|
Wilson Center event: Recent developments in the politics of the Kurdish question in Turkey
March 3, 2008
By Christina Caspersen
At a Wilson Center event on Monday, a panel of experts gathered to discuss matters surrounding Turkey’s recent incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan.
Gökhan Cetinsaya, a fellow at the Wilson center, began his discussion by outlining the history of Turkish and Iraqi relations. Through the years, the two countries have had many different pacts and agreements concerning peace and stability because Turkey is always concerned with the developments in northern Iraq, he said, adding that in 2003, a new Iraq was born, and now it is Turkey’s duty to form a new policy that fits the new Iraq. Cetinsaya concluded by saying that as long as the PKK guerillas use northern Iraq as a safe haven from which to attack Turkey, tensions will continue.
Aliza Marcus, who has written a book on the PKK, noted that the group is primarily comprised of Turkish Kurds. The PKK has fought for respect and has an extensive network not only in Turkey, but in Europe as well, she said, adding that this support helps to stabilize the group. The Kurds in Turkey do not see their government acting on their behalf, which what the PKK does for them, Marcus argued.
With regards to Turkey’s incursion into northern Iraq last week, Marcus said that this “was not a very subtle warning to Kurds in northern Iraq.” She believes that the Turkish military was attempting to assess the potential reaction to a larger-scale offensive. No one goes into northern Iraq during winter and hopes to last long, Marcus said, arguing that the incursion was an opportunity to see how the international community would react to a longer invasion that could occur in, perhaps, spring. However, she maintained that Turkey took note of the United States’ reaction and now knows that the U.S. will not allow an invasion to continue.
Marcus believes that, on the whole, the PKK gained more from the incursion than Turkey. Some argue that the PKK was put in a reactionary mode by the incursion and consequently view the killings of Turkish military officials as acts of defense, not terrorism, she said. An attack on the PKK is an attack on all Kurds, even Kurds in Turkey, Marcus added. She concluded by asserting that “the solution lies in Turkey and no where else.”
Nicole Watts, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at San Francisco State University, discussed the DTP and ethnicity. The DTP is considered a moderate alternative to the PKK. However, some say the DTP is not an option for either Turks or Kurds, but rather a puppet organization of the PKK – a charge Watts disputed.
With regards to the Turkish electorate, Watts said that ethnicity is only a minor determinant, as votes are usually based on geography more so than ethnicity. However, she argued that ethnicity is becoming more of a deciding factor as party lines become increasingly polarized.
Henri Barkey, professor of International Relations at Lehigh University, served as moderator and warned that as long as the PKK was around, a deal with Iraqi Kurds would be impossible. The incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan was a Turkish military objective, Barkey said, proving that the military could fight in cold and snow. It was also a tactic to force the U.S. to choose sides, he added, and it created dissension within the Iraqi government. Barkey described the raid as “a political hand grenade” in Iraqi governmental meetings. He agreed with Marcus’s statements that the invasion was intended to gauge reaction. It was a planned and limited operation from the beginning, Barkey said, with the idea of staying long-term in more favorable weather conditions.
A question and answer session followed the presentations, with audience members on both sides of the debate reacting angrily to some of the views expressed during the forum.
|
