exists, the better it is for the Kurds.

The neighbour in berserk fury

2007-11-03T16:40:00.000-07:00

Thursday, 01 November 2007,

A Turkish soldier patrols the area near the Turkey-Iraq border

By Behrooz Shojai

The Turkish authorities, particularly its powerful military are in berserk mode since the heavy losses in an ambush by PKK soldiers in northern border areas.

The Turkish authorities, particularly its powerful military are in berserk mode since the heavy losses in an ambush by PKK soldiers in northern border areas. This is not the first time that the Turks sustain heavy losses; the new about it is Turkey's threats of assault against Kurdistan region. When watching the Turkish media one can get the impression that Mr. Barzani, the president of Kurdistan Region is in charge even for PKK and it was by his orders that the Turkish soldiers were attacked by PKK. The Turkish media, alongside with some prominent cabinet members, take the liberty to give Kurdish leaders the most obscene sobriquets.
They have been here before and they did not solve the problem that now faces them, although by then they had complete freedom to do it. What has changed since then? If they could not finish the "job" then how can they do it now? If they really want to do it!
The last election in Turkey was preceded by anti-AKP and pro-army gigantic rallies. The AKP won the election and had initially major amendments to the Turkish constitution and reforms in consideration. Strikingly, the AKP became target for both army and PKK, simultaneously! The army pushed for an invention of Kurdistan region, which resulted in the parliament bill to give the army free hands; and very soon after, several Turkish soldiers are killed, wounded and captured in a PKK ambush; the most comprehensive in a decay. The Turks were badly in need of a good excuse and PKK served them with such; but the picture is more complicated. PKK does not represent a united will; there are some tendencies within PKK that advocate confrontation. They are more concerned about the survival of the organization and their self-realization than the Kurdish national interests, including the achievements in South. Alongside the infiltration from outside, the fluid identity of its heavily assimilated high functionaries can constitute a major fact behind PKK's prevalent political discourse and practice. Similar to Turkey's so called deep-state, PKK's own deep-state would benefit - even economically - from a confrontation. Not surprisingly the economical support for PKK among the Kurdish Diaspora has increased trebly last days! These agencies within PKK are using Kurdish national sentiments for obscure intentions. One can just hope that moderate people, with commitment to Kurdish national interests could get in charge within PKK.
And the Turkish authorities should reconsider their current political discourse based on denial and hectoring people around, particularly the Kurds. Their hot temper and obscene language can only be considered as lack of self-confidence. The Ottoman Grandpa is buried somewhere in the history; his heir, the Republic with prolonged teenage, should grow up one day. With this political culture intertwined with racism, physical and symbolic violence Turks have scanty chance to become EU-members. EU membership is not just economical cooperation; it also means a set of values based on respect for human rights, tolerance, democracy and civility.

Since the beginning of 90s the Kurds have been blessed by their adversaries' stupidity; Saddam's invasion of Kuwait is best example. If Turkey wishes to tread in Saddam's footsteps, it will face the same fate. Circumstances now are different than 90s when Turkish army could easily strut in and out of the region.
Any attempts by our neighbours to stop our just cause will intensify our motivation to get where we have aimed. Running berserk and further losses are going to push us forward, not preventing us.

Iraqi Kurdistan Braced for Turkish Attack

2007-11-03T16:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 03 November 2007,

AP PHOTO

Iwpr net

PKK fighters in Iraqi Kurdistan say they will resist a Turkish invasion of the region.

Kurdish fighters deep in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan say they are prepared to fight Turkey if it invades northern Iraq to flush out PKK guerrillas.

General Jabbar Yawar, spokesman of the General Command of the Kurdistan Regional Government's Border Guard Force, said that Kurdish forces will fight Turkey if it enters Iraq.

"We have a strong force in Kurdistan, and we have been able to protect the security of Kurdistan for years," he said. "We will not stay out of the way of the Turkish army. We will resist."

The general argued that Turkey was using its conflict with the Kurdistan Worker's Party, PKK, as a pretext for a military incursion into the region of northern Iraq which enjoys self-rule.

"Turkey has not been able to accept this region up to now," maintained Yawar.

The PKK is facing one of its most serious challenges from Turkey since setting up bases in the Qandil mountain area of Kurdish northern Iraq in 1982.

Turkey is threatening to invade following weeks of fierce battles over the Iraqi-Turkish border between PKK rebels and Turkish forces, in which dozens have been killed on both sides.

Ankara accuses the US and the Iraqi governments of not doing enough to stop the PKK, which was founded in Turkey, from conducting cross-border attacks.

Washington, which is an ally of Turkey, is leading diplomatic efforts to prevent a Turkish invasion of northern Iraq, and US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice held high-level talks with Turkish leaders on November 2

Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to meet US president George W Bush on November 5, and Turkish officials have said the country will decide whether it will send troops into Iraq after the meeting.

While US and Turkey consider the PKK to be a terrorist organisation, the party and its supporters say that it fights for Kurdish rights.

Although US and Iraqi officials have pledged to crack down on the party in recent meetings with Turkish officials, Iraqi Kurdish leaders and PKK fighters say its bases in the rugged Qandil mountain range are impossible to access.

The Qandil mountain range is about 3,500 metres high and about 1,500 square kilometres, lying between Iraq, Iran and Turkey.

The terrain is known in Iraqi Kurdistan as "Iraq's Tora Bora", a reference to the mountainous area of Afghanistan where al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters are thought to be hiding.

The PKK controls the towns below the mountains, and it is necessary to walk - and sometimes even crawl - up steep terrain to reach the party's bases.

Guerrillas have also built trenches and tunnels throughout the mountain range, which is blanketed by snow in the winter.

Abdularahman Chadirchy, a member of the PKK's command board, said that because of the harsh conditions, he does not believe that Turkey will launch a wide ground attack on PKK bases, despite reports that Turkey has sent 100,000 troops to the border.

"If Turkey attacks Qandil, it will be by air," he said.

Fuad Hussein, chief of staff for the KRG, told IWPR that Iraqi Kurdistan's Peshmarga military forces are not able to drive out the PKK from such impenetrable terrain.

"Turkey is asking the Kurdistan region for something that is beyond our ability," said Hussein, who has called on the PKK to stop attacking the Turkish military and "giving them the pretext to come into the Kurdish region".

He also noted that rooting out the PKK would leave the mountain range open to Islamic extremists, such as Ansar al-Islam, the Kurdish-affiliated al-Qaeda group.

Nowruz Jarand, a member of the PKK Leadership Council, confirmed that the group had fought Ansar al-Islam in the mountains.

She also said that the PKK continues to hold eight Turkish soldiers as prisoners of war, since they were captured during clashes in late October. Jarand said the troops were with the PKK inside Turkey and invited the International Committee for the Red Cross to visit them.

While the KRG condemned the capture of the Turkish troops - and has called on the PKK to stop attacking Turkey - Iraqi Kurds tend to support the group, arguing that Turkey discriminates against its Kurdish population.

Many are also suspicious that Turkey wants to limit the power of the KRG.

Saria Mustafa, 20, a Syrian Kurdish fighter with the PKK, who joined the rebels last year, said she is ready for a Turkish attack.

"They might reach Qandil," she said while sipping a cup of tea after a military training, "but it will be over my dead body."

Iraqi Kurdistan ask Ankara to reconsider incursion risks

2007-11-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 03 November 2007,

Fallah Mustafa

By Michael Jansen
Ireland com

Ankara is being strongly urged to stay its hand by Iraqi Kurdistan's leadership.

Iraq's Kurdistan regional government hopes Ankara will think twice and consider its real interests before sending its troops across the border to attack Turkish Kurdish PKK guerrillas based in the rugged Qandil mountains.

Turkey has already reduced the flow of goods into Iraqi Kurdistan and threatens to cut electricity to put pressure on the government to take action against the guerrillas.

But Falah Mustafa Bakir, head of foreign relations for the regional government (KRG), says that "Turkey is part of Nato, Turkey wants to join the EU, Turkey thinks about the economy and the safety of its own people. Therefore, considering all these factors, there could be a big problem for Turkey if it decides to carry out an incursion.

"We believe there is a chance for Turkey to reconsider its position and to work for a peaceful solution."

He said the KRG considers the guerrillas "an internal Turkish problem" that has resisted a military solution for 23 years.
"Our message to Turkey is that if you want to take a peaceful approach we want to help you as much as we can . . . We are not part of this problem. We do not support [ guerrilla] violence, we do not support military action. We do not think there is any excuse for the Turkish military to violate Iraq's sovereignty.

"We want to have good relations with Turkey and the KRG has a firm policy of non-interference in the affairs of neighbouring countries. We don't want our areas to be used for aggression against our neighbours.

"Turkish military action threatens the stability of Iraq and puts at risk" gains made over the past four years.

"We are busy building a federal democratic Iraq, that's our mission. We are focusing on stabilising the other regions of the country. The Kurdistan region is the only safe and secure part of the country right now and [ if Turkey takes military action] Kurdistan will not remain safe and secure."

The tension between the KRG and Ankara has political as well as security causes. A key bone of contention is a referendum due to be held during 2007.

It will decide whether or not the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and other areas in northern Iraq will be annexed by the Kurdistan region. Ankara fears a referendum will lead to attempts to create a "Greater Kurdistan" extending into southeastern Turkey. A majority of Arab Iraqis also oppose the referendum which they see as the first step in the division of Iraq into three ethno-sectarian states.

Although Turkey and some Arab factions are prepared to use force to prevent the expansion of the Kurdish region, the KRG is not ready to back down over the referendum, Mr Bakir asserted.

"The Kurdish leadership has shown utmost flexibility in order to find a peaceful, lasting solution for the disputed areas. We have been patient."

He dismissed criticism of the oil law unilaterally adopted by the KRG.

He said, "we are committed to the constitution and its provisions for revenue sharing amongst the regions. We have worked hard in order to agree on a petroleum law for Iraq at the federal level."

Turkey strongly opposes Kurdish control of the region's oil resources because revenues from oil could give the semi-autonomous region greater independence.

He also brushed aside opposition to federalism by Turkey and Iraqis who want a strong central government. "We want a powersharing arrangement for the Kurds and Arabs and other national minorities to be part of the set-up in Baghdad and to make sure that the federal system is implemented throughout the country . . . we have asked for a federal Iraq so all the regions can run their own affairs.

"We rejected dictatorship from Saddam Hussein. It means that there is no chance that we will accept dictatorship any more."

Rice arrives in Turkey for talks on Kurdish crisis

2007-11-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 03 November 2007,

US Secretary of State

AFP

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Turkey.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Turkey on Friday, offering an "effective strategy" against Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebels in Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' in exchange for Ankara holding off on its threat of cross-border military action.

Heavy security was in place at Ankara's Esenboga airport, with snipers positioned at the complex and sniffer dogs searching for explosives.

"Anything that would destabilise the north of Iraq is not going to be in Turkey's interest," Rice said during a stopover in Ireland on the way to Ankara.

"It is not going to be in our interest. It is not going to be in Iraq's interest," she said.

"We want to develop a very effective strategy for dealing with this threat," Rice said. "But we are not going to be able to do this without coordination of the three."

Describing the northern Iraq-based Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as a "common enemy" of the United States, Iraq and Turkey, Rice said all three must work together to effectively combat the rebels.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Rice said a three-party panel she set up more than a year ago to coordinate action against the rebels had been "enhanced", implicitly acknowledging that it had been ineffective.

Her offer may not win over Ankara, which has lost faith in the tripartite process and says it want to see concrete steps against the PKK.

"We will not make the same mistake. We are against trying over and over again mechanisms that have already been tried and have failed," Babacan told a press conference here Thursday.

Rice's visit comes at a sensitive time, with the Turkish government under mounting public pressure to act against the PKK.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, left, is seen with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan before their meeting in Ankara, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 2, 2007

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, second from right, accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Ross Wilson, right, meets with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, center, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, second from left, and Turkish member of parliament and foreign policy adviser to the Prime Minister, Egemen Bagis, left, in Ankara, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 2, 2007
Ankara says some 3,500 Turkey's PKK rebels are based in the autonomous Kurdistan region 'north of Iraq', from where they launch cross-border attacks as part of their 23-year separatist campaign in southeast Turkey.

Ankara has massed an estimated 100,000 troops on the border and threatened a military incursion unless Baghdad and Washington make good on promises to crack down on the rebels.

Both the United States and Iraq have called on Turkey for restraint.

Rice will meet Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who in turn is scheduled to meet US President George W. Bush in Washington on Monday.

She will then fly to Istanbul for talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ahead of a ministerial conference on Iraqi security of Iraq's neighbours and major Western powers Friday evening and Saturday in Istanbul.

There were minor demonstrations against Rice's visit in Ankara and Istanbul on Thursday and a small percussion bomb went off overnight in front of a US-based cargo company in Istanbul, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Putting on the pressure ahead of Rice's arrival, Turkey on Thursday announced economic sanctions on the Kurdistan autonomous government of northern Iraq, which it accuses of harbouring and aiding the rebels -- a charge Iraqi Kurdish leaders deny.

Massud Barzani, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan government, confirmed that Turkey had for several days closed its airspace to planes bound for his region.

Rice said she had asked Barzani in a telephone conversation last week to distance himself from the PKK.

"I made the very clear point that the KRG (Kurdish Regional Government) needs to separate itself from the PKK in a very clear rhetorical way and he assured me that they have no intention of harboring the PKK, no intention of trying to do anything but rule out terrorism in North Iraq," she said.

Tensions between Iraq and Turkey rose after October 21 when PKK rebels Ankara says infiltrated from Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' ambushed a military unit, killing 12 soldiers and capturing eight.

The army says it has since killed 80 rebels on Turkish territory.

PM’s Statement on Istanbul Meetings

2007-11-02T18:42:00.000-07:00

Regional Government

Statement by Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani

November 2, 2007

The Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) welcomes the Istanbul meetings of the Foreign Ministers of the G8, the Permanent 5, the neighbouring countries, the Arab League, and the UN Secretary General. We hope that this distinguished group of diplomats and interested parties will help to find a resolution to the current tensions which exist along the Iraqi-Turkish border.

The KRG condemns in the strongest terms the recent acts of violence committed by the PKK inside Turkey . There can be no excuse whatsoever for these actions which undermine peace and stability in the entire region and which are not in the interest of anyone involved. There is no place in the modern civilised world for this type of violence. Full Text

Turkey’s Iraq Problem

2007-11-02T18:34:00.000-07:00

Friday, November 2, 2007

> Breaking news

Friday, November 2, 2007

> Breaking news

By David L. Phillips.

November 1, 2007

PRIME MINISTER Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is under tremendous pressure to act decisively against the Kurdistan Workers' Party. He should resist demands for military action. Attacking the PKK in Northern Iraq would have serious repercussions, undermining Turkey 's democratic development, radicalizing Turkish Kurds, and risking a regional conflagration while adversely affecting relations between the United States and Turkey , as well as Turkey 's candidacy for membership in the European Union.

The PKK launched its armed struggle in 1978 with the goal of ending repression and establishing "Greater Kurdistan," encompassing territory in Turkey , Iran , Iraq , and Syria . The Turkish state responded by declaring a state of emergency in the Kurdish areas of Southeastern Turkey and cracking down with its military. Up to 30,000 people died in the ensuing conflict. Full Text

Britain Praises Iraqi Kurds’ Efforts to End Crisis

2007-11-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

By Richard A. Oppel Jr.

November 2, 2007

SALAHUDDIN, Iraq, Nov. 1 — While Turkish and American officials have stepped up criticism of Iraqi Kurdish leaders for failing to curb the guerrilla fighters who have sanctuary in northern Iraq, a top British official lent his support to the Kurdish regional government during a visit on Thursday and indicated that he was confident of its commitment to resolving the crisis.

The British defense secretary, Des Browne, appeared here at a news conference with Massoud Barzani, the Kurdish leader of northern Iraq . Mr. Browne said that he had seen “a serious commitment to implement a range of measures which will make a difference.”

Mr. Browne’s comments stood in contrast to remarks last week by the State Department’s senior Iraq adviser, David M. Satterfield, that the United States was “not pleased with the lack of action” shown by Kurdish leaders. Full Text

UK Defence Secretary on first visit praises Kurdistan 's peace and development

2007-11-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

Kurdistan Regional Government

Press Release

November 1, 2007

Erbil – Des Browne, the UK Secretary of State for Defence, today made his first visit to the Kurdistan Region in Iraq . Mr Browne had wide ranging discussions with Mr Masoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Region, and Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani. These discussions focused on the political situation in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, Kurdistan's model of development, the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) excellent contribution to stability and order in Iraq , and the current situation between Turkey and the PKK.

In a joint press conference Mr Browne said, "I have come here to celebrate freedom with our friends, who are making the most of their situation. The Kurdistan Region shows what can be achieved when people cooperate and work together. This is a very strong example for the rest of Iraq . With better security, the rest of Iraq can follow this model." Full Text

Turkey falling behind on political reform, EU Report says

2007-11-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

By Lucia Kubosova

November 2, 2007

BRUSSELS - Almost one year after the EU partially froze Turkey 's membership talks, little reform progress has been made by Ankara in key areas, with the European Commission in a fresh report urging Ankara "to renew the momentum of political reforms."

A commission draft report to be published on Tuesday (6 November) - seen by EUobserver - concludes that "the implementation of reforms was uneven and has slowed down since 2005" when Turkey kicked off EU accession negotiations. Full Text

Iraqi Kurds taking care of business

2007-11-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

OAKLAND ROSS/TORONTO STAR

Many attending trade fair in Erbil, Iraq, this week adopt Western dress.

Annual trade show attracts firms from 20 countries as construction booms while war rages in south

Nov 01, 2007

By Oakland Ross

November 1, 2007

ERBIL, Iraq –The fires of civil war continue to rage south of this rambling, low-rise regional capital, and now military tensions are mounting to the north as well, along the rebel-infested border between Iraq and Turkey .

But here in sunny, ancient Erbil , they're having a trade show – and Hogr Salih Qadir, for one, is feeling pretty good about it. Full Text

Rice in Turkey for tough talks to avert cross-border strike

2007-11-02T18:18:00.000-07:00

By Sylvie Lanteaume

November 2, 2007

ANKARA -- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Turkey Friday, offering an "effective strategy" against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq , in exchange for Ankara holding off on its threat of cross-border military action.

Heavy security was in place at Ankara's Esenboga airport, with snipers positioned at the complex and sniffer dogs searching for explosives.

"Anything that would destabilize the north of Iraq is not going to be in Turkey 's interest," Rice said during a stopover in Ireland on the way to Ankara . Full Text

Dreams and reality

2007-11-02T18:14:00.000-07:00

November 1, 2007

The effects of northern Iraq on Turkey 's Kurds are more complex than they seem STANDING by the stream that separates the hamlet of Ovakoy from northern Iraq , Hisyar Ozalp, a young Kurdish lawyer, gestures towards a cluster of pink houses on the opposite bank. “That is Kurdistan ,” he says. “And so is this.” Any conversation in Ovakoy shows why Turkey is so nervous about the effect of the Iraqi Kurds' semi-independent statelet. “I don't like Turkish, it's no good,” declares Fatma, a five-year-old, using the commonest Kurdish dialect. A gaggle of Turkish conscripts stares in mute incomprehension. Full Text

Kurdish leader Murat Karayilan's interview

2007-11-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

For Kurds In N. Iraq , A Familiar Foreboding

2007-11-01T17:41:00.000-07:00

By Sudarsan Raghavan
November 1, 2007
Shelling by Turkey Leads Many to Flee DESHTETEK -- The last three women left this tiny hamlet on Monday, carrying no more than their clothes and prayers. They joined 250 villagers who fled in the past two weeks, locking their homes and their yellow church and driving away on a desolate road scarred by war. Only 11 men remain, their lands separated from Turkey by a thin, emerald river winding through a fertile valley. For several months now, Turkish forces have been shelling this rugged terrain from mountain bases, including a massive one perched above Deshtetek, in an effort to root out Kurdish guerrillas. An immense Turkish flag, its white crescent and star gleaming in the sun, is painted on the mountainside.

Full Text

Ban Ki-moon heads to Turkey this week for meeting on Iraq

2007-11-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

October 30, 2007

30 October 2007 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend a high-level diplomatic meeting on Iraq to be held later this week in Turkey , his spokesperson announced today.

The Istanbul Expanded Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Neighbouring Countries of Iraq will focus on ways to promote greater regional dialogue, Marie Okabe told reporters in New York . Full Text

Turkey Crisis Could Threaten Meeting on Iraq

2007-11-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

By Amit R. Paley
November 1, 2007

Nation's Broader Security Issues Should Be Priority, Officials Say BAGHDAD, Oct. 31 -- Senior Iraqi officials expressed concern Wednesday that the escalating crisis in northern Iraq between Turkey and Kurdish guerrillas could undermine an important regional conference this week on the future of Iraq. Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari warned that the tensions should not distract from the main focus of the meeting, set to begin this week in Istanbul, on the far broader security problems of Iraq . Full Text

Iraq Asks for Iran ’s Help in Calming Kurdish Crisis

2007-11-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

By Alissa J. Rubin

November 1, 2007

Iraqi officials asked for Iran’s help on Wednesday in negotiating a diplomatic solution to the standoff with Turkey over Kurdish guerrillas who have been using northern Iraq as a base to stage raids on Turkish troops across the border.

Tensions between Iraq and Turkey over the issue threaten to overshadow other topics at a regional meeting that starts Thursday in Istanbul , which Iraq hoped would focus on its internal security. Full Text

Kurds in Turkey Who Backed Erdogan Now Fear Civil War

2007-11-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

By Ayla Jean Yackley

November 1, 2007

Kurds in southeast Turkey voted this summer in record numbers for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his promise to bring peace to their region. Now, with Turkish troops massed for a possible invasion of Iraq , the talk is of curtailed political rights and ethnic strife. Full Text

Lost and Found in Kurdistan

2007-11-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

Ottawa Citizen

By Susan Mohammad

October 26, 2007

It has been 18 years, but the anger I felt toward my father is still fresh.

It was Remembrance Day, 1989. To mark the occasion at Queen Elizabeth Public School in Kitchener, Ont., a few children with very ethnic names were invited to give a speech. Although only seven, I was chosen to speak at the school assembly. But as the ceremony drew near, I couldn't think of anything to say. I asked my father, an Iraqi-Kurd, for help. He was the smartest person I knew. Full Text

CSPAN Interview with WKI President Najmaldin Karim

2007-10-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

An attack across the border would mean war, Kurdish President Massoud Barzani warns

2007-10-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

Deborah Haynes in Irbil

October 29, 2007

Any move by Turkish troops into Kurdish territory would be a declaration of war, the region’s leader said yesterday.

President Barzani gave the warning as a new wave of clashes inside Turkey left up to 20 Kurdish guerrillas dead. He said that Ankara was using its grievances with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as an excuse to challenge the growing prosperity and independence enjoyed by Iraqi Kurds in their largely autonomous region. Full Text

Iraq’s Next War

2007-10-30T14:35:00.000-07:00

National Post, Issues & Ideas

By Daniel Pipes

October 30, 2007

About 100,000 Turkish troops, backed by aircraft and tanks, are poised to enter Iraq for counterterrorism purposes. But once there, they might just stay permanently, occupying the Mosul area, leading to dangerous regional consequences.

To understand this danger requires a refresher in Turkish irredentist ambitions going back to the 1920s. The Ottoman Empire emerged from World War One on the losing side, a status codified in 1920 by the Treaty of Sevres imposed on it by the victorious Allies. The treaty placed some Ottoman territory under international control and much of the rest under separate Armenian, French, Greek, Italian and Kurdish control, leaving Turkish rule to continue only in a northwest Anatolian statelet. Full Text

Kurdish intellectual Fırat: Turkey should recognize the Iraqi Kurdish administration

2007-10-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

October 29, 2007

Kurdish intellectual Ümit Fırat believes Turkey should abandon its policy of rejecting the Iraqi Kurdish administration and start implementing immediate social and political reforms immediately instead of resorting to military options to end the terrorism of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Full Text

In the Rugged North of Iraq , Kurdish Rebels Flout Turkey

2007-10-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

By Sabrina Tavernise

October 29, 2007

RANIYA, Iraq, Oct. 27 — A low-slung concrete building off a steep mountain road marks the beginning of rebel territory in this remote corner of northern Iraq . The fighters based here, Kurdish militants fighting Turkey , fly their own flag, and despite urgent international calls to curb them, they operate freely, receiving supplies in beat-up pickup trucks less than 10 miles from a government checkpoint.

“Our condition is good,” said one fighter, putting a heaping spoonful of sugar into his steaming tea. “How about yours?” A giant face of the rebels’ leader — Abdullah Ocalan, now in a Turkish prison — has been painted on a nearby slope. Full Text

Statement: PUK and KDP leadership spare no efforts for right solution

2007-10-30T14:24:00.000-07:00

Erbil, Kurdistan – Iraq (KRG.org) – Mr Masoud Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan Region, today chaired a joint meeting of the political bureaux of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the two major parties in the Kurdistan Region's coalition government.

The meeting addressed the Iraqi political process and the current situation in the Kurdistan Region. It focused on the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) responsibilities and considered the democratic process in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in terms of diplomatic, political, economic, and good neighbourly relations. The discussions addressed the current problems between the Republic of Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). They also assessed Turkey's position, policies and conditions towards Iraq.

The joint political bureaux arrived at the following decisions issued in their signed joint statement:

1. The Kurdistan Region has not been a part of Turkey's internal political and military problems in the past, and is not so today. The PKK has illegally stationed itself in the border areas between Iraq and Turkey without any legal license or political agreement with the Iraqi Government, the KRG or any political parties. From those border areas the PKK has created various problems for us.

2. We are ready, together with the Iraqi Federal Government and the US Government, which in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions has a responsibility to protect Iraq, to adopt a correct approach to protect the borders and prevent any use of these areas for activities against our neighbours.

3. We restate that after the Kurdish uprising of 1991, the election of the Kurdistan National Assembly and the formation of the KRG in 1992, the KRG and its political parties have been, and still are, a factor for peace and stability in the region. We do not support the PKK, or allow any assistance to be provided to them. We hope that all parties, especially the United States, the Iraqi Government, our neighbours and all friendly countries who support the people of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, will spare no effort at this difficult time to find appropriate solutions to diffuse the current tense situation at our borders. The KRG stands ready to fulfil its responsibilities, as part of federal Iraq, to contribute positively in this process. We are committed to continuing our political and diplomatic efforts to solve this problem. We desire the success of these legal, diplomatic, political and reform efforts and endeavours.

2007-10-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

Oct 26, 2007

The U.S. military in Southern Kurdistan is staying out of the fight between PKK fighters and Turkey. Major General Benjamin Mixon, the top American commander in the region, says it's not the U.S. military's responsibility to act. He said he plans to do "absolutely nothing" to counter the PKK activity. Mixon told Pentagon reporters by videoconference from a base in Southern Kurdistan that he's sent no additional U.S. troops to the area and that he's not tracking hiding places or logistics activities of the PKK, reported AP today.

Talabani and Ahmedinejad discuss ways to resolve Iraqi-Turkish crisis

2007-10-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

Monday, 29 October 2007,

PHOTO

VOI

Talabani discussed Ahmedinejad means of peacefully resolving the current political crisis.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani discussed over the phone with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmedinejad means of peacefully resolving the current political crisis with Turkey, according to a presidential statement released on Sunday.

"The Iranian president stressed during a phone call with Talabani on Saturday evening his solidarity with the Iraqi people's desire to live in peace and expressed his willingness to make considerable efforts to peacefully end the current tension along the Iraqi-Turkish borders," said.

During the phone call, al-Talabani urged Ahmedinejad to spare no effort to convince Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, currently in Iran, to use dialogue and peaceful means for resolving conflicts instead of resorting to military action.

A high-ranking official Iraqi delegation, headed by Minister of Defense Muhammad Abdul Qadir al-Obeidi, arrived in Turkey on Thursday to discuss peaceful solutions to the crisis that erupted between the two countries.
Iraqi President : Jalal Talabani, a Kurd

Turkey has amassed up to 100,000 troops along the frontier in preparation for a cross-border operation to crush about 3,000 guerrillas of the PKK, most recently blamed for attacks that killed 15 Turkish soldiers over two weeks ago.

The Turkish parliament approved a memorandum forwarded by the government allowing the Turkish army to hunt down members of the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), in Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq'. Only 19 out of 555 legislators in the Turkish parliament voted against the proposal.

Since 1984 the PKK took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.

Iraqi Kurdistan president suggests talks with Turkey over PKK

2007-10-29T14:28:00.000-07:00

Monday, 29 October 2007,

File Photo

AFP

Kurdistan region president called for direct talks with Turkey.

Iraqi Kurdistan region president Massoud Barzani called for direct talks with Turkey to break the deadlock over the problem of Turkey's rebel fighters hiding out in northern Iraq.

"Let us sit down together to resolve the Kurdish question," he said during an interview with AFP in the Kurdistan regional capital of Erbil.

The call came as pressure mounted for Baghdad and Ankara to find a solution to the problem of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters launching assaults against Turkish positions from bases in Iraq's Kurdistan region in 'northern Iraq'.

A high-level Iraqi delegation traveled to Ankara on Friday to try to dissuade Turkish leaders from launching an incursion but failed to satisfy their concerns.

Barzani said the regional Kurdish administration "should be consulted by the federal government.
Massoud Barzani, the President of the autonomous Regional Government of Kurdistan 'Iraq'

"I am not an enemy of Turkey, but I do not accept the language of force," said Barzani, the president of the region since 2005.

An attack across the border would mean war, Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani warns

2007-10-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

Monday, 29 October 2007,

File Photo

Times online

Any move by Turkish troops into Kurdistan territory would be a declaration of war.

Any move by Turkish troops into Kurdistan territory would be a declaration of war, the region's leader said.

Iraqi Kurdistan President Barzani gave the warning as a new wave of clashes inside Turkey left up to 20 Kurdish guerrillas dead. He said that Ankara was using its grievances with the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as an excuse to challenge the growing prosperity and independence enjoyed by Iraqi Kurds in their Kurdistan autonomous region.

"If they invade or if there is any incursion, it means war," Mr Barzani said at his offices on the outskirts of Erbil. "If they attack our people, our interests, our territories then there will be no limit because everything is subject to that incursion."

He urged Turkey to solve the problem through dialogue, not guns. "If they take a peaceful approach, then we are ready to help as much as we can . . . The unfortunate thing is that they are not allowing other . . . options. They insist on war as being the only means to solve that problem."
Massoud Barzani, the President of the autonomous Regional Government of Kurdistan 'Iraq'

Turkish Army sources said that their troops had killed 20 Kurdish PKK guerrillas yesterday in a large operation involving 8,000 soldiers with air support in the eastern province of Tunceli, 370 miles from the Iraqi border. Other reports put the toll at 15.

Adding to the tension, a suicide car bomber killed at least seven people in the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk. The city is due to have a referendum on whether to become part of Kurdish-run northern Iraq, further boosting the Kurds' power base.

Ankara feels threatened by Kurdish fighters, who use camps in Iraq's mountainous Kurdish region for attacks on Turkey. It has demanded the extradition of PKK leaders - a request that Iraq says is unrealistic - and is threatening an incursion.

Mr Barzani said that the problem of the PKK, which began an armed campaign in 1984 to secure better rights for Kurdish people living in Turkey, could not be solved through violence.

"We are ready to cooperate with Turkey, provided that Turkey will not only go for a military solution," he said, adding that he opposed the build-up of 150,000 Turkish troops.

He also hinted that Turkey had another reason for its tough stance on the PKK, which is not a new problem. "I am about to be convinced that the PKK is only an excuse," he said. "The continuous, direct threats of Turkey against the Kurdistan region and its behaviour have created a doubt, leading us close to the conviction that exactly this is the aim. The Kurdistan region is the target, otherwise why should we be involved in the fight between Turkey and the PKK?"

A sharp rise in clashes between Turkish soldiers and the outlawed group in recent weeks has left scores dead, increasing pressure on Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, to take more action. The PKK says it is holding eight soldiers prisoner.

The United States, Iraq and other countries have been pressing Turkey to refrain from cross-border military operations. A military campaign could destabilise one of the few stable areas in Iraq and leave the United States in an awkward position with key allies: Turkey, a member of Nato, the Baghdad Government and the self-governing Iraqi Kurdistan.

Mr Barzani said that talks with Washington and other allies centred on the desire to avoid conflict, although he acknowledged that the US-led coalition had the overall responsibility of protecting Iraq under a UN resolution. "To what extent they [the United States] will stay committed to that is the question, but we do not want to embarrass the Americans," he said. "We are not asking them for military help, we are asking them to help so that we defuse the tensions so that the war will not take place."

Mr Erdogan is due to meet President Bush on November 5 and Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, is expected in Ankara on Thursday for talks with Turkish officials.

Mr Barzani also expressed a strong desire to avoid a return to a period of Kurdish tensions with Turkey, Syria and Iran - countries where Kurds have settled - and emphasised the need to recognise the rights of millions of Kurds. "It is better for all of us to sit down together, reach an understanding. We are also a nation, we exist, we have a right to live," he said.

The President urged the PKK to honour the ceasefire and to release the eight Turkish soldiers being held.

"They should stay away from violence. They should adopt a peaceful approach, a peaceful solution."

Kurdish separatist leader Murat Karayilan's interview

2007-10-28T16:21:00.000-07:00

Head of Iraqi Kurdish security speaks to Al Jazeera - 23 Oct

2007-10-28T16:13:00.000-07:00

Kurdish Poet nominated for UK Forward Poetry Prize

2007-10-28T14:35:00.000-07:00

“An Ordinary Day”, a poem from Bells of Speech (Ambit, 2006) by Kurdish poet Nazand Begikhani has been selected and nominated for this year’s UK Forward Book of Poetry prize. The poem has been reprinted and published in an anthology of the “best poems of the year from the Forward Poetry Prizes”.

Nazand Begikhani is from Koysinjaq, Iraqi Kurdistan and has been living in exile (Denmark, France and UK) since 1987. She holds a Ph.D in comparative literature from the University of Sorbonne. She has published three poetry collections in Kurdish and Bells of Speech is her first anthology in English.

Bells of Speech has been very well received in the UK. Following its publication Nazand was invited to participate and read her poems on the flagship Radio 4 programme, Start the Week, presented by Andrew Marr, which was broadcast on Christmas Day 2006. On May 14th 2007, MP Ann Clwyd hosted a reception of Bells of Speech at the Houses of Parliament where Nazand read her poems to a number of literary figures, MPs, media representatives and foreign diplomats.

Also, several of her poems have been selected and included in English and American anthologies, including “ Inspired Verse” by Wyndham Thomas (Corsham Print, Easter 2007); “ “The Poetry of Recovery” by.Sante Lucia Books (USA, 2007); Fragments from the Dark” by Jeni Williams (Forthcoming 2008) and the Poetry International Web (http://uk.poetryinternationalweb, summer 2007).

Wendy Beckett wrote in her introduction to the Inspired Verse: “Nazand devotes herself to seeking justice for Kurdish people and all who are persecuted. She believes happiness is our right, and sings of it with wistful certainty”

An ordinary day

The security officer

got up early

put on his white shirt

had honey toast with nuts

kissed his three children

hugged his wife passionately

and left for work

At his desk

sat ten files

of ten men to be shot

He signed them

while drinking mint tea

At ten o’clock

he ordered the shooting

got angry over a gunman who missed his target

Taking out his pistol

he fired at the missed target ten times

Before the end of his shift

he visited the mothers of the ten shot men

ordered each to pay 100 dinars

for the cost of the bullets that killed their sons

In the evening

he celebrated his brother’s birthday

At night

on the surface of a mirror

he saw a drop of blood trickling down to his feet

he tried to wash it

the trickle rose to his chest

Where does the difference lie between the killer and killed?

No plans for further Turkey-Iraq talks over PKK rebels

2007-10-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 27 October 2007,

File Photo

Reuters

Turkish and Iraqi officials: there were no plans for further talks between Turkey and an Iraqi delegation visiting Ankara.

Turkish and Iraqi officials said on Saturday there were no plans for further talks between Turkey and an Iraqi delegation visiting Ankara to seek an agreement on cracking down on Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebels based in Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq'.

Turkey rejected a series of proposals on Friday evening offered by a high-level Iraqi delegation, led by Defence Minister General Abdel Qader Jassim, as insufficient and taking too long to take effect.

The delegation was in Ankara to try to avert a possible major cross-border operation by Turkey against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas.

The officials, who declined to be named, told Reuters the Iraqi delegation, which included U.S. military and Iraqi Kurdistan regional government officials, would leave Turkey around midday.

Turkey has massed up to 100,000 troops on the frontier before a possible cross-border operation against about 3,000 PKK guerrillas.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly said Turkey will not tolerate any more PKK attacks from Iraq and has called for immediate steps by U.S. and Iraqi authorities in order to avert a military operation.

A senior Turkish diplomat, who declined to be named, told Reuters late on Friday the Iraqi delegation had offered proposals that included cutting logistical support to the PKK, limiting their movements and closing offices linked to them.

Ankara wants PKK guerrillas, including their leaders, handed over and for their camps in Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' to be shut down. Iraq says it has no control over the separatist fighters.

The Iraqi-Turkish talks came ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Ankara on Nov. 2 to discuss the crisis and before a regional conference in Istanbul on Nov. 2-3, where foreign ministers will discuss Iraq.

Behind Turkey’s Kurdish Problem

2007-10-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

By Pelin Turgut

October 24, 2007

Istanbul – For as long as I can remember, I have been taught — in school, on TV, by taxi drivers — that Turkey has "red lines" that cannot be crossed, sacrosanct rules dictating foreign policy that have been passed down through generations as if written in stone. At their anxious heart, these rules are the legacy of the 1920s, when — following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire — Europeans were trying to carve up the country. But a ragtag bunch of Turkish volunteers, poorly armed, famously surviving on a slice of stale bread a day, rallied under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to fight a war of independence. Against tremendous odds, they won, and from their struggle, modern Turkey was born. But the paranoia of having almost been conquered runs strong — gut-wrenchingly strong, summed up in the popular saying "A Turk has no friend but the Turks." The world, if you ask a Turk, is out to get us, and our challenge is to remain steadfast against enemies real and imagined. Hence the red lines on everything from vigilant secularism to Kurdish autonomy. Full Text

British MP's motion on Turkey starts to gain support

2007-10-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

Kurdistan Regional Government

Press Release

October 26, 2007

London, UK – Mr Dave Anderson, the UK Member of Parliament for Blaydon, today in the House of Commons expressed his deep concern about Turkey ’s recent vote authorising a military incursion into the Kurdistan Region in Iraq .

The Labour MP called for a debate on the current situation in Kurdistan by tabling an Early day motion (EDM). So far the motion has got the backing of 19 MPs. Because the UK parliament will go into a short recess next week, once the next parliamentary session starts on 6 November the motion will be retabled to win more support. Full Text

Text of Motion

U.S. Envoy Presses Iraq to Act Against Guerrillas

2007-10-27T13:39:00.000-07:00

By James Glanz and Andrew Kramer

October 26, 2007

BAGHDAD, Oct. 25 — Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker said Thursday that Iraq should disrupt supply lines and develop a “lookout list” of senior leaders for the Kurdish guerrillas who use the northern Iraqi mountains as a safe haven for attacks inside Turkey .

But Mr. Crocker, the American ambassador here, stopped short of supporting Turkish demands that Iraq take military action against the guerrilla group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the P.K.K., or extradite its leaders to Turkey . The Turkish government has repeatedly threatened to make incursions into Iraq to strike at the fighters.

Any Iraqi military expedition, Mr. Crocker said, would run into the geographic fact that the northern mountains, called the Qandeel range, are remote and inaccessible. “I don’t think it’s realistic to expect that the Iraqis are going to march up that mountain and take on the P.K.K. and arrest their leaders,” Mr. Crocker said. “This is in the hard-to-do category.” Full Text

Newsweek Interview with FM Hoshyar Zebari

2007-10-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

Newsweek

By
Babak Dehghanpisheh

October 23, 2007

The Iraqi minister caught between the Turks and the Kurds discusses rising regional tensions—and the unexpected Syrian reaction—in the wake of a cross-border PKK raid.

While the last thing Iraq needs right now is a major crisis with one of its neighbors, one may be unavoidable. After a cross-border raid by guerrillas from the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) left 12 Turkish soldiers dead and eight missing on Sunday, dozens of Turkish military vehicles headed toward the Iraq border. Meanwhile, Iraqi president Jalal Talabani announced that he expected the PKK rebels to announce a unilateral ceasefire later Monday. If Turkey does indeed carry out its threats to target Kurdish insurgents hiding in Iraq , the man who will have to deal with the fallout is Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, himself a Kurd, who is urging restraint on all sides. How bad is the situation? Zebari says dealing with the crisis "has been the most difficult job in the world." He met with NEWSWEEK's Babak Dehghanpisheh at the ministry of foreign affairs in Baghdad . Full Text

Struggling against the changing times: the real Issue for Turkey is not 3,000 rebels, but 15 million Kurds

2007-10-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

Monday, 25 October 2010,

Bashdar Pusho Ismaeel - Kurdish Globe

Fighting the branches of your problem is fruitless, without addressing its root.

Iraq Kurdistan government deny presence of PKK offices

2007-10-26T16:47:00.000-07:00

Thursday, 25 October 2007,

Dr Mahmoud Othman

AFP

The autonomous Kurdistan regional government (KRG) in northern Iraq denied on Thursday that there were any offices of the Turkey's rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the region.

"There is no office of the PKK in the Kurdish region" of Iraq, Jamal Abdallah, spokesman of the regional government, told AFP, dismissing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's order to shut down the offices of the rebel group.

"As far as the regional Kurdistan administration is concerned, we have no idea about such an office.

"But if Prime Minister Maliki knows about such an office in Iraq, let him close it. We do not know what the prime minister meant about closing the PKK offices. Where are these offices? What kind of offices do they have? Where are they located."

On Tuesday, Maliki ordered the closure of all offices of the PKK in Iraq in what was seen as a concession to intense pressure from Washington and Ankara following deadly attacks by the rebels against the Turkish army.

Kurdish MP Dr Mahmud Othman also denied there were any PKK office in Iraq.

"They do not have any office in Kurdistan, nor in other parts of Iraq," Othman said in Baghdad.

He said the PKK had used two flats in Baghdad to promote cultural activities but the "government closed them last year".

"The PKK has military bases in Qandil mountains (on the Turkish border) and I wonder how the prime minister is going to close them," Othman said.

"The Iraqi government is giving promises but cannot implement any of these promises. Why should they give promises?"

CNN's Interview with Masoud Barzani

2007-10-26T16:18:00.000-07:00

Turkey Intensifies Border Operations, Reporting From Qandil mountains Thursday, October

2007-10-25T16:03:00.000-07:00

25, 2007
Telegraph
By Patrick Cockburn in the Qandil mountains, Iraqi Kurdistan

Turkey used its helicopters and artillery to attack Kurdish guerrillas inside Iraqi Kurdistan yesterday as the Turkish army massed just north of the border. The helicopter gunships penetrated three miles into Iraqi territory and warplanes targeted mountain paths used by rebels entering Turkey.

Guerrilla commanders of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were defiant in the face of an impending invasion. In an interview high in the Qandil mountains, Bozan Tekin, a PKK leader, said: "Even Alexander the Great couldn't bring this region under his rule." The PKK has its headquarters in the Qandil mountains, one of the world's great natural fortresses in the east of Iraqi Kurdistan, stretching south from the south-east tip of Turkey along the Iranian border. If Turkey, or anybody else, is to try to drive the PKK out of Iraqi Kurdistan they would have to capture this bastion and it is unlikely they will succeed.

Despite threats of action by the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, the PKK leaders give no sense of feeling that their enemies were closing in.

For a guerrilla movement awaiting assault, the PKK's leaders are surprisingly easy to find. We drove east from Arbil for two-and-a-half hours and hired a four-wheel drive car in the village of Sangassar. Iraqi Kurdistan police wearing camouflage uniform were at work building a new outpost out of cement blocks beside the road leading into the mountains but only took our names.

In fact the four-wheel drive was hardly necessary because there is a military road constructed by Saddam Hussein's army in the 1980s which zig-zags along the side of a steep valley until it reaches the first PKK checkpoint. The PKK soldiers with Kalashnikovs and two grenades pinned to the front of their uniform were relaxed and efficient. In case anybody should have any doubt about who was in control there was an enormous picture of the imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan picked out in yellow, black, white and red painted stones on a hill half a mile away and visible over a wide area.

There were no sign that threats from Mr Maliki in Baghdad or from the Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani, were having an effect. The PKK soldiers at a small guest house had not been expecting us but promptly got in touch with their local headquarters.

For all its nonchalance the PKK is facing a formidable array of enemies. The Iraqi government in Baghdad has no direct influence over the Kurdistan Regional Government, led by President Massoud Barzani whose administration is made up of his own Kurdistan Democratic Party and President Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. This is the only force capable of trying to eject the 3,000 PKK fighters.

So far the KRG shows no sign of doing so. One reason is that, paradoxically, the Turkish government will not talk to the KRG although it is the only Iraqi institution that might help it – Ankara is fearful of the growing strength of the KRG as a quasi-independent state on its borders.

So far the PKK is benefiting substantially from the crisis which started this summer when it began to make more attacks within Turkey. Instead of being politically marginalised in its hidden valleys, it is suddenly at the centre of international attention. This will help it try to rebuild its battered political base within Turkey where it suffered defeat in the 1990s and where its leader Abdullah Ocalan has been imprisoned since 1999.

Asked if the Turkish forces could inflict damage on the PKK, one of its fighters, called Intikam, said: "Three out of five of our fighters are hiding in the mountains in Turkish occupied-Kurdistan and, if the Turkish army cannot find them there, it will hardly find them here in Southern Kurdistan."

Bozan Tekin and Mizgin Amed, a woman who is also a member of the leadership, hotly deny they are "terrorists" and ask plaintively why there is not more attention given to Kurds who have been killed by the Turkish army. They add that they have been observing a ceasefire since since 1 October 2006 and fight in retaliation for Turkish attacks.

"Since then the Turks have launched 485 attacks on us," says Bozan Tekin. "Even an animal – any living thing – will fight when it feels it is in a dangerous situation," said Mizgin Amed. Both the PKK leaders were chary of giving details of last Sunday's ambush in which at least 16 Turkish soldiers were killed and eight captured. This is because the ambush is a little difficult to square with their defensive posture. But Bozan Tekin said that in reality "35 Turkish soldiers were killed and only three PKK fighters were lightly wounded. We did not lose anyone dead." He claimed that an attack on a minibus, which Turkey blamed on the PKK, was in fact carried out by Turkish soldiers on a Kurdish wedding party.

Overall, although it does not say so openly, the PKK would welcome a Turkish military invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan because it would embroil Turkey with the Iraqi Kurds and the Iraqi army. It would also pose almost no threat to the PKK.

Statement from the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region: The continuing crisis between the Government of Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)

2007-10-24T16:26:00.000-07:00

The policy of the Presidency, the Government, and the political parties of the Kurdistan Region related to this issue can be summarized as follows:

1. We do not believe in the use of violence as a doctrine and method to achieve political objectives.

2. We do not accept in any way, based on our commitment to the Iraqi constitution, the use of Iraqi territories, including the territories of the Kurdistan Region, as a base to threaten the security of neighboring countries.

3. We call upon the PKK to eliminate violence and armed struggle as a mode of operation. The current problems should be solved through political and diplomatic methods. It is necessary to stop using other methods, which are useless, and we demand that the PKK remain committed to the cease fire and not resort to armed operations.

4. We condemn all terrorist activities from any party because the people of Kurdistan itself are victims of terrorism. We have always struggled for the sake of peace, democracy, development and stability for our people and peoples of the region. We are in fact in a bitter and continued state of struggle against terrorism.

We declare that these principles are the firm policies of the people of Kurdistan, we reiterate that we endeavor to build friendly relations with the people of the region and we share a commitment to good neighborly relations with all.

We have always called for peace and security and we believe that the outstanding problems can be solved only through dialogue and understanding.

Official spokesman of the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region

Q&A: Tensions Rise Along the Turkey-Iraq Border

2007-10-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

National Public Radio

By Corey Flintoff

October 23, 2007

The tensions building along the Turkish-Iraqi border are nothing new. In the past two decades, Turkish troops have staged dozens of incursions into Iraq in pursuit of guerrilla fighters.

The present conflict began in 1984, but it has roots dating back at least as far as the creation of the modern state of Turkey . Here's some background on the history and the issues behind the story: Full Text

The US is Pressing Southern Kurdistan to Murder Kurds on Behalf of Turkish Turkey!

2007-10-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

Nechirvan Barzani, Barham Salih In Washington, U.S. Air Strikes On PKK Weighed

Bush seeks to keep Turkey out of Iraq
By Bay Fang

Washington Bureau
October 23, 2007
Chicago Tribune

The Bush administration is considering air strikes against the Kurdish rebel group PKK in northern Iraq in an attempt to stave off a Turkish invasion of Iraq to fight the rebels, administration officials said.

President Bush spoke with Turkish President Abdullah Gul by phone Monday in an effort to ease the crisis. According to an official familiar with the conversation, Bush assured the Turkish president that the U.S. was looking seriously into options beyond diplomacy to stop the attacks coming from Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq.

"It's not 'Kumbaya' time anymore -- just talking about trilateral talks is not going to be enough," the official said. "Something has to be done."

While the use of U.S. soldiers on the ground to root out the PKK would be the last resort, the U.S. would be willing to launch air strikes on PKK targets, the officials said, and has discussed the use of cruise missiles. But air strikes using manned aircraft may be an easier option because the U.S. controls the air space over Iraq, the officials said.

Another option would be to persuade the Kurdistan Regional Government, which runs that part of Iraq, to order its Peshmerga forces to form a cordon preventing the movement of the PKK beyond its mountain camps, said U.S. officials and experts. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke with Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani on Sunday to request his cooperation in dealing with the PKK.

"In the past, there has been reluctance to engage in direct U.S. military action against the PKK, either through air strikes or some kind of Special Forces action," said the official familiar with the Bush-Gul conversation, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "But the red line was always, if the Turks were going to come over the border, it could be so destabilizing that it might be less risky for us to do something ourselves. Now the Turks are at the end of their rope, and our risk calculus is changing."

An ambush over the weekend by 200 PKK guerrillas left 12 Turkish soldiers dead and 8 missing. The attack's sophistication and scope surprised not only the Turks but also the U.S. and its Iraqi allies.

The U.S., with Iraqi help, also could squeeze the flow of supplies and funds for the PKK coming across the border, or through the airport in Arbil, the largest city in Iraqi Kurdistan, according to U.S. and Kurdish officials and experts. The Bush administration, which has an intelligence-sharing operation with Turkey, also could lean on the Kurdistan Regional Government to provide more of its own intelligence to the Turks, experts said.

Rice called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday in an appeal for patience, and administration officials said Erdogan granted a 72-hour reprieve on any cross-border attack by the Turkish military. The Turkish leadership is under heavy pressure from its public, with thousands of demonstrators shouting anti-PKK slogans in Istanbul after the weekend ambush.

The U.S.-Turkey alliance is particularly important to the Bush administration in its conduct of the Iraq war. About 70 percent of the American military's air cargo headed to Iraq is shipped through a U.S. air base in southern Turkey.

Analysts say the PKK, fighting for Kurdish self-rule since 1984, would like to incite Turkey to attack its bases inside Iraq to help fuel its movement, which lost political ground to the ruling Justice and Development Party, in Turkey's last general election.

"The Turks know these are provocations to draw them across the border, and they're reluctant to charge at that cape, because they know a sword is behind it," said Mark Parris, a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey now at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "But Erdogan doesn't have any cards left to play."

Last week, Turkey's parliament authorized the government to send troops across the Iraqi border at any time in pursuit of the PKK.

The Kurdistan Regional Government warned that any air strikes by the U.S. or the Turks could inflame nationalist sentiments among the millions of Kurds who live inside Turkey.

"If the U.S. starts bombing PKK camps in the north, Turkey will be ablaze tomorrow," said Qubad Talabani, spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government in Washington.

He added that the Peshmerga has already formed a sort of security belt around the PKK to keep the fighters from coming down from the mountains into the cities of Iraqi Kurdistan. The only long-term solution, the regional government said, would be for it to be part of a serious dialogue among Turkey, the U.S. and Iraq. It complained that it is currently being left out of any discussions.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, a Kurd who visited the White House on Monday, said at a Brookings appearance, "My worry is that there are demands of the KRG [Kurdistan Regional Government] and the Iraqi government to 'fight the PKK.' That could well be a recipe for an open-ended conflict in which we will not win and will basically destabilize the only stable part of Iraq."

Rice issued a statement with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, calling on Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government to "take immediate steps to halt PKK operations from Iraqi territory."

Kurdistan Regional Government spokesman Talabani said, "Everyone's passing the buck. The Turks want the U.S. to do something, the U.S. wants us to do something, and we don't think we can do anything. We fought the PKK in the '90s with the full force of the Turkish military and couldn't eradicate them."

On Monday, the PKK issued a statement that it would be ready for a cease-fire "if the Turkish army stops attacking our positions, drops plans for an incursion and resorts to peace," but most analysts dismissed this announcement as meaningless.

"The PKK always declares a cease-fire when winter approaches and it can't operate anyway," said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "Then when the snow melts, they start fighting again."

NY Times Editorial Page "Understands" Racist Turkish Turkey

2007-10-23T15:47:00.000-07:00

Even Closer to the Brink
Oct 23, 2007
Editorial

The news out of Iraq just keeps getting worse. Now Turkey is threatening to send troops across the border to wipe out Kurdish rebel bases, after guerrillas killed at least a dozen Turkish soldiers. This latest crisis should have come as no surprise. But it is one more widely predicted problem the Bush administration failed to plan for before its misguided invasion — and one more problem it urgently needs to deal with as part of a swift and orderly exit from Iraq.

Turkey’s anger is understandable. Guerrillas from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the P.K.K., have been striking from bases in Iraqi Kurdistan with growing impunity and effect, using plastic explosives, mines and arms that are far too readily accessible in Iraq. The death toll for Turkish military forces is mounting.

Turkey’s civilian leaders are feeling strong popular pressure to lash back. The leadership should realize that the conflict is providing a dangerous opening for Turkey’s generals. The military is determined to regain the upper hand over Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom they detest for his party’s roots in Islamic politics.

Ankara needs to know that an invasion would not only add to Iraq’s chaos and raise the specter of a regional war, it would also do major damage to Turkey’s international standing and finish off its prospects for joining the European Union.

Following a personal appeal from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Mr. Erdogan’s government delayed retaliating and announced that all political means would be tried before launching a military operation into Iraq. But there is not a lot of time.

Washington should also explain the dangerous facts of life to the leaders of Iraqi Kurdistan, who have done nothing to rein in the guerrillas or drive them out of their territory. Iraq’s president, Jalal Talabani, who is a Kurd, did no good Sunday when he first said he wanted “to solve problems peacefully,” but then declared that Iraq would not even turn over “a Kurdish cat” to Turkey.

The Kurds will find it much easier to prosper if they can live in peace with Turkey, whose businessmen already invest heavily in their region. And Mr. Talabani and other Iraqi Kurds need to understand that their enclave of comparative peace and prosperity will not survive a regional war.

Washington must now try to walk both sides back from this brink. It then should make a serious and sustained effort to broker a long-overdue political agreement between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan. There is much distrust on both sides. But there is also a lot to talk about. Iraqi Kurds want access routes to sell goods to Europe. Turkey needs a secure border with Iraq.

With so many other problems in Iraq, the Bush administration apparently thought it could ignore this one. It can’t. If it doesn’t now move quickly, Iraq’s disastrous civil war could spiral into an even bigger disaster — a regional war.

Turkish foreign minister arrives in Iraq for talks on the PKK

2007-10-23T15:39:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 23 October 2007, 07:45 EDT

File Photo

Reuters

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday for talks with Iraqi.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday for talks with Iraqi.
leaders in an effort to pressure the Iraqi government to take action against Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebels fighting Turkish troops, as Washington urged Ankara to hold back from unilateral military action.
He is expected to meet Iraq's President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari.
Babacan was received in Baghdad by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zibari.
The talks came as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the possibility of joint action with the United States against rear-bases in northern Iraq of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has stepped up its insurgency in southeasten Turkey in recent weeks.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan
On Monday, Babacan told reporters in Kuwait that Ankara would "continue to exert these diplomatic and political efforts with good intention to resolve this crisis caused by a terrorist organisation.
"But in the end, if we don't reach a result, there are other means that we may be forced to use."
Turkish members of parliament have authorised the government to take military action in northern Iraq to flush out the rebels if it deems it necessary.
Turkish anger over the presence of PKK rebels in Kurdistan 'northern Iraq' intensified after a weekend attack by the rebels on a military patrol that left 12 soldiers dead.
But the government has so far accepted US calls to hold back from unilateral action.
The Turkish prime minister, who was in London for talks with his British counterpart Gordon Brown on Tuesday, said he had discussed with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice the possibility of joint action against the rebels.
"We may conduct a joint operation with the United States against the PKK in northern Iraq," Erodgan told the mass-selling Turkish daily Hurriyet on his flight into London.
The Chicago Tribune reported that the US military was considering air strikes on the rebels.
Citing an official familiar with Bush's conversation with Gul, the newspaper said cruise missile launches against PKK targets have been discussed, but air strikes using manned aircraft were an easier option.
"In the past, there has been reluctance to engage in direct US military action against the PKK," the official told the Tribune.
Turkey's top diplomat has been shuttling around the Mideast to explain Ankara's position on the Kurdish rebels, who carried out a cross-border attack Sunday that left 12 Turkish troops dead and eight missing. Thirty-four rebels were also killed, the Turkish military said.
The attack followed a vote by the Turkish parliament last week that gave permission for the government to send troops over the border to wipe out bases belonging to the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party in Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq'.

Bush seeks to keep Turkey out of Iraqi Kurdistan

2007-10-23T15:36:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 23 October 2007,

File Photo

chicagotribune

The Bush administration is considering air strikes against the PKK.

The Bush administration is considering air strikes against the Turkey's Kurdish rebel group PKK in Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq' in an attempt to stave off a Turkish invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan to fight the rebels, administration officials said.
President Bush spoke with Turkish President Abdullah Gul by phone Monday in an effort to ease the crisis. According to an official familiar with the conversation, Bush assured the Turkish president that the U.S. was looking seriously into options beyond diplomacy to stop the attacks coming from Kurdistan region in 'northern Iraq'.
"It's not 'Kumbaya' time anymore-just talking about trilateral talks is not going to be enough," the official said. "Something has to be done."
While the use of U.S. soldiers on the ground to root out the PKK would be the last resort, the U.S. would be willing to launch air strikes on PKK targets, the officials said, and has discussed the use of cruise missiles. But air strikes using manned aircraft may be an easier option because the U.S. controls the air space over Iraq, the officials said.
Another option would be to persuade the Kurdistan Regional Government, which runs that part of Iraq, to order its peshmerga forces to form a cordon preventing the movement of the PKK beyond its mountain camps, said U.S. officials and experts. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke with Kurdistan RegionalGovernment Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani on Sunday to request his cooperation in dealing with the PKK.
"In the past, there has been reluctance to engage in direct U.S. military action against the PKK, either through air strikes or some kind of Special Forces action," said the official familiar with the Bush-Gul conversation, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "But the red line was always, if the Turks were going to come over the border, it could be so destabilizing that it might be less risky for us to do something ourselves. Now the Turks are at the end of their rope, and our risk calculus is changing."
An ambush over the weekend by 200 PKK guerrillas left 12 Turkish soldiers dead and 8 missing. The attack's sophistication and scope surprised not only the Turks but also the U.S. and its Iraqi allies.
The U.S., with Iraqi help, also could squeeze the flow of supplies and funds for the PKK coming across the border, or through the airport in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, according to U.S. and Kurdish officials and experts. The Bush administration, which has an intelligence-sharing operation with Turkey, also could lean on the Kurdistan Regional Government to provide more of its own intelligence to the Turks, experts said.

file photo

Rice called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday in an appeal for patience, and administration officials said Erdogan granted a 72-hour reprieve on any cross-border attack by the Turkish military. The Turkish leadership is under heavy pressure from its public, with thousands of demonstrators shouting anti-PKK slogans in Istanbul after the weekend ambush. The U.S.-Turkey alliance is particularly important to the Bush administration in its conduct of the Iraq war. About 70 percent of the American military's air cargo headed to Iraq is shipped through a U.S. air base in southern Turkey.
Analysts say the PKK, fighting for Kurdish self-rule since 1984, would like to incite Turkey to attack its bases inside Iraq to help fuel its movement, which lost political ground to the ruling Justice and Development Party, in Turkey's last general election.
"The Turks know these are provocations to draw them across the border, and they're reluctant to charge at that cape, because they know a sword is behind it," said Mark Parris, a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey now at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "But Erdogan doesn't have any cards left to play."
Last week, Turkey's parliament authorized the government to send troops across the Iraqi border at any time in pursuit of the PKK.
The Kurdistan Regional Government warned that any air strikes by the U.S. or the Turks could inflame nationalist sentiments among the millions of Kurds who live inside Turkey.
"If the U.S. starts bombing PKK camps in the north, Turkey will be ablaze tomorrow," said Qubad Talabani, spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government in Washington.
He added that the peshmerga has already formed a sort of security belt around the PKK to keep the fighters from coming down from the mountains into the cities of Iraqi Kurdistan. The only long-term solution, the regional government said, would be for it to be part of a serious dialogue among Turkey, the U.S. and Iraq. It complained that it is currently being left out of any discussions.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, a Kurd who visited the White House on Monday, said at a Brookings appearance, "My worry is that there are demands of the KRG [Kurdistan Regional Government] and the Iraqi government to 'fight the PKK.' That could well be a recipe for an open-ended conflict in which we will not win and will basically destabilize the only stable part of Iraq."
Rice issued a statement with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, calling on Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government to "take immediate steps to halt PKK operations from Iraqi territory."
Kurdistan Regional Government spokesman Talabany said, "Everyone's passing the buck. The Turks want the U.S. to do something, the U.S. wants us to do something, and we don't think we can do anything. We fought the PKK in the '90s with the full force of the Turkish military and couldn't eradicate them."
On Monday, the PKK issued a statement that it would be ready for a cease-fire "if the Turkish army stops attacking our positions, drops plans for an incursion and resorts to peace," but most analysts dismissed this announcement as meaningless.
"The PKK always declares a cease-fire when winter approaches and it can't operate anyway," said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "Then when the snow melts, they start fighting again."

Kurdistan president urges PKK to honor ceasefire with Turkey

2007-10-23T15:34:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 23 October 2007,

File Photo

Voi

President of Kurdistan called on the (PKK) to commit to the ceasefire.

President of Iraq's Kurdistan region Massoud Barzani on Monday called on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to commit to the ceasefire it announced this afternoon with Turkey to avoid turning the region into "a battle field."
"This came after a phone call between Barzani and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, during which the two voiced dismay over the deteriorating situation in the region," Barzani's office said.
Kurdistan Coalition (KC) Member Mahmoud Othman had said earlier that the PKK announced it will cease its military activities starting Monday evening in compliance with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's call to renounce violence and adopt a peaceful approach to the crisis.
Massoud Barzani, the President of the autonomous Regional Government of Kurdistan 'Iraq'
"Barzani urged the PKK to honor their decision and not to complicate the situation," the statement also said.
"The president called on the PKK to avoid turning the region into a "battle field," voicing readiness to take any step to solve the crisis peacefully," it noted.
The Kurdistan satellite channel of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) led by President Massoud Barzani aired breaking news on a phone call between Rice and Barzani.
"The two discussed the current situation and the Turkish threats to invade northern Iraq, during which they expressed deep concern," the channel reported.
"They urged all sides involved to resort to dialogue and diplomatic ways to tackle the issue," it added.
This came with intensified political efforts by the U.S. and Iraqi governments to avoid possible Turkish invasion to Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq' to track down elements of the PKK.
Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebels offered Turkey a conditional ceasefire on Monday dependant on the the Turkish military ending attacks against the fighters and abandoning plans for an incursion into Iraq's Kurdistan region.
On Sunday, the Turkish army said 12 soldiers were killed and 15 others were wounded during clashes with Kurdistan Workers Party's (PKK) fighters.

PKK Offer Turkey Conditional Ceasefire

2007-10-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

SULAIMANI,
(Southern Kurdistan),
Oct 22, 2007

(AFP) -Kurdish guerrillas offered Ankara a ceasefire on Monday, on condition that the Turkish military abandons plans for a incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan and ends attacks against the PKK guerrillas.

"We are ready for a ceasefire if the Turkish army stops attacking our positions, drops plans for an incursion and resort to peace," said a statement posted on a website run by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"We are calling for a peaceful solution and distancing ourselves from violence," said the statement.

"If Turkey stops attacking us, the battle will stop and we will start the peace action. We are ready to start dialogue and we are ready to join the political process if Turkey give us the chance," it said.

The declaration was preceded by Iraq President Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, telling reporters a ceasefire offer would be forthcoming.

It came after Turkey confirmed eight soldiers were missing after weekend clashes with the PKK near the Iraqi border killed at least 12 Turkish troops, ramping up public pressure on the government to take action.

Amid rising tensions, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan assured an alarmed international community that Ankara would exhaust diplomatic efforts before resorting to military action.

"We will continue to exert these diplomatic and political efforts with good intention to resolve this crisis caused by a terrorist organisation," Babacan told reporters after talks in Kuwait.

"But in the end, if we don't reach a result, there are other means that we may be forced to use."

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said he was expecting Babacan in Baghdad for crisis talks on Tuesday.

However, Babacan would not immediately confirm the visit.

"I have had an intention to visit Baghdad for some time. But I do not confirm at the moment whether this visit will take place or when it will take place," Babacan said on his return from Kuwait.

The United States has urged Erdogan to hold off on military action, but the prospect of Turkish soldiers being held captive is likely to turn up the heat on the government.

Washington strongly opposes any unilateral Turkish military action, fearing it would further destabilise the situation in Iraq.

"We want the Iraqi government to take swift action to stop the activity of the PKK. We're communicating with the Turkish leadership, with the Kurdish leadership and the Iraqi leadership," said Fratto.

He said the United States was prepared to share intelligence with the Turkish government to fight ethnic Kurdish rebels, but that Washington did not want to see "wider military action" on the border.

Iraqi ministers told a crisis session of parliament that the government refused to send troops in hot pursuit of the rebels but vowed to cut supplies to the PKK.

Defence Minister Abdel Qader al-Obeidi told lawmakers Iraq had "no intention" of redeploying troops from elsewhere in the war-torn country for such a mission, according to top government aide Sami al-Askari.

Obeidi appeared to put the onus on the US military to take action by saying that security in Iraq was the responsibility of US-led forces who have been in the country since the March 2003 invasion.

The PKK has given the names of all eight soldiers it claims to be holding.

Talabani Says PKK To Announce A Cease-Fire

2007-10-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

Today Associated Press

Oct 22, 2007

In Washington, the State Department said the United States has opened a diplomatic "full court press" to urge Turkey not to invade Iraqi Kurdistan. "In our view, there are better ways to deal with this issue," spokesman Sean McCormack said, stressing that the United States regards the PKK as a terrorist organization. President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said the Kurdistan Workers' Party, known by its Kurdish acronym PKK, would make a cease-fire announcement later Monday. Talabani's remarks were made to reporters at the airport in the Kurdish city of Sulaimani before he flew to Baghdad and confirmed by his office. More details were not immediately available. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a telephone conversation on Sunday night that Turkey expected "speedy steps from the U.S." in cracking down on Kurdish rebels and that Rice, who called the Turkish leader, asked "for a few days" from him. McCormack did not dispute the account of the conversation but declined to comment on what Rice had meant by asking for "a few days." Erdogan did not specify what he meant by "speedy steps," but he has often urged the United States and Iraq to crack down on the PKK. Turkish leaders say it is the responsibility of those countries to do whatever is necessary to destroy the guerrilla group's bases in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Turkey Admits 8 Its Troops Missing After Ambush

2007-10-22T15:03:00.000-07:00

By VOLKAN SARISAKAL

Associated Press Writer

Oct 22, 2007

The Turkish military confirmed Monday that eight of its soldiers were missing after an ambush attack by Kurdish rebels in which 12 other soldiers were killed.

The confirmation from the military came as dozens of military vehicles headed toward the Iraq border and protesters across the country demanded tough action against the rebels. The attack has pushed Turkey closer to a possible incursion into Iraq to target Kurdish insurgents hiding there.

"Despite all search efforts, no contact has been established with eight missing personnel since shortly after the armed attack on the military unit," the military said in a statement posted on its Web site.

An AP Television News cameraman saw a convoy of 50 military vehicles, loaded with soldiers and weapons, heading from the southeastern town of Sirnak toward Uludere, closer to the border with Iraq.

It was unclear whether the vehicles were being sent to reinforce troops engaged in fighting with rebels on Turkish soil, or were preparing for possible cross-border action. Tens of thousands of Turkish troops are already deployed in the border area.

About 2,000 protesters in Istanbul, mostly members of an opposition party, denounced the attack and urged the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to resign, the private Dogan news agency reported.

Turkey's military said Sunday it had launched an offensive backed by helicopter gunships in retaliation for the attack, shelling rebel positions along the rugged Turkish-Iraqi border. It said 32 rebels had been killed in the offensive so far.

The military convoy included trucks carrying containers full of weapons, around a dozen artillery guns and some 150 soldiers.

The rebel attack occurred four days after Parliament authorized the government to deploy troops across the border in Iraq, amid growing anger in Turkey at perceived U.S. and Iraqi failure to live up to pledges to crack down on the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, based in northern Iraq.

Erdogan said he told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a telephone conversation on Sunday night that Turkey expected "speedy steps from the U.S." in cracking down on Kurdish rebels and that Rice expressed sympathy and asked "for a few days" from him.

The United States opposes any unilateral action by Turkey, fearing it could destabilize the most stable part of Iraq.

Sunday's attack raised the death toll of soldiers in PKK attacks in the past two weeks to around 30.

Talabani Slams Syrian Dictator Assad

2007-10-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

Oct 20, 2007 Medalist Online

Talabani slams Assad for Damascus’ promise to support Turkish incursion in northern Iraq. DUBAI - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani slammed his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad's support for a possible Turkish incursion into Kurdistan Region to tackle Kurdish guerrillas, a newspaper said on Saturday.

"President Assad's remarks are dangerous and run contrary to the spirit of Arab solidarity," Talabani, himself a Kurd, was quoted as saying in an interview with the Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat.

"Usually I would refrain from commenting on Syrian positions in order to preserve our historic ties, but this time I am unable to support this dangerous crossing of red lines."

On Wednesday Assad said he would support a Turkish incursion into northern Iraq against Turkish Kurdish rebels, calling such action Ankara's "legitimate right."

"How can the president of an Arab state support military intervention against the Iraqi republic?" Talabani was quoted as asking. "This is a serious matter and damaging to relations between the two countries.

"The Syrian president should have commented as the Americans and Europeans did, saying they preferred a diplomatic solution, even if he understands the Turkish position."

"I have personally visited Syria, and our two countries have joint commissions working on current projects. I am really astounded at this unfriendly stance taken by Syria," Talabani told the daily.

Assad is the first Arab leader to come out in favour of Turkish action against PKK bases in Iraq.

The PKK, which has waged a 23-year armed campaign for Kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey, is listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community.

Assad later finetuned his position, calling on Ankara to give Baghdad a chance to tackle the rebels.

"The problem cannot be resolved by being considered only as a military and security problem. Results cannot be obtained without the backing of political efforts," the Turkish newspaper Radikal quoted him as saying on Friday.

In January, when Talabani made the first visit to Syria by an Iraqi president for nearly 30 years, Assad pledged that Damascus would work with the Iraqi authorities to "eradicate terrorism."

Iran's top nuclear negotiator resigns

2007-10-20T17:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 20 October 2007,

AP PHOTO

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press

The Iranian government announced Saturday that its top nuclear negotiator had resigned

The Iranian government announced Saturday that its top nuclear negotiator had resigned, a move seen as a victory for hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that could bring about an even tougher stance in ongoing talks.

Government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham, said Saeed Jalili, a little-known deputy foreign minister for European and American affairs, was to succeed Ali Larijani as lead negotiator effective immediately.
Larijani in many cases held a hardline view on the nuclear standoff between Iran and the West but was also considered to be a more moderate figure than Ahmadinejad within Iran's hardline camp. He was seen as more committed to a diplomatic solution over Iran's nuclear program while Ahmadinejad is seen as not favoring talks with the West.
Larijani's resignation was interpreted by many here as giving Ahmadinejad a free hand in dictating his views to the less experienced Jalili.
Elham did not give a specific reason for Larijani's resignation other than to say he wanted to focus on "other political activities."
"Larijani had resigned repeatedly. Finally, the president accepted his resignation," Elham told reporters.
The United States and some of its allies accuse Iran of secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies the claim, saying its program is for peaceful purposes including generating electricity.
Elham stressed that Iran's nuclear policy would not change because of Larijani's resignation.
"Iran's nuclear policies are stabilized and unchangeable. Managerial change won't bring any changes in (those) policies," Elham said.
Former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton said Larijani's resignation was "a clear victory for Ahmadinejad" and shows that "the leadership is determined to continue with the nuclear program."
Bolton, who served as the Bush administration's point man on the Iran nuclear issue before becoming U.N. ambassador, said the conflict between Larijani and Ahmadinejad is "part of the larger struggle for power after (Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei dies."
"It's more about personalities and internal polices, but Ahmadminejad saw Larijani as someone with a different perspective on (nuclear) negotiations," Bolton told The Associated Press, suggesting Larijani was more moderate.
Elham said a meeting between the nuclear negotiator and the European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, scheduled for Tuesday in Rome would still take place.
"Despite Larijani's resignation, meetings ... won't change. Larijani's successor will meet Solana instead," Elham said.
Ahmadinejad was elected president in 2005 and appointed Larijani, a former Revolutionary Guards Corps commander and a close ally of Khamenei, to replace Hasan Rowhani, considered a moderate politician. Ahmadinejad had accused Rowhani and his team of technocrats as weak and giving too many concessions in nuclear talks with European nations.
After Larijani was appointed, Iran took a more defiant approach to its nuclear program. It resumed uranium enrichment activities, leading to its referral to the U.N. Security Council by the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2006. Iran's refusal to halt enrichment subsequently prompted a resolution by the U.N. Security Council imposing sanctions on Iran in December 2006 and another resolution widening the sanctions in March.
In 2006, Larijani rejected Western economic incentives in return for a suspension of Iran's nuclear activities, saying the Security Council "should not think that they can make us happy with candies."
However, differences between Larijani and Ahmadinejad were revealed earlier this year when Larijani became upset after the president contradicted him on whether Iran would attend a meeting in Egypt to discuss Iraq. Larijani traveled to Baghdad in May to discuss Iran's conditions for attending the meeting but was upset after a reporter at the Baghdad airport said Ahmadinejad had already confirmed that Iran would attend.
Larijani's absence during Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with Khamenei, last week further raised eyebrows in Iran's political circles.
Before he was appointed, Larijani was the head of Iran's state-run radio and television network and was seen as one of the hard-liners' most effective weapon in curtailing former President Mohammad Khatami's reform program. At the time, Larijani used the official media as a weapon to suppress democratic reforms and prohibited the broadcast of information that might have been harmful to hardline clerics.

Iraqi Kurds warn Turkey not to attack

2007-10-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 20 October 2007,

A vehicle with Turkish commandos and pro-government militias sitting in the back is heading toward Turkey Iraq border in Sirnak province, in this Oct. 10, 2007 file photo. AP Photo

By Bushra Juhi
The Associated Press

Kurds assert on their country defending against Turkish incursion.

Kurds in northern Iraq warned on Friday that they will defend themselves against any Turkish incursion, and Iraqi leaders called on Ankara to engage in dialogue instead of threats.

Massoud Barzani, the president of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, urged Turkey to hold direct talks with his regional government but vowed to fight "any aggression."

Turkish officials, who have long battled Kurdish separatist sentiment at home, have balked at such talks with the Kurdish regional government in Iraq.

The strong comments from Iraq's senior Kurdish statesman came two days after the Turkish parliament voted to authorize a cross-border incursion to root out the rebels from their bases in the mountains on the frontier. There has been no sign of imminent military strikes, and the United States and the Iraqi government have urged restraint.

"The experiences of the past years have shown that this issue cannot be solved through the course of war," Barzani said. "But at the same time we declare to all: if the region or the Kurdistan experiment faces any aggression under any pretext whatsoever, than we are fully prepared to defend our democratic experience and the dignity of our people and the sanctity of our homeland."

He said Iraqi Kurds were not responsible for the fighting between Turkey and the rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, known by its Kurdish acronym PKK.

"Kurdistan is not responsible for the war between Turkey and the PKK," he said. "And we have not supported the war or the violence and bloodletting or been dragged into this war."

He also urged Ankara to hold talks with the Kurdish authorities in the regional capital of Irbil, 217 miles north of Baghdad. "The best solution for any problem is dialogue and mutual understanding, rather than the language of threats and blackmail," he said.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Iraq could prevent Turkish military action by eradicating Kurdish rebel bases and extraditing rebel leaders. But Iraqi Foreign Hoshyar Zebari has said the country does not have the resources to defeat the guerrillas. And the exchange did not appear to diminish the prospect that a new war front might soon be opened inside Iraq.

The U.S. lists the PKK as a terrorist group, but has called on the Turkish government to work with Iraqis. President Bush said Turkey has had troops stationed in northern Iraq and should not send more across the border.

The Turkish threats have galvanized the Kurdish minority in Iraq, which is largely concentrated in three northern provinces that have seen relative peace and economic success.

Kurdish rebels have been fighting for autonomy in Turkey's southeast since 1984, with more than 30,000 people killed.

Iraq's leaders, meanwhile, grappled over the death sentences for three former Saddam Hussein regime heavyweights - including the enforcer known as "Chemical Ali" - amid warnings the hangings could enflame sectarian violence.

U.S. and Iraqi government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information, said the three men remained in U.S. custody at the Camp Cropper detention center near Baghdad's airport, denying reports that they had been moved to an area close to the gallows in a northern suburb.

A court last month upheld the genocide and war crimes convictions against the three former regime insiders for their roles in the "Operation Anfal" campaign against autonomy-seeking Kurds in the 1980s that claimed more than 100,000 lives.

Baghdad's attacks - including the use of poison gas in the Kurdish town of Halabja - came to symbolize the cruelty of Saddam's grip on power and brought the nickname "Chemical Ali" to one of the masterminds, Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid. The defendants claimed they were doing their duty by acting against Kurdish rebels supported by Tehran during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

The others sentenced were former Defense Minister Sultan Hashim al-Tai and Hussein Rashid Mohammed, former deputy operations director of the Iraqi armed forces.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who opposes the death penalty, has refused to sign off on the execution as technically required by Iraq's constitution. As a Kurd, Talabani's refusal carried special clout because of strong Kurdish desire to settle scores with Saddam's henchmen.

But Iraqi legal experts are divided over whether the presidential rule applies to the special court trying former regime figures.

The sticking point appears to be the government's decision to hang al-Tai, who was considered by Talabani and other Iraqis of all sects as a highly regarded officer despite his ties to Saddam.

Al-Tai, a Sunni Arab from the northern city of Mosul, negotiated the cease-fire than ended the 1991 Gulf War, when a U.S.-led coalition drove Iraqi forces from Kuwait. He also surrendered to U.S. forces in September 2003 after weeks of negotiations. His defense lawyers claimed the Americans had promised al-Tai "protection and good treatment" before he turned himself in.

The leader of parliament's largest Sunni Arab bloc, Adnan al-Dulaimi, urged the government Friday to stay al-Tai's execution and release him, the bloc said.

"The government has to respect and to revere the Iraqi officers known for their nationalism and courage and for spending a long time defending the country against foreign aggression," al-Dulaimi said in a statement.

In violence Friday, a bomb exploded under the pulpit of an anti-al-Qaida Sunni preacher as he delivered a sermon, wounding the imam and six worshippers, police and witnesses said. It was the latest attack against Sunnis who have joined forces with the Americans against the terror network.

A mortar attack also struck a neighborhood in Musayyib, about 40 miles south of Baghdad, killing three women, police said.

West of Baghdad, two young would-be suicide bombers linked to al-Qaida in Iraq were arrested in Fallujah. Police said the boys, ages 15 and 16, confessed to planning attacks against a sheik who has turned against al-Qaida and a local mosque.

Persecuted Sect in Iraq Avoids Its Shrine

2007-10-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

By Alissa J. Rubin

October 14, 2007

SHEKHAN, Iraq, Oct. 13 — As the rest of Iraq celebrated the holiday of Id al-Fitr, which ends the holy month of Ramadan, the shrine where Iraq ’s persecuted Yazidi minority celebrates a similar holiday, the Jema feast, was nearly empty.

This year was a deadly one in Iraq for Yazidis, who suffered a devastating suicide bomb in August. Iraqi officials estimated that the blast killed close to 500. But even before that, there had been reports of assassinations and kidnappings. The sect is under pressure by both Arab and Kurdish Muslims who want them to convert to Islam. Full Text

U.S Urges Turkish Restraint On Kurds

2007-10-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

By Molly Moore and Robin Wright

October 14, 2007

ISTANBUL, Oct. 13 -- U.S. officials began an intense lobbying effort Saturday to defuse Turkish threats to launch a cross-border military attack against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq and to limit access to critical air and land routes that have become a lifeline for U.S. troops in Iraq.

"The Turkish government and public are seriously weighing all of their options," Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said after meetings with Turkish officials in Ankara , the capital. "We need to focus with Turkey on our long-term mutual interests." Full Text

Premier Says Turkey is Ready for Split With U.S. Over Kurds

2007-10-15T16:35:00.000-07:00

By Molly Moore

October 13, 2007

ISTANBUL, Oct. 12 -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that he is prepared for a rupture in relations with the United States if his government launches an incursion into northern Iraq in search of Kurdish rebels.

"If such an option is chosen, whatever its price, it will be paid," Erdogan said to reporters Friday after meeting with party leaders. "There could be pros and cons of such a decision, but what is important is our country's interests." Full Text

Turkish cabinet backs Iraq foray

2007-10-15T16:29:00.000-07:00

Financial Times

By Vincent Boland

October 15, 2007

The prospect of a Turkish incursion into northern Iraq moved a step closer on Monday after Turkey ’s cabinet agreed to seek parliamentary approval for a military response to a resurgence of attacks by PKK separatists operating from mountain hideaways in Iraq . Full Text

raqi Kurds Ask Turkey for negotiation

2007-10-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

October 15, 2007

ANKARA, Turkey -- Kurdish leaders in Iraq vowed to increase efforts to stop Kurdish militants from provoking an attack by Turkey , KUNA reported Monday.

"As a government of Kurdistan region, we will not allow our soil or Iraqi land to be used in launching attacks on any neighboring country," Nechirvan Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, said in a statement to Turkish leaders.

Barzani, who urged all sides to seek a political solution, apologized to Turkey for the deaths last week of 13 Turkish soldiers killed by Kurdish PKK militants, KUNA reported Monday.

"We condemn this incident," Barzani said. "The more blood is shed, the more the problem becomes complicated." Full Text

Kurdish Leader Urges Turkey To End Violence

2007-10-15T14:38:00.000-07:00

IRBIL, Oct 15 (KUNA) -- An Iraqi Kurdish leader here Monday urged Turkey to put an end to violence through a political deal.

Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), said in news remarks that his government had committed to preventing PKK militants from attacking Turkish border areas.

The issue of attacks launched by PKK militants based in north Iraq can not be resolved by force, he added.

"As a government of Kurdistan region, we will not allow our soil or Iraqi land to be used in launching attacks on any neighboring country," Barzani said.

"The PKK is not a problem to Turkey alone as it caused us problems in the past. It is not correct that we make capital out of the PKK problem. But, we see that as this problem can not be resolved by war, we should find a political approach," he added.

He went on to say "We are very sorry for the killing of 13 Turkish soldiers recently. We condemn this incident that has not helped in resolving the problem. The more blood is shed, the more the problem becomes complicated. We have to put an end to this violence." Barzani also rapped the central government in Baghdad for failing to consult the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over an anti-terror deal with Turkey in September.

The Kurdish example

2007-10-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

Monday, 15 October 2007,

Falah Mustafa Bakir is head of
the Department of Foreign Relations in
the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq

By Falah Mustafa Bakir
Washington.Times

In 1998 I was barred from obtaining a graduate degree in Iraq because I refused to join Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party.

Luckily, a prestigious British scholarship program allowed me to leave Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and attend the University of Bath in England to get a degree in Development Studies. I've always found that rather ironic - not Ba'ath, but Bath.

Last week I again left Erbil, but this time as a member of the Iraqi delegation to the 62nd United Nations General Assembly. In the past two decades I have gone from being a member of a marginalized and oppressed group within Iraq to helping represent it to the outside world. While the news from Iraq may be dominated by terrorism and violence in a society that seems irrevocably split by ethnic and sectarian divisions, my being a member of this delegation showed another side to the story: Kurds and Arabsworking together to make Iraq's case to the United Nations.
Falah Mustafa Bakir is head of the Department of Foreign Relations in the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq

My presence in New York is also a tribute to the leadership of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the resilience of the people of our region and the sacrifice of those who died unable to imagine that a day like this would ever come. And it will be proof positive that rather than let violence rip us apart, we in the Kurdistan region are dedicated to attaining a free, democratic, federal and pluralistic Iraq.

Some have criticized the KRG's commitment to federalism as a sign of Kurdish separatism or a long-term plan to "partition" Iraq. But this misreads Iraqi and Kurdish history. The Kurdistan region had been a de facto autonomous state since 1991, with the advent of Operations Provide Comfort and Northern Watch, the no-fly zone enforced by the United States, Britain and France following the 1991 Gulf War. It was the voluntary decision of the KRG to rejoin the rest of the country and participate in building an independent, federal and free Iraq for all of its people.

The Kurdistan Regional Government has shown itself to be a model for the democratic transition in Iraq. Not a single coalition soldier has been killed, our markets are vibrant and our people are relatively free of the terrorism inflicted on the rest of the country. We are not perfect, but we are getting things right. Our regional parliament has passed important legislation such as the Investment Law, which allows foreign companies the right of full property ownership, tax and customs-duty exemptions, repatriation of capital and the Kurdistan region's oil and gas law. Some in Baghdad have reacted negatively to this law, with arguments that smack of the overly centralized period of Saddam's autocracy. Our oil and gas law conforms totally with the Iraqi Constitution's approach to federalism and the management of Iraq's energy resources. www.ekurd.net

Because of a favorable and welcoming investment climate, the KRG should be understood by the international community as the gateway to the rest of Iraq. Our commitments to the rule of law, security, democracy and tolerance are sources of strength, not division, for Iraq. The Kurdish ministers and members of parliament in the Iraqi government are internationally recognized for their competence and commitment to a democratic, federal and secular Iraq. We are on the side of freedom and democracy.

My personal commitments to both the Kurdistan region and a free, federal Iraq blend easily in my mind. After so much suffering under one of the worst dictatorships in modern history, the Iraqi people deserve a chance for a normal life - none more so than the Kurds, who were victims of a genocidal campaign and chemical-weapons attacks by Saddam's regime. I will do all I can to make sure that when the time comes, my children will be able to attend a university in their own country, and that their acceptance will not be dependent on membership in a political party.

When I left Erbil for the United Kingdom, I was going to a country unsullied by the violence and suppression I knew at home. Today, all Iraqi people dream of an end to the violence in Iraq. We dream of a federal country where democracy and human rights are upheld, where people are free to worship as they see fit, where one's ethnicity is irrelevant and where outside investment helps fuel a developing economy and benefits our infrastructure. But we don't only dream. The Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq is working hard to make that future a reality for its people.

Iraqi Kurdistan PM Nechirvan Barzani says oil contracts legal

2007-10-15T14:03:00.000-07:00

Monday, 15 October 2007,

Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister
of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)

Reuters

The government of Iraqi Kurdistan has reiterated that the oil deals it has signed with foreign companies this year are legal and said most of the returns would be shared with the rest of Iraq.

Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, told Al Jazeera that he had waited a long time for Baghdad to pass a long-awaited law organising the country's oil sector, but the regional government decided to move ahead with its own legislation following lengthy delays.

"We waited a lot for Baghdad but there was a lot of pressure on us and on me personally to pass a law .... yet there was no response from Baghdad," he said in an interview aired on Sunday.

"Everything was meant to come from Baghdad but by May or June nothing had happened so we presented a law and ... it was passed unanimously by the Kurdish parliament."

Iraq's central government agreed on a draft oil law early this year, under which control and revenue from Iraq's oil reserves are to be shared among Baghdad and Iraq's provinces, but the law has since been stalled by political infighting.
Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)

The draft has yet to be approved by the national parliament in Baghdad and Barzani said amendments had since been made which the Kurds had not agreed to, and it was not clear what the law in its current form contained.

Frustrated by delays, the Kurdish Regional Government approved its own oil law in August and said last month it had signed a production-sharing contract with a unit of U.S.-based Hunt Oil Co and with Impulse Energy Corp. It has signed eight contracts so far and expects to sign two more soon.

Barzani said the contracts were in line with Iraq's constitution, which allows provinces substantial control of natural resources, and with the revenue-sharing provisions of the draft oil law.

"If we are convinced that the Iraqi constitution is federal ... then what we did is according to the constitution, no more no less," he said in an interview that was dubbed into Arabic.

"Under these contracts, we get 17 percent of all sales of oil produced from our land and the rest will be distributed among all the other Iraqi regions. So if we are sharing all this with Iraq and not saying it is all ours, what is all the fuss about? There are some who just want to keep everything in Baghdad's control."

But Iraq's Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani has repeatedly said the contracts were illegal and complained about a lack of transparency by the Kurdish authorities.

He said crude from the deals could not be legally exported because the draft law states that only Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation holds the right to export oil.

Biden, Brownback Join Forces On Iraq Policy

2007-10-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

By Charlotte Eby
qctimes.com
Oct 13, 2007

DES MOINES — Two presidential candidates from opposing parties outlined their plan for a political solution in Iraq during a rare joint campaign event here Friday.

U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., have developed a plan that would divide Iraq into three regions with a limited federal government.

The federal government would perform essential duties, including border security and the distribution of oil revenues, but Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds would be given their own semi-autonomous states.

Biden, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the situation in Iraq “the boulder sitting in the middle of the road” and emphasized that the issue is more important than domestic politics.

“The one thing we agree on is that the solution to our situation in Iraq is, quite frankly, more important than who among us will be the next president of the United States of America,” he added.

The idea for their proposal, which Brownback called a “political surge,” recently gained approval in the U.S. Senate on a 75-23 vote.

“We’re going to make the recent military progress count,” Brownback said. “We have to have political progress.”

Brownback used a map of Baghdad to illustrate sectarian movement inside the city, with Sunnis moving west and Shiites heading east. He said 6,000 people per month are relocating inside Iraq, largely along ethnic or sectarian lines.

“This is not something that we support,” he said. “This is not something we’re pushing, but this happens to be a reality on the ground in Iraq today.”

Biden said their plan brings to life what is already in the Iraqi constitution, which calls for a decentralized federal system of government. He contends that Iraq cannot be governed from the center at this point.

“Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds are just not prepared to entrust their futures to one another at this moment in history,” he added.

Biden also took aim at criticism of the plan that says it would mean a partitioning or splitting of Iraq into three separate countries, which he called a mischaracterization.

“That is not on the table,” he added.

Charlotte Eby can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 or chareby@aol.com.